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Question 20  NPV, APR, Annuity

Your friend wants to borrow $1,000 and offers to pay you back $100 in 6 months, with more $100 payments at the end of every month for another 11 months. So there will be twelve $100 payments in total. She says that 12 payments of $100 equals $1,200 so she's being generous.

If interest rates are 12% pa, given as an APR compounding monthly, what is the Net Present Value (NPV) of your friend's deal?



Question 21  income and capital returns, bond pricing

A fixed coupon bond was bought for $90 and paid its annual coupon of $3 one year later (at t=1 year). Just after the coupon was paid, the bond price was $92 (at t=1 year). What was the total return, capital return and income return? Calculate your answers as effective annual rates.

The choices are given in the same order: ## r_\text{total},r_\text{capital},r_\text{income} ##.



Question 22  NPV, perpetuity with growth, effective rate, effective rate conversion

What is the NPV of the following series of cash flows when the discount rate is 10% given as an effective annual rate?

The first payment of $90 is in 3 years, followed by payments every 6 months in perpetuity after that which shrink by 3% every 6 months. That is, the growth rate every 6 months is actually negative 3%, given as an effective 6 month rate. So the payment at ## t=3.5 ## years will be ## 90(1-0.03)^1=87.3 ##, and so on.



Question 23  bond pricing, premium par and discount bonds

Bonds X and Y are issued by the same US company. Both bonds yield 10% pa, and they have the same face value ($100), maturity, seniority, and payment frequency.

The only difference is that bond X and Y's coupon rates are 8 and 12% pa respectively. Which of the following statements is true?



Question 25  bond pricing, zero coupon bond, term structure of interest rates, forward interest rate

A European company just issued two bonds, a

  • 2 year zero coupon bond at a yield of 8% pa, and a
  • 3 year zero coupon bond at a yield of 10% pa.

What is the company's forward rate over the third year (from t=2 to t=3)? Give your answer as an effective annual rate, which is how the above bond yields are quoted.



Question 26  APR, effective rate

A European bond paying annual coupons of 6% offers a yield of 10% pa.

Convert the yield into an effective monthly rate, an effective annual rate and an effective daily rate. Assume that there are 365 days in a year.

All answers are given in the same order:

### r_\text{eff, monthly} , r_\text{eff, yearly} , r_\text{eff, daily} ###



Question 28  DDM, income and capital returns

The following equation is the Dividend Discount Model, also known as the 'Gordon Growth Model' or the 'Perpetuity with growth' equation.

### P_{0} = \frac{C_1}{r_{\text{eff}} - g_{\text{eff}}} ###

What would you call the expression ## C_1/P_0 ##?



Question 29  interest only loan

You want to buy an apartment priced at $300,000. You have saved a deposit of $30,000. The bank has agreed to lend you the $270,000 as an interest only loan with a term of 25 years. The interest rate is 12% pa and is not expected to change.

What will be your monthly payments? Remember that mortgage payments are paid in arrears (at the end of the month).



Question 31  DDM, perpetuity with growth, effective rate conversion

What is the NPV of the following series of cash flows when the discount rate is 5% given as an effective annual rate?

The first payment of $10 is in 4 years, followed by payments every 6 months forever after that which shrink by 2% every 6 months. That is, the growth rate every 6 months is actually negative 2%, given as an effective 6 month rate. So the payment at ## t=4.5 ## years will be ## 10(1-0.02)^1=9.80 ##, and so on.



Question 32  time calculation, APR

You really want to go on a back packing trip to Europe when you finish university. Currently you have $1,500 in the bank. Bank interest rates are 8% pa, given as an APR compounding per month. If the holiday will cost $2,000, how long will it take for your bank account to reach that amount?



Question 33  bond pricing, premium par and discount bonds

Bonds A and B are issued by the same company. They have the same face value, maturity, seniority and coupon payment frequency. The only difference is that bond A has a 5% coupon rate, while bond B has a 10% coupon rate. The yield curve is flat, which means that yields are expected to stay the same.

Which bond would have the higher current price?



Question 34  implicit interest rate in wholesale credit

A wholesale glass importer offers credit to its customers. Customers are given 30 days to pay for their goods, but if they pay within 5 days they will get a 1% discount.

What is the effective interest rate implicit in the discount being offered? Assume 365 days in a year and that all customers pay on either the 5th day or the 30th day. All rates given below are effective annual rates.



Question 35  bond pricing, zero coupon bond, term structure of interest rates, forward interest rate

A European company just issued two bonds, a

  • 1 year zero coupon bond at a yield of 8% pa, and a
  • 2 year zero coupon bond at a yield of 10% pa.

What is the company's forward rate over the second year (from t=1 to t=2)? Give your answer as an effective annual rate, which is how the above bond yields are quoted.



Question 38  bond pricing

A two year Government bond has a face value of $100, a yield of 0.5% and a fixed coupon rate of 0.5%, paid semi-annually. What is its price?



Question 40  DDM, perpetuity with growth

A stock is expected to pay the following dividends:

Cash Flows of a Stock
Time (yrs) 0 1 2 3 4 ...
Dividend ($) 0.00 1.00 1.05 1.10 1.15 ...
 

After year 4, the annual dividend will grow in perpetuity at 5% pa, so;

  • the dividend at t=5 will be $1.15(1+0.05),
  • the dividend at t=6 will be $1.15(1+0.05)^2, and so on.

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 three and a half years (t = 3.5)?



Question 41  DDM, income and capital returns

The following is the Dividend Discount Model (DDM) used to price stocks:

### P_0 = \frac{d_1}{r-g} ###

Assume that the assumptions of the DDM hold and that the time period is measured in years.

Which of the following is equal to the expected dividend in 3 years, ## d_3 ##?



Question 42  interest only loan

You just signed up for a 30 year interest-only mortgage with monthly payments of $3,000 per month. The interest rate is 6% pa which is not expected to change.

How much did you borrow? After 15 years, just after the 180th payment at that time, how much will be owing on the mortgage? The interest rate is still 6% and is not expected to change. Remember that the mortgage is interest-only and that mortgage payments are paid in arrears (at the end of the month).



Question 43  pay back period

A project to build a toll road will take 3 years to complete, costing three payments of $50 million, paid at the start of each year (at times 0, 1, and 2).

After completion, the toll road will yield a constant $10 million at the end of each year forever with no costs. So the first payment will be at t=4.

The required return of the project is 10% pa given as an effective nominal rate. All cash flows are nominal.

