Garman-Klass-Yang-Zhang Historical Volatility Calculation – Volatility Analysis in Python

Follow us on LinkedIn

In the previous post, we introduced the Garman-Klass volatility estimator that takes into account the high, low, open, and closing prices of a stock. In this installment, we present an extension of the Garman-Klass volatility estimator that also takes into consideration overnight jumps.

Garman-Klass-Yang-Zhang (GKYZ) volatility estimator consists of using the returns of open, high, low, and closing prices in its calculation. It also uses the previous day’s closing price.  It is calculated as follows,

volatility trading strategies in python

where hi denotes the daily high price, li is the daily low price, ci is the daily closing price and oi is the daily opening price of the stock at day i.

We implemented the above equation in Python. We downloaded SPY data from Yahoo finance and calculated the GKYZ historical volatility using the Python program. The picture below shows the GKYZ historical volatility of SPY from March 2015 to March 2020.

Garman-Klass-Yang-Zhang Historical Volatility Trading Strategy

We note that the GKYZ volatility estimator takes into account overnight jumps but not the trend, i.e. it assumes that the underlying asset follows a GBM process with zero drift. Therefore the GKYZ volatility estimator tends to overestimate the volatility when the drift is different from zero. However, for a GBM process, this estimator is eight times more efficient than the close-to-close volatility estimator.

Also check out Historical Volatility Online Calculator.

Further questions

What's your question? Ask it in the discussion forum

Have an answer to the questions below? Post it here or in the forum

LATEST NEWSDeutsche Telekom executives sell over $57 million in T-Mobile US stock
Deutsche Telekom executives sell over $57 million in T-Mobile US stock
Stay up-to-date with the latest news - click here
LATEST NEWSFDA approves Takeda's ENTYVIO for Crohn's disease
FDA approves Takeda's ENTYVIO for Crohn's disease
Stay up-to-date with the latest news - click here
LATEST NEWSFair Isaac CEO William Lansing sells over $9 million in company stock
Fair Isaac CEO William Lansing sells over $9 million in company stock
Stay up-to-date with the latest news - click here
LATEST NEWSUkraine seeks G7, NATO help for battered air defences
Ukraine seeks G7, NATO help for battered air defences
Stay up-to-date with the latest news - click here
LATEST NEWSEarnings call: S&T Bancorp beats Q1 estimates, sees steady growth
Earnings call: S&T Bancorp beats Q1 estimates, sees steady growth
Stay up-to-date with the latest news - click here

8 Comments

Leave a Reply to Sergey Cancel reply