The Quant Quarterly is the journal of the Financial Mathematics (FM) Graduate Program at NC State University. Each edition highlights the latest program news and events, students’ articles, project reports and research, as well as interviews with FM faculty, staff and alumni.
Excerpts from Volume 2026, Issue 2, our latest edition:
“Projects like this are a major reason I chose to pursue the MFM program at NC State. They provide an opportunity to apply mathematical and computational tools to real financial systems while learning from peers with different perspectives. This type of collaboration is something I believe will remain extremely important as we all continue developing our careers.”
Clay Ewing
Article “Simulating the Limit Order Book: A Collaborative Quantitative Project” FM Graduate Student, Class of Fall 2026
“Every calculation at a given point in time could only draw on data available up to that exact moment. That sounds obvious, but when you are working with rolling windows, lagged variables, and forward-shifted return targets all at once, it is very easy to introduce subtle data leakage without realizing it.”
Ekaterina Finiutina
Article “Building Predictive Trading Signals: Lessons from My Alpha Research Project” FM Graduate Student, Class of Fall 2026
“Thin trading, non-synchronous returns, and regime changes can all distort beta calculations. Early in our backtesting, we found that naive beta estimates led to a portfolio that was far from truly market-neutral — its realized beta drifted away from zero during periods of market stress, precisely when neutrality matters most.”
Aahan Jain
Article “Betting Against Beta” FM Graduate Student, Class of Fall 2026
“Every live sports position on Kalshi contains embedded optionality, but almost nobody prices it that way. When you buy a binary contract that pays $1.00 if your team wins, you are not only taking a directional view. You also retain the right to sell that position at any point before settlement, exercising only when the market bid exceeds your estimate of fair value. That early-exercise asymmetry mirrors the structure of an American-style option, and drives my college basketball live trading engine.”
Isaiah Nick
Article “The Hidden Option in Prediction Markets” FM Graduate Student, Class of Fall 2026
“What truly sets this program apart is its commitment to career development; the support feels personal from the very beginning. Before classes even started, their career services department reached out to learn about my individual story and where I hoped to go. They worked with me one-on-one to shape a resume that authentically represents my skills for the roles I was targeting, offering guidance that feels tailored, not templated.”
Derek Wu
Article “A Calculated Decision: Why NC State’s MFM was The Right Fit” FM Graduate Student, Class of Fall 2026
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