What is the payback period?



Question 44  NPV

The required return of a project is 10%, given as an effective annual rate. Assume that the cash flows shown in the table are paid all at once at the given point in time.

What is the Net Present Value (NPV) of the project?

Project Cash Flows
Time (yrs) Cash flow ($)
0 -100
1 0
2 121
 



Question 45  profitability index

The required return of a project is 10%, given as an effective annual rate. Assume that the cash flows shown in the table are paid all at once at the given point in time.

What is the Profitability Index (PI) of the project?

Project Cash Flows
Time (yrs) Cash flow ($)
0 -100
1 0
2 121
 



Question 46  NPV, annuity due

The phone company Telstra 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 $50 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 $71 per month. This plan includes the latest smart phone.

Neither plan has any additional payments at the start or end.

The only difference between the plans is the phone, so what is the implied cost of the phone as a present value?

Assume that the discount rate is 2% per month given as an effective monthly rate, the same high interest rate on credit cards.



Question 47  implicit interest rate in wholesale credit

A wholesale horticulture nursery offers credit to its customers.

Customers are given 60 days to pay for their goods, but if they pay immediately they will get a 3% discount.

What is the effective interest rate implicit in the discount being offered? Assume 365 days in a year and that all customers pay either immediately or on the 60th day. All rates given below are effective annual rates.



Question 48  IRR, NPV, bond pricing, premium par and discount bonds, market efficiency

The theory of fixed interest bond pricing is an application of the theory of Net Present Value (NPV). Also, a 'fairly priced' asset is not over- or under-priced. Buying or selling a fairly priced asset has an NPV of zero.

Considering this, which of the following statements is NOT correct?



Question 51  DDM

A stock pays semi-annual dividends. It just paid a dividend of $10. The growth rate in the dividend is 1% every 6 months, given as an effective 6 month rate. You estimate that the stock's required return is 21% pa, as an effective annual rate.

Using the dividend discount model, what will be the share price?



Question 52  IRR, pay back period

A three year project's NPV is negative. The cash flows of the project include a negative cash flow at the very start and positive cash flows over its short life. The required return of the project is 10% pa. Select the most correct statement.



Question 53  bond pricing

A two year Government bond has a face value of $100, a yield of 2.5% pa and a fixed coupon rate of 0.5% pa, paid semi-annually. What is its price?



Question 54  NPV, DDM

A stock is expected to pay the following dividends:

Cash Flows of a Stock
Time (yrs) 0 1 2 3 4 ...
Dividend ($) 0.00 1.15 1.10 1.05 1.00 ...
 

After year 4, the annual dividend will grow in perpetuity at -5% pa. Note that this is a negative growth rate, so the dividend will actually shrink. So,

  • the dividend at t=5 will be ##$1(1-0.05) = $0.95##,
  • the dividend at t=6 will be ##$1(1-0.05)^2 = $0.9025##, and so on.

The required return on the stock is 10% pa. Both the growth rate and required return are given as effective annual rates.

What is the current price of the stock?



Question 55  NPV, DDM

A stock is expected to pay the following dividends:

Cash Flows of a Stock
Time (yrs) 0 1 2 3 4 ...
Dividend ($) 0.00 1.15 1.10 1.05 1.00 ...
 

After year 4, the annual dividend will grow in perpetuity at -5% pa. Note that this is a negative growth rate, so the dividend will actually shrink. So,

  • the dividend at t=5 will be ##$1(1-0.05) = $0.95##,
  • the dividend at t=6 will be ##$1(1-0.05)^2 = $0.9025##, and so on.

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 four and a half years (t = 4.5)?



Question 56  income and capital returns, bond pricing, premium par and discount bonds

Which of the following statements about risk free government bonds is NOT correct?

Hint: Total return can be broken into income and capital returns as follows:

###\begin{aligned} r_\text{total} &= \frac{c_1}{p_0} + \frac{p_1-p_0}{p_0} \\ &= r_\text{income} + r_\text{capital} \end{aligned} ###

The capital return is the growth rate of the price.
The income return is the periodic cash flow. For a bond this is the coupon payment.


Question 58  NPV, inflation, real and nominal returns and cash flows, Annuity

A project to build a toll bridge will take two years to complete, costing three payments of $100 million at the start of each year for the next three years, that is at t=0, 1 and 2.

After completion, the toll bridge will yield a constant $50 million at the end of each year for the next 10 years. So the first payment will be at t=3 and the last at t=12. After the last payment at t=12, the bridge will be given to the government.

The required return of the project is 21% pa given as an effective annual nominal rate.

All cash flows are real and the expected inflation rate is 10% pa given as an effective annual rate. Ignore taxes.

The Net Present Value is:



Question 59  NPV

The required return of a project is 10%, given as an effective annual rate. Assume that the cash flows shown in the table are paid all at once at the given point in time.

What is the Net Present Value (NPV) of the project?

Project Cash Flows
Time (yrs) Cash flow ($)
0 -100
1 11
2 121
 



Question 60  pay back period

The required return of a project is 10%, given as an effective annual rate.

What is the payback period of the project in years?

Assume that the cash flows shown in the table are received smoothly over the year. So the $121 at time 2 is actually earned smoothly from t=1 to t=2.

Project Cash Flows
Time (yrs) Cash flow ($)
0 -100
1 11
2 121
 



Question 61  NPV

In Australia, domestic university students are allowed to buy concession tickets for the bus, train and ferry which sell at a discount of 50% to full-price tickets.

The Australian Government do not allow international university students to buy concession tickets, they have to pay the full price.

Some international students see this as unfair and they are willing to pay for fake university identification cards which have the concession sticker.

What is the most that an international student would be willing to pay for a fake identification card?

Assume that international students:

  • consider buying their fake card on the morning of the first day of university from their neighbour, just before they leave to take the train into university.
  • buy their weekly train tickets on the morning of the first day of each week.
  • ride the train to university and back home again every day seven days per week until summer holidays 40 weeks from now. The concession card only lasts for those 40 weeks. Assume that there are 52 weeks in the year for the purpose of interest rate conversion.
  • a single full-priced one-way train ride costs $5.
  • have a discount rate of 11% pa, given as an effective annual rate.

Approach this question from a purely financial view point, ignoring the illegality, embarrassment and the morality of committing fraud.



Question 62  implicit interest rate in wholesale credit

A wholesale building supplies business offers credit to its customers. Customers are given 60 days to pay for their goods, but if they pay within 7 days they will get a 2% discount.

