We consider a class of infinite time horizon optimal stopping problems for spectrally negative Lévy processes. Focusing on strategies of threshold type, we write explicit expressions for the corresponding expected payoff via the scale function, and further pursue optimal candidate threshold levels. We obtain and show the equivalence of the continuous/smooth fit condition and the first-order condition for maximization over threshold levels. As examples of its applications, we give a short proof of the McKean optimal stopping problem (perpetual American put option) and solve an extension to Egami and Yamazaki (2013).

In this paper we present closed form solutions of some discounted optimal stopping problems for the maximum process in a model driven by a Brownian motion and a compound Poisson process with exponential jumps. The method of proof is based on reducing the initial problems to integro-differential free-boundary problems, where the normal-reflection and smooth-fit conditions may break down and the latter then replaced by the continuous-fit condition. We show that, under certain relationships on the parameters of the model, the optimal stopping boundary can be uniquely determined as a component of the solution of a two-dimensional system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations. The obtained results can be interpreted as pricing perpetual American lookback options with fixed and floating strikes in a jump-diffusion model.