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We study a problem of finding an optimal stopping strategy to liquidate an asset with unknown drift. Taking a Bayesian approach, we model the initial beliefs of an individual about the drift by allowing an arbitrary probability distribution to characterize the uncertainty about the drift parameter. Filtering theory is used to describe the evolution of the posterior beliefs about the drift once the price process is being observed. An optimal stopping time is determined as the first passage time of the posterior mean below a monotone boundary, which can be characterized as the unique solution to a nonlinear integral equation. We also study monotonicity properties with respect to the prior distribution and the asset volatility.

Optimal liquidation of an asset with unknown constant drift and stochastic regime-switching volatility is studied. The uncertainty about the drift is represented by an arbitrary probability distribution, the stochastic volatility is modelled by m-state Markov chain. Using filtering theory, an equivalent reformulation of the original problem as a four-dimensional optimal stopping problem is found and then analysed by constructing approximating sequences of three-dimensional optimal stopping problems. An optimal liquidation strategy and various structural properties of the problem are determined. Analysis of the two-point prior case is presented in detail, building on which, an outline of the extension to the general prior case is given.

We study a classical Bayesian statistics problem of sequentially testing the sign of the drift of an arithmetic Brownian motion with the 0-1 loss function and a constant cost of observation per unit of time for general prior distributions. The statistical problem is reformulated as an optimal stopping problem with the current conditional probability that the drift is non-negative as the underlying process. The volatility of this conditional probability process is shown to be non-increasing in time, which enables us to prove monotonicity and continuity of the optimal stopping boundaries as well as to characterize them completely in the finite-horizon case as the unique continuous solution to a pair of integral equations. In the infinite-horizon case, the boundaries are shown to solve another pair of integral equations and a convergent approximation scheme for the boundaries is provided. Also, we describe the dependence between the prior distribution and the long-term asymptotic behaviour of the boundaries.

The problem of stopping a Brownian bridge with an unknown pinning point to maximise the expected value at the stopping time is studied. A few general properties, such as continuity and various bounds of the value function, are established. However, structural properties of the optimal stopping region are shown to crucially depend on the prior, and we provide a general condition for a one-sided stopping region. Moreover, a detailed analysis is conducted in the cases of the two-point and the mixed Gaussian priors, revealing a rich structure present in the problem.