What is the effective interest rate implicit in the discount being offered?

Assume 365 days in a year and that all customers pay on either the 7th day or the 60th day. All rates given below are effective annual rates.



Question 63  bond pricing, NPV, market efficiency

The theory of fixed interest bond pricing is an application of the theory of Net Present Value (NPV). Also, a 'fairly priced' asset is not over- or under-priced. Buying or selling a fairly priced asset has an NPV of zero.

Considering this, which of the following statements is NOT correct?



Question 65  annuity with growth, needs refinement

Which of the below formulas gives the present value of an annuity with growth?


Hint: The equation of a perpetuity without growth is: ###V_\text{0, perp without growth} = \frac{C_\text{1}}{r}###

The formula for the present value of an annuity without growth is derived from the formula for a perpetuity without growth.

The idea is than an annuity with T payments from t=1 to T inclusive is equivalent to a perpetuity starting at t=1 with fixed positive cash flows, plus a perpetuity starting T periods later (t=T+1) with fixed negative cash flows. The positive and negative cash flows after time period T cancel each other out, leaving the positive cash flows between t=1 to T, which is the annuity.

###\begin{aligned} V_\text{0, annuity} &= V_\text{0, perp without growth from t=1} - V_\text{0, perp without growth from t=T+1} \\ &= \dfrac{C_\text{1}}{r} - \dfrac{ \left( \dfrac{C_\text{T+1}}{r} \right) }{(1+r)^T} \\ &= \dfrac{C_\text{1}}{r} - \dfrac{ \left( \dfrac{C_\text{1}}{r} \right) }{(1+r)^T} \\ &= \dfrac{C_\text{1}}{r}\left(1 - \dfrac{1}{(1+r)^T}\right) \\ \end{aligned}###

The equation of a perpetuity with growth is:

###V_\text{0, perp with growth} = \dfrac{C_\text{1}}{r-g}###

Question 66  CAPM, SML

Government bonds currently have a return of 5% pa. A stock has an expected return of 6% pa and the market return is 7% pa. What is the beta of the stock?



Question 67  CFFA, interest tax shield

Here are the Net Income (NI) and Cash Flow From Assets (CFFA) equations:

###NI=(Rev-COGS-FC-Depr-IntExp).(1-t_c)###

###CFFA=NI+Depr-CapEx - \varDelta NWC+IntExp###

What is the formula for calculating annual interest expense (IntExp) which is used in the equations above?

Select one of the following answers. Note that D is the value of debt which is constant through time, and ##r_D## is the cost of debt.



Question 72  CAPM, portfolio beta, portfolio risk

Portfolio Details
Stock Expected
return
Standard
deviation
Correlation Beta Dollars
invested
A 0.2 0.4 0.12 0.5 40
B 0.3 0.8 1.5 80
 

What is the beta of the above portfolio?



Question 73  portfolio risk, standard deviation

Portfolio Details
Stock Expected
return
Standard
deviation
Covariance ##(\sigma_{A,B})## Beta Dollars
invested
A 0.2 0.4 0.12 0.5 40
B 0.3 0.8 1.5 80
 

What is the standard deviation (not variance) of the above portfolio? Note that the stocks' covariance is given, not correlation.



Question 74  WACC, capital structure, CAPM

A firm's weighted average cost of capital before tax (##r_\text{WACC before tax}##) would increase due to:



Question 77  interest tax shield

The equations for Net Income (NI, also known as Earnings or Net Profit After Tax) and Cash Flow From Assets (CFFA, also known as Free Cash Flow to the Firm) per year are:

###NI=(Rev-COGS-FC-Depr-IntExp).(1-t_c)###

###CFFA=NI+Depr-CapEx - \varDelta NWC+IntExp###

For a firm with debt, what is the amount of the interest tax shield per year?



Question 110  CAPM, SML, NPV

The security market line (SML) shows the relationship between beta and expected return.

Buying investment projects that plot above the SML would lead to:



Question 79  CAPM, risk

Which statement is the most correct?



Question 80  CAPM, risk, diversification

Diversification is achieved by investing in a large amount of stocks. What type of risk is reduced by diversification?



Question 81  risk, correlation, diversification

Stock A and B's returns have a correlation of 0.3. Which statement is NOT correct?



Question 82  portfolio return

Portfolio Details
Stock Expected
return
Standard
deviation
Correlation Dollars
invested
A 0.1 0.4 0.5 60
B 0.2 0.6 140
 

What is the expected return of the above portfolio?



Question 84  WACC, capital structure, capital budgeting

A firm is considering a new project of similar risk to the current risk of the firm. This project will expand its existing business. The cash flows of the project have been calculated assuming that there is no interest expense. In other words, the cash flows assume that the project is all-equity financed.

In fact the firm has a target debt-to-equity ratio of 1, so the project will be financed with 50% debt and 50% equity. To find the levered value of the firm's assets, what discount rate should be applied to the project's unlevered cash flows? Assume a classical tax system.



Question 85  WACC, CAPM

A company has:

  • 140 million shares outstanding.
  • The market price of one share is currently $2.
  • The company's debentures are publicly traded and their market price is equal to 93% of the face value.
  • The debentures have a total face value of $50,000,000 and the current yield to maturity of corporate debentures is 12% per annum.
  • The risk-free rate is 8.50% and the market return is 13.7%.
  • Market analysts estimated that the company's stock has a beta of 0.90.
  • The corporate tax rate is 30%.

What is the company's after-tax weighted average cost of capital (WACC) in a classical tax system?



Question 86  CAPM

Treasury bonds currently have a return of 5% pa. A stock has a beta of 0.5 and the market return is 10% pa. What is the expected return of the stock?



Question 87  fully amortising loan, APR

You want to buy an apartment worth $500,000. You have saved a deposit of $50,000. The bank has agreed to lend you the $450,000 as a fully amortising mortgage loan with a term of 25 years. The interest rate is 6% pa and is not expected to change.

What will be your monthly payments?



Question 88  WACC, CAPM

A firm can issue 3 year annual coupon bonds at a yield of 10% pa and a coupon rate of 8% pa.

The beta of its levered equity is 2. The market's expected return is 10% pa and 3 year government bonds yield 6% pa with a coupon rate of 4% pa.

The market value of equity is $1 million and the market value of debt is $1 million. The corporate tax rate is 30%.

What is the firm's after-tax WACC? Assume a classical tax system.



