Black-Scholes-Merton Model Fundamentals

Investment Portfolio Management · 4:11

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Lyrics

[Verse 1]
There's a model that changed how we price options
Black Scholes Merton made the complex clear
Five key inputs that drive every calculation
Let me break it down for you to hear
Stock price today is our starting point
Strike price set when the contract's made
Risk-free rate from treasury bonds
Time to expiry can't be delayed

[Chorus]
S for Stock price, X for Strike
R is the Risk-free rate we like
T for Time until it ends
Sigma's volatility, our five best friends
European options, exercise at expiration
No dividends paid, constant variation
BSM assumptions keep it clean and tight
Pricing options with mathematical sight

[Verse 2]
Volatility sigma shows how much stocks swing
Measured as standard deviation per year
Higher the sigma, higher the premium
More uncertainty brings more fear
Constant risk-free rate we must assume
No transaction costs or taxes too
Markets are liquid, trading's smooth
Perfect world that helps us get through

[Chorus]
S for Stock price, X for Strike
R is the Risk-free rate we like
T for Time until it ends
Sigma's volatility, our five best friends
European options, exercise at expiration
No dividends paid, constant variation
BSM assumptions keep it clean and tight
Pricing options with mathematical sight

[Bridge]
Call option values rise when stock price climbs
Put option values fall in bullish times
Delta measures sensitivity to stock moves
Gamma shows how delta's curve improves
Time decay theta works against you
Vega captures volatility's view

[Verse 3]
Normal distribution drives the stock returns
Continuous compounding year round
Current stock price times N of d-one
Minus present value strike when expiry's found
For puts we flip the normal probabilities
Same five inputs, different dance
European style means wait until the end
No early exercise, no second chance

[Chorus]
S for Stock price, X for Strike
R is the Risk-free rate we like
T for Time until it ends
Sigma's volatility, our five best friends
European options, exercise at expiration
No dividends paid, constant variation
BSM assumptions keep it clean and tight
Pricing options with mathematical sight

[Outro]
Black Scholes Merton, Nobel Prize winning
Foundation for derivatives trading
Five simple inputs, complex solution
Financial markets' greatest equation

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