Fight Finance

Question 178  bond pricing, premium par and discount bonds

Which one of the following bonds is trading at a discount?

(a) a ten-year bond with a $4000 face value whose yield to maturity is 6.0% and coupon rate is 6.5% paid semi-annually.

(b) a 6-year bond with a principal of $40,000 and a price of $45,000.

(c) a 15-year bond with a $10,000 face value whose yield to maturity is 8.0% and coupon rate is 10.0% paid semi-annually.

(d) a two-year bond with a $50,000 face value whose yield to maturity is 5.2% and coupon rate is 5.2% paid semi-annually.

(e) None of the above bonds are discount bonds.

Question 285  covariance, portfolio risk

Two risky stocks A and B comprise an equal-weighted portfolio. The correlation between the stocks' returns is 70%.

If the variance of stock A's returns increases but the:

• Prices and expected returns of each stock stays the same,
• Variance of stock B's returns stays the same,
• Correlation of returns between the stocks stays the same.

Which of the following statements is NOT correct?

(a) The variance of the portfolio returns will increase.

(b) The standard deviation of the portfolio returns will increase.

(c) The covariance of returns between stocks A and B will stay the same.

(d) The portfolio expected return will stay the same.

(e) The portfolio value will stay the same.

Question 316  foreign exchange rate, American and European terms

If the AUD appreciates against the USD, the European terms quote of the AUD will or ?

Question 369  interest tax shield, CFFA

One formula for calculating a levered firm's free cash flow (FFCF, or CFFA) is to use earnings before interest and tax (EBIT).

###\begin{aligned} FFCF &= (EBIT)(1-t_c) + Depr - CapEx -\Delta NWC + IntExp.t_c \\ &= (Rev - COGS - Depr - FC)(1-t_c) + Depr - CapEx -\Delta NWC + IntExp.t_c \\ \end{aligned} \\###

Does this annual FFCF or the annual interest tax shield?

Question 471  risk, accounting ratio

High risk firms in danger of bankruptcy tend to have:

(a) Low debt to assets ratios.

(b) High quick ratios.

(c) Low interest coverage ratios.

(d) Positive amounts of net working capital.

(e) High net profit margins.

Question 732  real and nominal returns and cash flows, inflation, income and capital returns

An investor bought a bond for $100 (at t=0) and one year later it paid its annual coupon of $1 (at t=1). Just after the coupon was paid, the bond price was $100.50 (at t=1). Inflation over the past year (from t=0 to t=1) was 3% pa, given as an effective annual rate.

Which of the following statements is NOT correct? The bond investment produced a:

(a) Nominal income return of 1% pa ##\left( =\dfrac{1}{100} \right)##.

(b) Nominal capital return of 0.5% pa ##\left( =\dfrac{100.5-100}{100} \right)##.

(c) Nominal total return of 1.5% pa ##\left( =\dfrac{100.5-100+1}{100} \right)##.

(d) Real income return of 0.9708738% pa##\left( =\dfrac{ 1/(1+0.03)^1}{100} \right)##.

(e) Real capital return of 0.4854369% pa ##\left( =\dfrac{ (100.5-100)/(1+0.03)^1}{100} \right) ##.

Question 761  NPV, annuity due, no explanation

The phone company Optus have 2 mobile service plans on offer which both have the same amount of phone call, text message and internet data credit. Both plans have a contract length of 24 months and the monthly cost is payable in advance. The only difference between the two plans is that one is a:

• 'Bring Your Own' (BYO) mobile service plan, costing $80 per month. There is no phone included in this plan. The other plan is a:
• 'Bundled' mobile service plan that comes with the latest smart phone, costing $100 per month. This plan includes the latest smart phone.

Neither plan has any additional payments at the start or end. Assume that the discount rate is 1% per month given as an effective monthly rate.

The only difference between the plans is the phone, so what is the implied cost of the phone as a present value? Given that the latest smart phone actually costs $600 to purchase outright from another retailer, should you commit to the BYO plan or the bundled plan?

(a) $480, so the bundled plan is best.

(b) $462.94, so the BYO plan is best.

(c) $429.12, so the bundled plan is best.

(d) $424.87, so the BYO plan is best.

(e) $420.66, so the bundled plan is best.

Question 855  cash cycle, accounting ratio

The below diagram shows a firm’s cash cycle.

Which of the following statements about companies’ cash cycle is NOT correct?

(a) The cash cycle is typically measured in days.

(b) The lower the cash cycle, the better.

(c) The cash cycle represents the time that money is invested or ‘tied up’ in inventory.

(d) Companies should avoid negative cash cycles.

(e) The cash cycle is the time between the inventory payment date to the supplier and cash receipt date from the customer.

Question 876  foreign exchange rate, forward foreign exchange rate, cross currency interest rate parity

Suppose the yield curve in the USA and Germany is flat and the:

• USD federal funds rate at the Federal Reserve is 1% pa;
• EUR deposit facility at the European Central Bank is -0.4% pa (note the negative sign);
• Spot EUR exchange rate is 1 USD per EUR;
• One year forward EUR exchange rate is 1.011 USD per EUR.

You suspect that there’s an arbitrage opportunity. Which one of the following statements about the potential arbitrage opportunity is NOT correct?

(a) Right now, borrow USD in America, convert it into EUR at the spot, lend it in Germany and lock in to buy USD and sell EUR forward one year. One year later, withdraw the EUR, convert it into USD and pay back the USD loan.

(b) American debt may be under-priced, buy it.

(c) German debt may be over-priced, sell it.

(d) The spot EUR may be over-priced compared to the USD, sell the EUR now.

(e) The forward EUR may be under-priced compared to the USD, lock in to buy the EUR in one year.

Question 903  option, Black-Scholes-Merton option pricing, option on stock index

A six month European-style call option on the S&P500 stock index has a strike price of 2800 points.

The underlying S&P500 stock index currently trades at 2700 points, has a continuously compounded dividend yield of 2% pa and a standard deviation of continuously compounded returns of 25% pa.

The risk-free interest rate is 5% pa continuously compounded.

Use the Black-Scholes-Merton formula to calculate the option price. The call option price now is:

(a) 162.83 points

(b) 220.56 points

(c) 226.43 points

(d) 230.91 points

(e) 317.45 points