Question 90  CAPM, risk

According to the theory of the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), total variance can be broken into two components, systematic variance and idiosyncratic variance. Which of the following events would be considered the most diversifiable according to the theory of the CAPM?



Question 91  WACC, capital structure

A firm has a debt-to-assets ratio of 50%. The firm then issues a large amount of equity to raise money for new projects of similar systematic risk to the company's existing projects. Assume a classical tax system. Which statement is correct?



Question 136  income and capital returns

A stock was bought for $8 and paid a dividend of $0.50 one year later (at t=1 year). Just after the dividend was paid, the stock price was $7 (at t=1 year).

What were the total, capital and dividend returns given as effective annual rates? The choices are given in the same order:

##r_\text{total}##, ##r_\text{capital}##, ##r_\text{dividend}##.



Question 509  bond pricing

Calculate the price of a newly issued ten year bond with a face value of $100, a yield of 8% pa and a fixed coupon rate of 6% pa, paid annually. So there's only one coupon per year, paid in arrears every year.



Question 742  price gains and returns over time, no explanation

For an asset's price to quintuple (be five times as big, say from $1 to $5) every 5 years, what must be its effective annual capital return?



Question 129  debt terminology

An 'interest rate' is the same thing as a 'coupon rate'. or ?


Question 149  fully amortising loan, APR

You want to buy an apartment priced at $500,000. You have saved a deposit of $50,000. The bank has agreed to lend you the $450,000 as a fully amortising loan with a term of 30 years. The interest rate is 6% pa and is not expected to change. What will be your monthly payments?



Question 257  bond pricing

A 10 year bond has a face value of $100, a yield of 6% pa and a fixed coupon rate of 8% pa, paid semi-annually. What is its price?



Question 481  Annuity

This annuity formula ##\dfrac{C_1}{r}\left(1-\dfrac{1}{(1+r)^3} \right)## is equivalent to which of the following formulas? Note the 3.

In the below formulas, ##C_t## is a cash flow at time t. All of the cash flows are equal, but paid at different times.



Question 97  WACC, no explanation

A company has:

  • 10 million common shares outstanding, each trading at a price of $90.
  • 1 million preferred shares which have a face (or par) value of $100 and pay a constant dividend of 9% of par. They currently trade at a price of $120 each.
  • Debentures that have a total face value of $60,000,000 and a yield to maturity of 6% per annum. They are publicly traded and their market price is equal to 90% of their face value.
  • The risk-free rate is 5% and the market return is 10%.
  • Market analysts estimate that the company's common stock has a beta of 1.2. The corporate tax rate is 30%.

What is the company's after-tax Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC)? Assume a classical tax system.



Question 905  market capitalisation of equity, PE ratio, payout ratio

The below graph shows the computer software company Microsoft's stock price (MSFT) at the market close on the NASDAQ on Friday 1 June 2018.

Based on the screenshot above, which of the following statements about MSFT is NOT correct? MSFT's:



Question 868  cash cycle

What is the Cash Conversion Cycle for a firm with a:

  • Payables period of 1 day;
  • Inventory period of 50 days; and
  • Receivables period of 30 days?

All answer options are in days:



Question 863  option, binomial option pricing

A one year European-style call option has a strike price of $4. The option's underlying stock pays no dividends and currently trades at $5. The risk-free interest rate is 10% pa continuously compounded. Use a single step binomial tree to calculate the option price, assuming that the price could rise to $8 ##(u = 1.6)## or fall to $3.125 ##(d = 1/1.6)## in one year. The call option price now is:



Question 864  option, binomial option pricing

A one year European-style put option has a strike price of $4. The option's underlying stock pays no dividends and currently trades at $5. The risk-free interest rate is 10% pa continuously compounded. Use a single step binomial tree to calculate the option price, assuming that the price could rise to $8 ##(u = 1.6)## or fall to $3.125 ##(d = 1/1.6)## in one year. The put option price now is:



Question 690  option

A trader just bought a European style put option on CBA stock. The current option premium is $2, the exercise price is $75, the option matures in one year and the spot CBA stock price is $74.

Which of the following statements is NOT correct?



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 595  future, continuously compounding rate

A 2-year futures contract on a stock paying a continuous dividend yield of 3% pa was bought when the underlying stock price was $10 and the risk free rate was 10% per annum with continuous compounding. Assume that investors are risk-neutral, so the stock's total required return is the risk free rate.

Find the forward price ##(F_2)## and value of the contract ##(V_0)## initially. Also find the value of the contract in 6 months ##(V_{0.5})## if the stock price rose to $12.



Question 634  continuously compounding rate

A $100 stock has a continuously compounded expected total return of 10% pa. Its dividend yield is 2% pa with continuous compounding. What do you expect its price to be in one year?



Question 635  continuously compounding rate

A $100 stock has a continuously compounded expected total return of 10% pa. Its dividend yield is 2% pa with continuous compounding. What do you expect its price to be in 2.5 years?



Question 652  future, continuously compounding rate

An equity index is currently at 5,200 points. The 6 month futures price is 5,300 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 691  continuously compounding rate, effective rate, continuously compounding rate conversion, no explanation

A bank quotes an interest rate of 6% pa with quarterly compounding. Note that another way of stating this rate is that it is an annual percentage rate (APR) compounding discretely every 3 months.

Which of the following statements about this rate is NOT correct? All percentages are given to 6 decimal places. The equivalent:



Question 707  continuously compounding rate, continuously compounding rate conversion

Convert a 10% effective annual rate ##(r_\text{eff annual})## into a continuously compounded annual rate ##(r_\text{cc annual})##. The equivalent continuously compounded annual rate is:



Question 708  continuously compounding rate, continuously compounding rate conversion

Convert a 10% continuously compounded annual rate ##(r_\text{cc annual})## into an effective annual rate ##(r_\text{eff annual})##. The equivalent effective annual rate is:



Question 709  continuously compounding rate, APR

Which of the following interest rate quotes is NOT equivalent to a 10% effective annual rate of return? Assume that each year has 12 months, each month has 30 days, each day has 24 hours, each hour has 60 minutes and each minute has 60 seconds. APR stands for Annualised Percentage Rate.



Question 710  continuously compounding rate, continuously compounding rate conversion

A continuously compounded monthly return of 1% ##(r_\text{cc monthly})## is equivalent to a continuously compounded annual return ##(r_\text{cc annual})## of:



Question 711  continuously compounding rate, continuously compounding rate conversion

A continuously compounded semi-annual return of 5% ##(r_\text{cc 6mth})## is equivalent to a continuously compounded annual return ##(r_\text{cc annual})## of:



Question 584  option, option payoff at maturity, option profit

Which of the following statements about European call options on non-dividend paying stocks is NOT correct?



