Question 246 foreign exchange rate, forward foreign exchange rate, cross currency interest rate parity
Suppose the Australian cash rate is expected to be 8.15% pa and the US federal funds rate is expected to be 3.00% pa over the next 2 years, both given as nominal effective annual rates. The current exchange rate is at parity, so 1 USD = 1 AUD.
What is the implied 2 year forward foreign exchange rate?
You just started work at your new job which pays $48,000 per year.
The human resources department have given you the option of being paid at the end of every week or every month.
Assume that there are 4 weeks per month, 12 months per year and 48 weeks per year.
Bank interest rates are 12% pa given as an APR compounding per month.
What is the dollar gain over one year, as a net present value, of being paid every week rather than every month?
In Australia in the 1980's, inflation was around 8% pa, and residential mortgage loan interest rates were around 14%.
In 2013, inflation was around 2.5% pa, and residential mortgage loan interest rates were around 4.5%.
If a person can afford constant mortgage loan payments of $2,000 per month, how much more can they borrow when interest rates are 4.5% pa compared with 14.0% pa?
Give your answer as a proportional increase over the amount you could borrow when interest rates were high ##(V_\text{high rates})##, so:
###\text{Proportional increase} = \dfrac{V_\text{low rates}-V_\text{high rates}}{V_\text{high rates}} ###
Assume that:
- Interest rates are expected to be constant over the life of the loan.
- Loans are interest-only and have a life of 30 years.
- Mortgage loan payments are made every month in arrears and all interest rates are given as annualised percentage rates (APR's) compounding per month.
The average weekly earnings of an Australian adult worker before tax was $1,542.40 per week in November 2014 according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Therefore average annual earnings before tax were $80,204.80 assuming 52 weeks per year. Personal income tax rates published by the Australian Tax Office are reproduced for the 2014-2015 financial year in the table below:
| Taxable income | Tax on this income |
|---|---|
| 0 – $18,200 | Nil |
| $18,201 – $37,000 | 19c for each $1 over $18,200 |
| $37,001 – $80,000 | $3,572 plus 32.5c for each $1 over $37,000 |
| $80,001 – $180,000 | $17,547 plus 37c for each $1 over $80,000 |
| $180,001 and over | $54,547 plus 45c for each $1 over $180,000 |
The above rates do not include the Medicare levy of 2%. Exclude the Medicare levy from your calculations
How much personal income tax would you have to pay per year if you earned $80,204.80 per annum before-tax?
A firm wishes to raise $50 million now. They will issue 5% pa semi-annual coupon bonds that will mature in 3 years and have a face value of $100 each. Bond yields are 6% pa, given as an APR compounding every 6 months, and the yield curve is flat.
How many bonds should the firm issue?
A graph of assets’ expected returns ##(\mu)## versus standard deviations ##(\sigma)## is given in the below diagram.
Each letter corresponds to a separate coloured area. The portfolios at the boundary of the areas, on the black lines, are excluded from each area. Assume that all assets represented in this graph are fairly priced, and that all risky assets can be short-sold.
Which of the following statements about this graph and Markowitz portfolio theory is NOT correct?
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 $40 per barrel and the risk-free rate of interest is 10% per annum with continuous compounding.
Which of the following statements is NOT correct?
Question 834 option, delta, theta, gamma, standard deviation, Black-Scholes-Merton option pricing
Which of the following statements about an option (either a call or put) and its underlying stock is NOT correct?
| European Call Option | ||
| on a non-dividend paying stock | ||
| Description | Symbol | Quantity |
| Spot price ($) | ##S_0## | 20 |
| Strike price ($) | ##K_T## | 18 |
| Risk free cont. comp. rate (pa) | ##r## | 0.05 |
| Standard deviation of the stock's cont. comp. returns (pa) | ##\sigma## | 0.3 |
| Option maturity (years) | ##T## | 1 |
| Call option price ($) | ##c_0## | 3.939488 |
| Delta | ##\Delta = N[d_1]## | 0.747891 |
| ##N[d_2]## | ##N[d_2]## | 0.643514 |
| Gamma | ##\Gamma## | 0.053199 |
| Theta ($/year) | ##\Theta = \partial c / \partial T## | 1.566433 |
Question 854 speculation motive for keeping money, no explanation
What is the speculation motive for keeping money? The speculation motive encourages people to keep money available:
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?