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Question 125  option, speculation, market efficiency

Suppose that the US government recently announced that subsidies for fresh milk producers will be gradually phased out over the next year. Newspapers say that there are expectations of a 40% increase in the spot price of fresh milk over the next year.

Option prices on fresh milk trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) reflect expectations of this 40% increase in spot prices over the next year. Similarly to the rest of the market, you believe that prices will rise by 40% over the next year.

What option trades are likely to be profitable, or to be more specific, result in a positive Net Present Value (NPV)?

Assume that:

  • Only the spot price is expected to increase and there is no change in expected volatility or other variables that affect option prices.
  • No taxes, transaction costs, information asymmetry, bid-ask spreads or other market frictions.



Question 421  takeover

Acquirer firm plans to launch a takeover of Target firm. The deal is expected to create a present value of synergies totaling $105 million. A scrip offer will be made that pays the fair price for the target's shares plus 75% of the total synergy value.

Firms Involved in the Takeover
Acquirer Target
Assets ($m) 6,000 700
Debt ($m) 4,800 400
Share price ($) 40 20
Number of shares (m) 30 15
 

Ignore transaction costs and fees. Assume that the firms' debt and equity are fairly priced, and that each firms' debts' risk, yield and values remain constant. The acquisition is planned to occur immediately, so ignore the time value of money.

Calculate the merged firm's share price and total number of shares after the takeover has been completed.



Question 501  NPV, IRR, pay back period

The below graph shows a project's net present value (NPV) against its annual discount rate.

Which of the following statements is NOT correct?



Question 562  covariance

What is the covariance of a variable X with itself?

The cov(X, X) or ##\sigma_{X,X}## equals:



Question 609  debt terminology

You deposit cash into your bank account. Have you or debt?


Question 624  franking credit, personal tax on dividends, imputation tax system, no explanation

Which of the following statements about Australian franking credits is NOT correct? Franking credits:



Question 668  buy and hold, market efficiency, idiom

A quote from the famous investor Warren Buffet: "Much success can be attributed to inactivity. Most investors cannot resist the temptation to constantly buy and sell."

Buffet is referring to the buy-and-hold strategy which is to buy and never sell shares. Which of the following is a disadvantage of a buy-and-hold strategy? Assume that share markets are semi-strong form efficient. Which of the following is NOT an advantage of the strict buy-and-hold strategy? A disadvantage of the buy-and-hold strategy is that it reduces:



Question 719  mean and median returns, return distribution, arithmetic and geometric averages, continuously compounding rate

A stock has an arithmetic average continuously compounded return (AALGDR) of 10% pa, a standard deviation of continuously compounded returns (SDLGDR) of 80% pa and current stock price of $1. Assume that stock prices are log-normally distributed. The graph below summarises this information and provides some helpful formulas.

graph

In one year, what do you expect the median and mean prices to be? The answer options are given in the same order.



Question 801  negative gearing, leverage, capital structure, no explanation

The following steps set out the process of ‘negative gearing’ an investment property in Australia. Which of these steps or statements is NOT correct? To successfully achieve negative gearing on an investment property:



Question 983  corporate financial decision theory, DuPont formula, accounting ratio

A company manager is thinking about the firm's book assets-to-equity ratio, also called the 'equity multiplier' in the DuPont formula:

###\text{Equity multiplier} = \dfrac{\text{Total Assets}}{\text{Owners' Equity}}###

What's the name of the decision that the manager is thinking about? In other words, the assets-to-equity ratio is the main subject of what decision?

Note: DuPont formula for analysing book return on equity:

###\begin{aligned} \text{ROE} &= \dfrac{\text{Net Profit}}{\text{Sales}} \times \dfrac{\text{Sales}}{\text{Total Assets}} \times \dfrac{\text{Total Assets}}{\text{Owners' Equity}} \\ &= \text{Net profit margin} \times \text{Total asset turnover} \times \text{Equity multiplier} \\ \end{aligned}###