Question 826  future, basis risk, hedging

On 1 February 2016 you were told that your refinery company will need to purchase oil on 1 July 2016. You were afraid of the oil price rising between now and then so you bought some August 2016 futures contracts on 1 February 2016 to hedge against changes in the oil price. On 1 February 2016 the oil price was $40 and the August 2016 futures price was $43.

It's now 1 July 2016 and oil price is $45 and the August 2016 futures price is $46. You bought the spot oil and closed out your futures position on 1 July 2016.

What was the effective price paid for the oil, taking into account basis risk? All spot and futures oil prices quoted above and below are per barrel.



Question 827  future, basis risk, no explanation

You intend to use futures on oil to hedge the risk of purchasing oil. There is no cross-hedging risk. Oil pays no dividends but it’s costly to store. Which of the following statements about basis risk in this scenario is NOT correct?



Question 275  derivative terminology, future

The 'futures price' in a futures contract is paid at the start when the futures contract is agreed to. or ?


Question 277  derivative terminology, future

The 'initial margin', also known as the performance bond in a futures contract, is paid at the start when the futures contract is agreed to. or ?


Question 590  future, market efficiency

Which of the following statements about futures contracts on shares is NOT correct, assuming that markets are efficient?

When an equity future is first negotiated (at t=0):



Question 591  short selling, future, option

After doing extensive fundamental analysis of a company, you believe that their shares are overpriced and will soon fall significantly. The market believes that there will be no such fall.

Which of the following strategies is NOT a good idea, assuming that your prediction is true?



Question 592  future, margin call

A trader buys one December futures contract on orange juice. Each contract is for the delivery of 10,000 pounds. The current futures price is $1.20 per pound. The initial margin is $5,000 per contract, and the maintenance margin is $4,000 per contract.

What is the smallest price change would that would lead to a margin call for the buyer?



Question 640  option, future, no explanation

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



Question 641  future, no explanation

Which of the below formulas gives the payoff at maturity ##(f_T)## from being long a future? Let the underlying asset price at maturity be ##S_T## and the locked-in futures price be ##K_T##.



Question 642  future, no explanation

Which of the below formulas gives the payoff at maturity ##(f_T)## from being short a future? Let the underlying asset price at maturity be ##S_T## and the locked-in futures price be ##K_T##.



Question 643  future, no explanation

A trader buys one crude oil futures contract on the CME expiring in one year with a locked-in futures price of $38.94 per barrel. If the trader doesn’t close out her contract before expiry then in one year she will have the:



Question 644  future, no explanation

A trader sells one crude oil futures contract on the CME expiring in one year with a locked-in futures price of $38.94 per barrel. The crude oil spot price is $40.33. If the trader doesn’t close out her contract before expiry then in one year she will have the:



Question 646  open interest, trade volume, future

Alice, Bob, Chris and Delta are traders in the futures market. The following trades occur over a single day in a newly-opened equity index future that matures in one year which the exchange just made available.

1. Alice buys a future from Bob.

2. Chris buys a future from Delta.

3. Delta buys a future from Alice.

These were the only trades made in this equity index future. What was the trading volume and what is the open interest?



Question 647  open interest, trade volume, future

Alice, Bob, Chris and Delta are traders in the futures market. The following trades occur over a single day in a newly-opened equity index future that matures in one year which the exchange just made available.

1. Alice buys a future from Bob.

2. Chris buys a future from Delta.

3. Delta buys a future from Bob.

These were the only trades made in this equity index future. What was the trading volume and what is the open interest?



Question 648  margin call, future

A trader buys a one year futures contract on crude oil. The contract is for the delivery of 1,000 barrels. The current futures price is $38.94 per barrel. The initial margin is $3,410 per contract, and the maintenance margin is $3,100 per contract.

What is the smallest price change that would lead to a margin call for the buyer?



Question 649  margin call, future

A trader sells a one year futures contract on crude oil. The contract is for the delivery of 1,000 barrels. The current futures price is $38.94 per barrel. The initial margin is $3,410 per contract, and the maintenance margin is $3,100 per contract.

What is the smallest price change that would lead to a margin call for the seller?



Question 654  future, forward

Which of the following statements about futures and forward contracts is NOT correct?



Question 682  open interest, trade volume, future

Alice, Bob, Chris and Delta are traders in the futures market. The following trades occur over a single day in a newly-opened equity index future that matures in one year which the exchange just made available.

1. Alice buys a future from Bob.

2. Chris buys a future from Delta.

3. Bob buys a future from Chris.

These were the only trades made in this equity index future. What was the trading volume and what is the open interest?



Question 683  open interest, trade volume, future

Alice, Bob, Chris and Delta are traders in the futures market. The following trades occur over a single day in a newly-opened equity index future that matures in one year which the exchange just made available.

1. Alice buys a future from Bob.

2. Chris buys a future from Delta.

3. Alice buys a future from Chris.

These were the only trades made in this equity index future. What was the trading volume and what is the open interest?



Question 684  future, arbitrage, no explanation

An equity index stands at 100 points and the one year equity futures price is 102.

The equity index is expected to have a dividend yield of 4% pa. Assume that investors are risk-neutral so their total required return on the shares is the same as the risk free Treasury bond yield which is 10% pa. Both are given as discrete effective annual rates.

Assuming that the equity index is fairly priced, an arbitrageur would recognise that the equity futures are:



Question 685  future, arbitrage, no explanation

An equity index stands at 100 points and the one year equity futures price is 107.

The equity index is expected to have a dividend yield of 3% pa. Assume that investors are risk-neutral so their total required return on the shares is the same as the risk free Treasury bond yield which is 10% pa. Both are given as discrete effective annual rates.

Assuming that the equity index is fairly priced, an arbitrageur would recognise that the equity futures are:



Question 861  open interest, closing out future contract, no explanation

Alice, Bob, Chris and Delta are traders in the futures market. The following trades occur over a single day in a newly-opened equity index future that matures in one year which the exchange just made available.

1. Alice buys 2 future from Bob.

2. Chris buys 5 futures from Delta.

3. Chris buys 9 futures from Bob.

These were the only trades made in this equity index future.

Which of the following statements is NOT correct?



Question 686  future

Which of the following statements about futures is NOT correct?



