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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 83 portfolio risk, standard deviation

Portfolio Details
Stock	Expected return	Standard deviation	Correlation ##(\rho_{A,B})##	Dollars invested
A	0.1	0.4	0.5	60
B	0.2	0.6	0.5	140

What is the standard deviation (not variance) of returns of the above portfolio?

Question 230 bond pricing, capital raising

A firm wishes to raise $10 million now. They will issue 6% pa semi-annual coupon bonds that will mature in 8 years and have a face value of $1,000 each. Bond yields are 10% pa, given as an APR compounding every 6 months, and the yield curve is flat.

How many bonds should the firm issue? All numbers are rounded up.

Question 365 DDM, stock pricing

Stocks in the United States usually pay quarterly dividends. For example, the software giant Microsoft paid a $0.23 dividend every quarter over the 2013 financial year and plans to pay a $0.28 dividend every quarter over the 2014 financial year.

Using the dividend discount model and net present value techniques, calculate the stock price of Microsoft assuming that:

The time now is the beginning of July 2014. The next dividend of $0.28 will be received in 3 months (end of September 2014), with another 3 quarterly payments of $0.28 after this (end of December 2014, March 2015 and June 2015).
The quarterly dividend will increase by 2.5% every year, but each quarterly dividend over the year will be equal. So each quarterly dividend paid in the financial year beginning in September 2015 will be $ 0.287 ##(=0.28×(1+0.025)^1)##, with the last at the end of June 2016. In the next financial year beginning in September 2016 each quarterly dividend will be $0.294175 ##(=0.28×(1+0.025)^2)##, with the last at the end of June 2017, and so on forever.
The total required return on equity is 6% pa.
The required return and growth rate are given as effective annual rates.
Dividend payment dates and ex-dividend dates are at the same time.
Remember that there are 4 quarters in a year and 3 months in a quarter.

What is the current stock price?

Question 651 future

Which of the following statements about futures is NOT correct?

Question 658 CFFA, income statement, balance sheet, no explanation

To value a business's assets, the free cash flow of the firm (FCFF, also called CFFA) needs to be calculated. This requires figures from the firm's income statement and balance sheet. For what figures is the income statement needed? Note that the income statement is sometimes also called the profit and loss, P&L, or statement of financial performance.

Question 677 option, option profit, no explanation

Which of the below formulas gives the profit ##(\pi)## from being long a put option? Let the underlying asset price at maturity be ##S_T##, the exercise price be ##X_T## and the option price be ##f_{LP,0}##. Note that ##S_T##, ##X_T## and ##f_{LP,0}## are all positive numbers.

Question 717 return distribution

The below three graphs show probability density functions (PDF) of three different random variables Red, Green and Blue. Let ##P_1## be the unknown price of a stock in one year. ##P_1## is a random variable. Let ##P_0 = 1##, so the share price now is $1. This one dollar is a constant, it is not a variable.

Which of the below statements is NOT correct? Financial practitioners commonly assume that the shape of the PDF represented in the colour:

Question 813 market efficiency

The famous investor Warren Buffett is one of few portfolio managers who appears to have consistently beaten the market. His company Berkshire Hathaway (BRK) appears to have outperformed the US S&P500 market index, shown in the graph below.

Read the below statements about Warren Buffett and the implications for the Efficient Markets Hypothesis (EMH) theory of Eugene Fama. Assume that the first sentence is true. Analyse the second sentence and select the answer option which is NOT correct. In other words, find the false statement in the second sentence.

(a) Buffett is clever and by reading the news and financial reports he is able to buy under-priced stocks and sell over-priced stocks. This provides evidence for rejecting the semi-strong and strong form EMH.

(b) Buffett was lucky, his strategy happened to be the right one, not due to its merits, just by chance. This provides no evidence for or against the weak, semi-strong or strong form EMH.

(c) Buffett’s investment strategy exposes investors to higher undiversifiable risk than the market and therefore deserves a higher return. This provides no evidence for or against the weak, semi-strong or strong form EMH.

(d) Buffett is an insider trader and is able to make money from his private information. This provides evidence for rejecting the semi-strong and strong form EMH. (Note: Warren Buffett is not an insider trader, he is an honest philanthropist, but assume the contrary in this answer option).

(e) Buffett may not have beaten the market because the graphs ignore dividends - the S&P500 is the price index rather than the accumulation index and BRK pays no dividends, so even though BRK has a higher capital return than the S&P500, the total returns could be equal. This provides no evidence for or against the weak, semi-strong or strong form EMH.

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?