Fight Finance

Question 298  interest only loan

A prospective home buyer can afford to pay $2,000 per month in mortgage loan repayments. The central bank recently lowered its policy rate by 0.25%, and residential home lenders cut their mortgage loan rates from 4.74% to 4.49%.

How much more can the prospective home buyer borrow now that interest rates are 4.49% rather than 4.74%? Give your answer as a proportional increase over the original amount he could borrow (##V_\text{before}##), so:

###\text{Proportional increase} = \frac{V_\text{after}-V_\text{before}}{V_\text{before}} ###

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 compounding per month.

(a) 0.055679

(b) 0.029631

(c) 0.029547

(d) 0.006245

(e) 0.0025

Question 403  PE ratio, no explanation

Which of the following investable assets is the LEAST suitable for valuation using PE multiples techniques?

(a) Common equity in a small private company.

(b) Common equity in a listed public company.

(c) Commercial real estate.

(d) Ten year commercial real estate lease.

(e) Residential real estate.

Question 468  PE ratio

A firm has 1 million shares which trade at a price of $30 each. The firm is expected to announce earnings of $3 million at the end of the year and pay an annual dividend of $1.50 per share.

What is the firm's (forward looking) price/earnings (PE) ratio?

(a) 20

(b) 10

(c) 3

(d) 2

(e) 0.5

Question 539  debt terminology, fully amortising loan, bond pricing

A 'fully amortising' loan can also be called a:

(a) Discount loan

(b) Par loan

(c) Premium loan

(d) Deferred repayment loan

(e) Interest only loan

Question 593  future, arbitrage table

The price of gold is currently $700 per ounce. The forward price for delivery in 1 year is $800. An arbitrageur can borrow money at 10% per annum given as an effective discrete annual rate. Assume that gold is fairly priced and the cost of storing gold is zero.

What is the best way to conduct an arbitrage in this situation? The best arbitrage strategy requires zero capital, has zero risk and makes money straight away. An arbitrageur should sell 1 forward on gold and:

(a) Borrow $636.3636 and use it to buy 0.9091 ounces of gold right now (t=0). Then pay back the loan with $700 at the end (t=1).

(b) Borrow $700 and use it to buy 1 ounce of gold right now (t=0). Then pay back the loan with $770 at the end (t=1).

(c) Borrow $727.2727 and use it to buy 1 ounce of gold right now (t=0). Then pay back the loan with $800 at the end (t=1).

(d) Borrow $800 and use it to buy 1.1039 ounces of gold right now (t=0). Then pay back the loan with $880 at the end (t=1).

(e) Borrow $880 and use it to buy 1 ounce of gold right now (t=0). Then pay back the loan with $800 at the end (t=1).

Question 700  utility, risk aversion, utility function, gamble

Mr Blue, Miss Red and Mrs Green are people with different utility functions.

Each person has $50 of initial wealth. A coin toss game is offered to each person at a casino where the player can win or lose $50. Each player can flip a coin and if they flip heads, they receive $50. If they flip tails then they will lose $50. Which of the following statements is NOT correct?

(a) Mr Blue's expected utility of wealth from gambling is 7.5 while refusing is 8.54. So the gamble makes him less happy.

(b) Miss Red's expected utility of wealth from gambling is 5 and refusing is also 5. So the gamble doesn't affect her happiness at all.

(c) Mr Blue's certainty equivalent of the risky gamble is $25. This is less than his current wealth which is why he would refuse.

(d) Miss Red's certainty equivalent of the risky gamble is any wealth. She's indifferent since she always has the same level of happiness.

(e) Mrs Green's certainty equivalent of the risky gamble is $25. This is less than her current wealth which is why she would refuse.

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:

(a) 230.258509% pa

(b) 10.536052% pa

(c) 10.517092% pa

(d) 10.468982% pa

(e) 9.531018% pa

Question 805  short selling

Short selling is a way to make money from falling prices. In what order must the following steps be completed to short-sell an asset? Let Tom, Dick and Harry be traders in the share market.

• Step P: Purchase the asset from Harry.
• Step G: Give the asset to Tom.
• Step W: Wait and hope that the asset price falls.
• Step B: Borrow the asset from Tom.
• Step S: Sell the asset to Dick.

Select the statement with the correct order of steps.

(a) P, G, W, B, S.

(b) B, G, W, P, S.

(c) B, W, G, P, S.

(d) P, W, S, B, G.

(e) B, S, W, P, G.

Question 851  labour force, no explanation

Below is a table showing some figures about the Australian labour force.

Australian Labour Force and Employment Data
April 2017 Seasonally Adjusted figures
Employed persons ('000)	12 061.9
Unemployed persons ('000)	751.4
Unemployment rate (%)	5.9
Participation rate (%)	64.8

 

Source: ABS 6202.0 Labour Force, Australia, Apr 2017

What do you estimate is the size of working age population in thousands (‘000)?

(a) 1,160

(b) 12,813

(c) 18,614

(d) 19,774

(e) 217,175

Question 919  duration, bond convexity

Which of the following statements about bond convexity is NOT correct?

(a) Bond holders like convexity, it’s good for them.

(b) Bond issuers like convexity, it’s good for them.

(c) If yields rise, convex bonds lose less value than non-convex bonds of equal duration.

(d) If yields fall, convex bonds gain more value than non-convex bonds of equal duration.