Question 688  future, hedging

A pig farmer in the US is worried about the price of hogs falling and wants to lock in a price now. In one year the pig farmer intends to sell 1,000,000 pounds of hogs. Luckily, one year CME lean hog futures expire on the exact day that he wishes to sell his pigs. The futures have a notional principal of 40,000 pounds (about 18 metric tons) and currently trade at a price of 63.85 cents per pound. The underlying lean hogs spot price is 77.15 cents per pound. The correlation between the futures price and the underlying hogs price is one and the standard deviations are both 4 cents per pound. The initial margin is USD1,500 and the maintenance margin is USD1,200 per futures contract.

Which of the below statements is NOT correct?



Question 692  future, hedging, no explanation

The standard deviation of monthly changes in the spot price of corn is 50 cents per bushel. The standard deviation of monthly changes in the futures price of corn is 40 cents per bushel. The correlation between the spot price of corn and the futures price of corn is 0.9.

It is now March. A corn chip manufacturer is committed to buying 250,000 bushels of corn in May. The spot price of corn is 381 cents per bushel and the June futures price is 399 cents per bushel.

The corn chip manufacturer wants to use the June corn futures contracts to hedge his risk. Each futures contract is for the delivery of 5,000 bushels of corn. One bushel is about 127 metric tons.

How many corn futures should the corn chip manufacturer buy to hedge his risk? Round your answer to the nearest whole number of contracts. Remember to tail the hedge.



Question 783  open interest, trade volume, future

Alice, Bob, Chris and Delta are traders in the futures market. The following trades occur over a single day in a newly-opened equity index future that matures in one year which the exchange just made available.

1. Alice buys 2 futures from Bob.

2. Chris buys 3 futures from Delta.

3. Delta buys 5 futures from Alice.

Which of the following statements is NOT correct?



Question 818  option, future, no explanation

Which derivatives position has the possibility of unlimited potential gains?



Question 825  future, hedging, tailing the hedge, speculation, no explanation

An equity index fund manager controls a USD500 million diversified equity portfolio with a beta of 0.9. The equity manager expects a significant rally in equity prices next year. The market does not think that this will happen. If the fund manager wishes to increase his portfolio beta to 1.5, how many S&P500 futures should he buy?

The US market equity index is the S&P500. One year CME futures on the S&P500 currently trade at 2,155 points and the spot price is 2,180 points. Each point is worth $250.

The number of one year S&P500 futures contracts that the fund manager should buy is:



Question 828  future, future valuation, no explanation

You bought a 1.5 year (18 month) futures contract on oil. Oil storage costs are 4% pa continuously compounded and oil pays no dividends. The futures contract is entered into when the oil price is $40 per barrel and the risk-free rate of interest is 10% per annum with continuous compounding.

Which of the following statements is NOT correct?



Question 916  future, future valuation

A stock is expected to pay its semi-annual dividend of $1 per share for the foreseeable future. The current stock price is $40 and the continuously compounded risk free rate is 3% pa for all maturities. An investor has just taken a long position in a 12-month futures contract on the stock. The last dividend payment was exactly 4 months ago. Therefore the next $1 dividend is in 2 months, and the $1 dividend after is 8 months from now. Which of the following statements about this scenario is NOT correct?



Question 930  arbitrage table, future, no explanation

A non-dividend paying stock has a current price of $20.

The risk free rate is 5% pa given as a continuously compounded rate.

A 2 year futures contract on the stock has a futures price of $24.

You suspect that the futures contract is mis-priced and would like to conduct a risk-free arbitrage that requires zero capital. Which of the following steps about arbitraging the situation is NOT correct?



Question 947  arbitrage table, option, no explanation

A non-dividend paying stock has a current price of $20.

The risk free rate is 5% pa given as a continuously compounded rate.

Options on the stock are currently priced at $5 for calls and $5.55 for puts where both options have a 2 year maturity and an exercise price of $24.

You suspect that the call option contract is mis-priced and would like to conduct a risk-free arbitrage that requires zero capital. Which of the following steps about arbitraging the situation is NOT correct?



Question 819  option, derivative terminology, no explanation

Which of the following terms about options are NOT synonyms?



Question 821  option, option profit, option payoff at maturity, no explanation

You just paid $4 for a 3 month European style call option on a stock currently priced at $47 with a strike price of $50. The stock’s next dividend will be $1 in 4 months’ time. Note that the dividend is paid after the option matures. Which of the below statements is NOT correct?



Question 822  option, sunk cost, no explanation

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



Question 823  option, option payoff at maturity, option profit, no explanation

A European call option should only be exercised if:



Question 830  option, delta, gamma, no explanation

Below are some statements about European-style options on non-dividend paying stocks. Assume that the risk free rate is always positive. Which of these statements is NOT correct?



Question 831  option, American option, no explanation

Which of the following statements about American-style options is NOT correct? American-style:



Question 832  option, Black-Scholes-Merton option pricing

A 12 month European-style call option with a strike price of $11 is written on a dividend paying stock currently trading at $10. The dividend is paid annually and the next dividend is expected to be $0.40, paid in 9 months. The risk-free interest rate is 5% pa continuously compounded and the standard deviation of the stock’s continuously compounded returns is 30 percentage points pa. The stock's continuously compounded returns are normally distributed. Using the Black-Scholes-Merton option valuation model, determine which of the following statements is NOT correct.



Question 835  VaR, no explanation

A company has a 95% daily Value at Risk (VaR) of $1 million. The units of this VaR are in:



Question 790  mean and median returns, return distribution, arithmetic and geometric averages, continuously compounding rate, log-normal distribution, VaR, confidence interval

A risk manager has identified that their hedge fund’s continuously compounded portfolio returns are normally distributed with a mean of 10% pa and a standard deviation of 30% pa. The hedge fund’s portfolio is currently valued at $100 million. Assume that there is no estimation error in these figures and that the normal cumulative density function at 1.644853627 is 95%.

Which of the following statements is NOT correct? All answers are rounded to the nearest dollar.



Question 792  mean and median returns, return distribution, arithmetic and geometric averages, continuously compounding rate, log-normal distribution, confidence interval

A risk manager has identified that their investment fund’s continuously compounded portfolio returns are normally distributed with a mean of 10% pa and a standard deviation of 40% pa. The fund’s portfolio is currently valued at $1 million. Assume that there is no estimation error in the above figures. To simplify your calculations, all answers below use 2.33 as an approximation for the normal inverse cumulative density function at 99%. All answers are rounded to the nearest dollar. Assume one month is 1/12 of a year. Which of the following statements is NOT correct?



