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Question 156  APR, effective rate

A 2 year government bond yields 5% pa with a coupon rate of 6% pa, paid semi-annually.

Find the effective six month rate, effective annual rate and the effective daily rate. Assume that each month has 30 days and that there are 360 days in a year.

All answers are given in the same order:

##r_\text{eff semi-annual}##, ##r_\text{eff yrly}##, ##r_\text{eff daily}##.



Question 247  cross currency interest rate parity, no explanation

In the so called 'Swiss Loans Affair' of the 1980's, Australian banks offered loans denominated in Swiss Francs to Australian farmers at interest rates as low as 4% pa. This was far lower than interest rates on Australian Dollar loans which were above 10% due to very high inflation in Australia at the time.

In the late-1980's there was a large depreciation in the Australian Dollar. The Australian Dollar nearly halved in value against the Swiss Franc. Many Australian farmers went bankrupt since they couldn't afford the interest payments on the Swiss Franc loans because the Australian Dollar value of those payments nearly doubled. The farmers accused the banks of promoting Swiss Franc loans without making them aware of the risks.

What fundamental principal of finance did the Australian farmers (and the bankers) fail to understand?



Question 297  implicit interest rate in wholesale credit

You just bought $100,000 worth of inventory from a wholesale supplier. You are given the option of paying within 5 days and receiving a 2% discount, or paying the full price within 60 days.

You actually don't have the cash to pay within 5 days, but you could borrow it from the bank (as an overdraft) at 10% pa, given as an effective annual rate.

In 60 days you will have enough money to pay the full cost without having to borrow from the bank.

What is the implicit interest rate charged by the wholesale supplier, given as an effective annual rate? Also, should you borrow from the bank in 5 days to pay the supplier and receive the discount? Or just pay the full price on the last possible date?

Assume that there are 365 days per year.



Question 408  leverage, portfolio beta, portfolio risk, real estate, CAPM

You just bought a house worth $1,000,000. You financed it with an $800,000 mortgage loan and a deposit of $200,000.

You estimate that:

  • The house has a beta of 1;
  • The mortgage loan has a beta of 0.2.

What is the beta of the equity (the $200,000 deposit) that you have in your house?

Also, if the risk free rate is 5% pa and the market portfolio's return is 10% pa, what is the expected return on equity in your house? Ignore taxes, assume that all cash flows (interest payments and rent) were paid and received at the end of the year, and all rates are effective annual rates.



Question 562  covariance

What is the covariance of a variable X with itself?

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



Question 653  future, continuously compounding rate

An equity index is currently at 4,800 points. The 1.5 year futures price is 5,100 points and the total required return is 6% pa with continuous compounding. Each index point is worth $25.

What is the implied dividend yield as a continuously compounded rate per annum?



Question 785  fixed for floating interest rate swap, non-intermediated swap

The below table summarises the borrowing costs confronting two companies A and B.

Bond Market Yields
  Fixed Yield to Maturity (%pa) Floating Yield (%pa)
Firm A 3 L - 0.4
Firm B 5 L + 1
 

 

Firm A wishes to borrow at a floating rate and Firm B wishes to borrow at a fixed rate. Design a non-intermediated swap that benefits firm A only. What will be the swap rate?



Question 846  monetary policy, fiscal policy

Below is the Australian central bank’s cash rate.

Graph

From 2011 to 2017 the Australian central bank has implemented:



Question 875  omitted variable bias, systematic and idiosyncratic risk, CAPM, single factor model, two factor model

The Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and the Single Index Model (SIM) are single factor models whose only risk factor is the market portfolio’s return. Say a Solar electricity generator company and a Beach bathing chair renting company are influenced by two factors, the market portfolio return and cloud cover in the sky. When it's sunny and not cloudy, both the Solar and Beach companies’ stock prices do well. When there’s dense cloud cover and no sun, both do poorly. Assume that cloud coverage risk is a systematic risk that cannot be diversified and that cloud cover has zero correlation with the market portfolio’s returns.

Which of the following statements about these two stocks is NOT correct?

The CAPM and SIM:



Question 893  balance of payments, current account

This question is about the Balance of Payments. Australia's current account as a percent of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) per annum is shown in the graph below.

Assume that all foreign and domestic assets are either debt which makes interest income or equity which makes dividend income, and vice versa for liabilities which cost interest and dividend payments, respectively.

Which of the following statements is NOT correct?