Fight Finance

Question 185  NPV, DDM, no explanation

A stock is expected to pay the following dividends:

Cash Flows of a Stock
Time (yrs)	0	1	2	3	4	...
Dividend ($)	2	2	2	10	3	...

After year 4, the dividend will grow in perpetuity at 4% pa. The required return on the stock is 10% pa. Both the growth rate and required return are given as effective annual rates.

What will be the price of the stock in 5 years (t = 5), just after the dividend at that time has been paid?

(a) 61.5018

(b) 56.2432

(c) 54.0800

(d) 52.0000

(e) 48.0769

Question 282  expected and historical returns, income and capital returns

You're the boss of an investment bank's equities research team. Your five analysts are each trying to find the expected total return over the next year of shares in a mining company. The mining firm:

• Is regarded as a mature company since it's quite stable in size and was floated around 30 years ago. It is not a high-growth company;
• Share price is very sensitive to changes in the price of the market portfolio, economic growth, the exchange rate and commodities prices. Due to this, its standard deviation of total returns is much higher than that of the market index;
• Experienced tough times in the last 10 years due to unexpected falls in commodity prices.
• Shares are traded in an active liquid market.

Your team of analysts present their findings, and everyone has different views. While there's no definitive true answer, whose calculation of the expected total return is the most plausible? Assume that:

• The analysts' source data is correct and true, but their inferences might be wrong;
• All returns and yields are given as effective annual nominal rates.

(a) Alice says 5% pa since she calculated that this was the average total yield on government bonds over the last 10 years. She says that this is also the expected total yield implied by current prices on one year government bonds.

(b) Bob says 4% pa since he calculated that this was the average total return on the mining stock over the last 10 years.

(c) Cate says 3% pa since she calculated that this was the average growth rate of the share price over the last 10 years.

(d) Dave says 6% pa since he calculated that this was the average growth rate of the share market price index (not the accumulation index) over the last 10 years.

(e) Eve says 15% pa since she calculated that this was the discount rate implied by the dividend discount model using the current share price, forecast dividend in one year and a 3% growth rate in dividends thereafter, which is the expected long term inflation rate.

Question 300  NPV, opportunity cost

What is the net present value (NPV) of undertaking a full-time Australian undergraduate business degree as an Australian citizen? Only include the cash flows over the duration of the degree, ignore any benefits or costs of the degree after it's completed.

Assume the following:

• The degree takes 3 years to complete and all students pass all subjects.
• There are 2 semesters per year and 4 subjects per semester.
• University fees per subject per semester are $1,277, paid at the start of each semester. Fees are expected to remain constant in real terms for the next 3 years.
• There are 52 weeks per year.
• The first semester is just about to start (t=0). The first semester lasts for 19 weeks (t=0 to 19).
• The second semester starts immediately afterwards (t=19) and lasts for another 19 weeks (t=19 to 38).
• The summer holidays begin after the second semester ends and last for 14 weeks (t=38 to 52). Then the first semester begins the next year, and so on.
• Working full time at the grocery store instead of studying full-time pays $20/hr and you can work 35 hours per week. Wages are paid at the end of each week and are expected to remain constant in real terms.
• Full-time students can work full-time during the summer holiday at the grocery store for the same rate of $20/hr for 35 hours per week.
• The discount rate is 9.8% pa. All rates and cash flows are real. Inflation is expected to be 3% pa. All rates are effective annual.

The NPV of costs from undertaking the university degree is:

(a) $98,385.98

(b) $97,915.91

(c) $75,130.29

(d) $54,018.93

(e) $27,523.89

Question 342  CFFA, capital budgeting

A new company's Firm Free Cash Flow (FFCF, same as CFFA) is forecast in the graph below.

To value the firm's assets, the terminal value needs to be calculated using the perpetuity with growth formula:

###V_{\text{terminal, }t-1} = \dfrac{FFCF_{\text{terminal, }t}}{r-g}###

Which point corresponds to the best time to calculate the terminal value?

(a) Point A.

(b) Point B.

(c) Point C.

(d) Any of the points.

(e) None of the points.

Question 432  option, option intrinsic value, no explanation

An American style call option with a strike price of ##K## dollars will mature in ##T## years. The underlying asset has a price of ##S## dollars.

What is an expression for the current intrinsic value in dollars from owning (being long) the American style call option? Note that the intrinsic value of an option does not subtract the premium paid to buy the option.

(a) ##\min(S_0 - K, 0)##.

(b) ##\min(K-S_0, 0)##.

(c) ##\max(S_0-K, 0)##.

(d) ##\max(K-S_0, 0)##.

(e) ##\max(K, S_0)##.

Question 578  inflation, real and nominal returns and cash flows

Which of the following statements about inflation is NOT correct?

(a) Real returns approximately equal nominal returns less the inflation rate.

(b) Constant prices are the same as real prices.

(c) Current prices are the same as nominal prices.

(d) If your nominal wage grows by inflation, then your real wage won't change because you will be able to buy the same amount of goods and services as before.

(e) Interest rates advertised at the bank are usually quoted in real terms.

Question 640  option, future, no explanation

Which one of the below option and futures contracts gives the possibility of potentially unlimited gains?

(a) Long call contracts.

(b) Short call contracts.

(c) Long put contracts.

(d) Short put contracts.

(e) Short future contracts.

Question 744  income and capital returns, real and nominal returns and cash flows, inflation

If someone says "my shares rose by 10% last year", what do you assume that they mean? The effective annual:

(a) Historical nominal total return was 10%.

(b) Historical real total return was 10%.

(c) Expected nominal total return was 10%.

(d) Historical nominal capital return was 10%.

(e) Expected real dividend return was 10%.

Question 822  option, sunk cost, no explanation

When does a European option's last-traded market price become a sunk cost?

(a) immediately after the option purchase date.

(b) After the option matures but only if it is exercised.

(c) After the option matures but only if it lapses and is not exercised.

(d) After the option matures, regardless of whether it is exercised or not.

(e) The option price is never a sunk cost.

Question 860  idiom, hedging, speculation, arbitrage, market making, insider trading, no explanation

Which class of derivatives market trader is NOT principally focused on ‘buying low and selling high’?

(a) Hedgers.

(b) Speculators.

(c) Arbitrageurs.

(d) Market makers.

(e) Insider traders.