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 670  fixed for floating interest rate swap

A company can invest funds in a five year project at LIBOR plus 50 basis points pa. The five-year swap rate is 4% pa. What fixed rate of interest can the company earn over the next five years by using the swap?



Question 786  fixed for floating interest rate swap, 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 an intermediated swap (which means there will actually be two swaps) that nets a bank 0.1% and shares the remaining swap benefits between Firms A and B equally. Which of the following statements about the swap is NOT correct?



Question 787  fixed for floating interest rate swap, 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 2 L - 0.1
Firm B 2.5 L
 

 

Firm A wishes to borrow at a floating rate and Firm B wishes to borrow at a fixed rate. Design an intermediated swap (which means there will actually be two swaps) that nets a bank 0.15% and grants the remaining swap benefits to Firm A only. Which of the following statements about the swap is NOT correct?



Question 956  option, Black-Scholes-Merton option pricing, delta hedging, hedging

A bank sells a European call option on a non-dividend paying stock and delta hedges on a daily basis. Below is the result of their hedging, with columns representing consecutive days. Assume that there are 365 days per year and interest is paid daily in arrears.

Delta Hedging a Short Call using Stocks and Debt
 
Description Symbol Days to maturity (T in days)
    60 59 58 57 56 55
Spot price ($) S 10000 10125 9800 9675 10000 10000
Strike price ($) K 10000 10000 10000 10000 10000 10000
Risk free cont. comp. rate (pa) r 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05
Standard deviation of the stock's cont. comp. returns (pa) σ 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4
Option maturity (years) T 0.164384 0.161644 0.158904 0.156164 0.153425 0.150685
Delta N[d1] = dc/dS 0.552416 0.582351 0.501138 0.467885 0.550649 0.550197
Probability that S > K at maturity in risk neutral world N[d2] 0.487871 0.51878 0.437781 0.405685 0.488282 0.488387
Call option price ($) c 685.391158 750.26411 567.990995 501.487157 660.982878 ?
Stock investment value ($) N[d1]*S 5524.164129 5896.301781 4911.152036 4526.788065 5506.488143 ?
Borrowing which partly funds stock investment ($) N[d2]*K/e^(r*T) 4838.772971 5146.037671 4343.161041 4025.300909 4845.505265 ?
Interest expense from borrowing paid in arrears ($) r*N[d2]*K/e^(r*T) 0.662891 0.704985 0.594994 0.551449 ?
Gain on stock ($) N[d1]*(SNew - SOld) 69.052052 -189.264008 -62.642245 152.062648 ?
Gain on short call option ($) -1*(cNew - cOld) -64.872952 182.273114 66.503839 -159.495721 ?
Net gain ($) Gains - InterestExpense 3.516209 -7.695878 3.266599 -7.984522 ?
 
Gamma Γ = d^2c/dS^2 0.000244 0.00024 0.000255 0.00026 0.000253 0.000255
Theta θ = dc/dT 2196.873429 2227.881353 2182.174706 2151.539751 2266.589184 2285.1895
 

 

In the last column when there are 55 days left to maturity there are missing values. Which of the following statements about those missing values is NOT correct?



Question 948  VaR, expected shortfall

Below is a historical sample of returns on the S&P500 capital index.

S&P500 Capital Index Daily Returns
Ranked from Best to Worst
10,000 trading days from 4th August 1977 to
24 March 2017 based on closing prices.
Rank Date
(DD-MM-YY)
Continuously compounded
daily return (% per day)
1 21-10-87 9.23
2 08-03-83 8.97
3 13-11-08 8.3
4 30-09-08 8.09
5 28-10-08 8.01
6 29-10-87 7.28
9980 11-12-08 -5.51
9981 22-10-08 -5.51
9982 08-08-11 -5.54
9983 22-09-08 -5.64
9984 11-09-86 -5.69
9985 30-11-87 -5.88
9986 14-04-00 -5.99
9987 07-10-98 -6.06
9988 08-01-88 -6.51
9989 27-10-97 -6.55
9990 13-10-89 -6.62
9991 15-10-08 -6.71
9992 29-09-08 -6.85
9993 07-10-08 -6.91
9994 14-11-08 -7.64
9995 01-12-08 -7.79
9996 29-10-08 -8.05
9997 26-10-87 -8.4
9998 31-08-98 -8.45
9999 09-10-08 -12.9
10000 19-10-87 -23.36
 
Mean of all 10,000: 0.0354
Sample standard deviation of all 10,000: 1.2062
Sources: Bloomberg and S&P.
 

 

Assume that the one-tail Z-statistic corresponding to a probability of 99.9% is exactly 3.09. Which of the following statements is NOT correct? Based on the historical data, the 99.9% daily:



Question 791  mean and median returns, return distribution, arithmetic and geometric averages, continuously compounding rate, log-normal distribution, VaR, confidence interval

A risk manager has identified that their pension fund’s continuously compounded portfolio returns are normally distributed with a mean of 5% pa and a standard deviation of 20% pa. The fund’s portfolio is currently valued at $1 million. Assume that there is no estimation error in the above figures. To simplify your calculations, all answers below use 2.33 as an approximation for the normal inverse cumulative density function at 99%. All answers are rounded to the nearest dollar. Which of the following statements is NOT correct?



Question 906  effective rate, return types, net discrete return, return distribution, price gains and returns over time

For an asset's price to double from say $1 to $2 in one year, what must its effective annual return be? Note that an effective annual return is also called a net discrete return per annum. If the price now is ##P_0## and the price in one year is ##P_1## then the effective annul return over the next year is:

###r_\text{effective annual} = \dfrac{P_1 - P_0}{P_0} = \text{NDR}_\text{annual}###



Question 907  continuously compounding rate, return types, return distribution, price gains and returns over time

For an asset's price to double from say $1 to $2 in one year, what must its continuously compounded return ##(r_{CC})## be? If the price now is ##P_0## and the price in one year is ##P_1## then the continuously compounded return over the next year is:

###r_\text{CC annual} = \ln{\left[ \dfrac{P_1}{P_0} \right]} = \text{LGDR}_\text{annual}###



Question 908  effective rate, return types, gross discrete return, return distribution, price gains and returns over time

For an asset's price to double from say $1 to $2 in one year, what must its gross discrete return (GDR) be? If the price now is ##P_0## and the price in one year is ##P_1## then the gross discrete return over the next year is:

###\text{GDR}_\text{annual} = \dfrac{P_1}{P_0}###



Question 715  return distribution

If a variable, say X, is normally distributed with mean ##\mu## and variance ##\sigma^2## then mathematicians write ##X \sim \mathcal{N}(\mu, \sigma^2)##.

If a variable, say Y, is log-normally distributed and the underlying normal distribution has mean ##\mu## and variance ##\sigma^2## then mathematicians write ## Y \sim \mathbf{ln} \mathcal{N}(\mu, \sigma^2)##.

The below three graphs show probability density functions (PDF) of three different random variables Red, Green and Blue.

PDF graph

Select the most correct statement:



Question 925  mean and median returns, return distribution, arithmetic and geometric averages, continuously compounding rate, no explanation

The arithmetic average and standard deviation of returns on the ASX200 accumulation index over the 24 years from 31 Dec 1992 to 31 Dec 2016 were calculated as follows:

###\bar{r}_\text{yearly} = \dfrac{ \displaystyle\sum\limits_{t=1992}^{24}{\left( \ln⁡ \left( \dfrac{P_{t+1}}{P_t} \right) \right)} }{T} = \text{AALGDR} =0.0949=9.49\% \text{ pa}###

###\sigma_\text{yearly} = \dfrac{ \displaystyle\sum\limits_{t=1992}^{24}{\left( \left( \ln⁡ \left( \dfrac{P_{t+1}}{P_t} \right) - \bar{r}_\text{yearly} \right)^2 \right)} }{T} = \text{SDLGDR} = 0.1692=16.92\text{ pp pa}###

Assume that the log gross discrete returns are normally distributed and that the above estimates are true population statistics, not sample statistics, so there is no standard error in the sample mean or standard deviation estimates. Also assume that the standardised normal Z-statistic corresponding to a one-tail probability of 2.5% is exactly -1.96.

Which of the following statements is NOT correct? If you invested $1m today in the ASX200, then over the next 4 years:



Question 793  option, hedging, delta hedging, gamma hedging, gamma, Black-Scholes-Merton option pricing

A bank buys 1000 European put options on a $10 non-dividend paying stock at a strike of $12. The bank wishes to hedge this exposure. The bank can trade the underlying stocks and European call options with a strike price of 7 on the same stock with the same maturity. Details of the call and put options are given in the table below. Each call and put option is on a single stock.

European Options on a Non-dividend Paying Stock
Description Symbol Put Values Call Values
Spot price ($) ##S_0## 10 10
Strike price ($) ##K_T## 12 7
Risk free cont. comp. rate (pa) ##r## 0.05 0.05
Standard deviation of the stock's cont. comp. returns (pa) ##\sigma## 0.4 0.4
Option maturity (years) ##T## 1 1
Option price ($) ##p_0## or ##c_0## 2.495350486 3.601466138
##N[d_1]## ##\partial c/\partial S##   0.888138405
##N[d_2]## ##N[d_2]##   0.792946442
##-N[-d_1]## ##\partial p/\partial S## -0.552034778  
##N[-d_2]## ##N[-d_2]## 0.207053558  
Gamma ##\Gamma = \partial^2 c/\partial S^2## or ##\partial^2 p/\partial S^2## 0.098885989 0.047577422
Theta ##\Theta = \partial c/\partial T## or ##\partial p/\partial T## 0.348152078 0.672379961
 

 

Which of the following statements is NOT correct?



Question 720  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.

In 5 years, what do you expect the median and mean prices to be? The answer options are given in the same order.



Question 726  return distribution, mean and median returns

If a stock's expected future prices are log-normally distributed, what will be bigger, the stock's or future price? Or would you expect them to be ?


Question 714  return distribution, no explanation

Which of the following quantities is commonly assumed to be normally distributed?



Question 716  return distribution

The below three graphs show probability density functions (PDF) of three different random variables Red, Green and Blue.

PDF graph

Which of the below statements is NOT correct?



Question 724  return distribution, mean and median returns

If a stock's future expected continuously compounded annual returns are normally distributed, what will be bigger, the stock's or continuously compounded annual return? Or would you expect them to be ?


Question 725  return distribution, mean and median returns

If a stock's future expected effective annual returns are log-normally distributed, what will be bigger, the stock's or effective annual return? Or would you expect them to be ?


Question 926  mean and median returns, return distribution, arithmetic and geometric averages, continuously compounding rate

The arithmetic average continuously compounded or log gross discrete return (AALGDR) on the ASX200 accumulation index over the 24 years from 31 Dec 1992 to 31 Dec 2016 is 9.49% pa.

The arithmetic standard deviation (SDLGDR) is 16.92 percentage points pa.

Assume that the log gross discrete returns are normally distributed and that the above estimates are true population statistics, not sample statistics, so there is no standard error in the sample mean or standard deviation estimates. Also assume that the standardised normal Z-statistic corresponding to a one-tail probability of 2.5% is exactly -1.96.

If you had a $1 million fund that replicated the ASX200 accumulation index, in how many years would the median dollar value of your fund first be expected to lie outside the 95% confidence interval forecast?



Question 927  mean and median returns, mode return, return distribution, arithmetic and geometric averages, continuously compounding rate

The arithmetic average continuously compounded or log gross discrete return (AALGDR) on the ASX200 accumulation index over the 24 years from 31 Dec 1992 to 31 Dec 2016 is 9.49% pa.

The arithmetic standard deviation (SDLGDR) is 16.92 percentage points pa.

Assume that the log gross discrete returns are normally distributed and that the above estimates are true population statistics, not sample statistics, so there is no standard error in the sample mean or standard deviation estimates. Also assume that the standardised normal Z-statistic corresponding to a one-tail probability of 2.5% is exactly -1.96.

If you had a $1 million fund that replicated the ASX200 accumulation index, in how many years would the mean dollar value of your fund first be expected to lie outside the 95% confidence interval forecast?



Question 865  option, Black-Scholes-Merton option pricing

A one year European-style call option has a strike price of $4.

The option's underlying stock currently trades at $5, pays no dividends and its standard deviation of continuously compounded returns is 47% pa.

The risk-free interest rate is 10% pa continuously compounded.

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



Question 866  option, Black-Scholes-Merton option pricing

A one year European-style put option has a strike price of $4.

The option's underlying stock currently trades at $5, pays no dividends and its standard deviation of continuously compounded returns is 47% pa.

The risk-free interest rate is 10% pa continuously compounded.

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