Fight Finance

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.

(a) 0.0185

(b) 0.0374

(c) 0.0604

(d) 0.1204

(e) 0.1250

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?

(a) Global economic recession.

(b) A major terrorist attack, grounding all commercial aircraft in the US and Europe.

(c) An increase in corporate tax rates.

(d) The outbreak of world war.

(e) A company's poor earnings announcement.

Question 232  CAPM, DDM

A stock has a beta of 0.5. Its next dividend is expected to be $3, paid one year from now. Dividends are expected to be paid annually and grow by 2% pa forever. Treasury bonds yield 5% pa and the market portfolio's expected return is 10% pa. All returns are effective annual rates.

What is the price of the stock now?

(a) $55.6364

(b) $54.5455

(c) $40.8

(d) $40

(e) $37.5

Question 270  real estate, DDM, effective rate conversion

You own an apartment which you rent out as an investment property.

What is the price of the apartment using discounted cash flow (DCF, same as NPV) valuation?

Assume that:

• You just signed a contract to rent the apartment out to a tenant for the next 12 months at $2,000 per month, payable in advance (at the start of the month, t=0). The tenant is just about to pay you the first $2,000 payment.
• The contract states that monthly rental payments are fixed for 12 months. After the contract ends, you plan to sign another contract but with rental payment increases of 3%. You intend to do this every year.
  So rental payments will increase at the start of the 13th month (t=12) to be $2,060 (=2,000(1+0.03)), and then they will be constant for the next 12 months.
  Rental payments will increase again at the start of the 25th month (t=24) to be $2,121.80 (=2,000(1+0.03)²), and then they will be constant for the next 12 months until the next year, and so on.
• The required return of the apartment is 8.732% pa, given as an effective annual rate.
• Ignore all taxes, maintenance, real estate agent, council and strata fees, periods of vacancy and other costs. Assume that the apartment will last forever and so will the rental payments.

(a) $415,149.4048

(b) $438,252.6707

(c) $441,067.7356

(d) $444,155.5276

(e) $455,263.0844

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.

(a) ##C_0+C_1+C_2+C_3##

(b) ##\dfrac{C_0+C_1+C_2+C_3}{(1+r)^3} ##

(c) ##C_0+\dfrac{C_1}{(1+r)^1} +\dfrac{C_2}{(1+r)^2} + \dfrac{C_3}{(1+r)^3} ##

(d) ##\dfrac{C_1}{(1+r)^1} +\dfrac{C_2}{(1+r)^2} + \dfrac{C_3}{(1+r)^3} ##

(e) ##\dfrac{C_1}{(1+r)^1} + \dfrac{C_2}{(1+r)^2} ##

Question 761  NPV, annuity due, no explanation

The phone company Optus 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 $80 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 $100 per month. This plan includes the latest smart phone.

Neither plan has any additional payments at the start or end. Assume that the discount rate is 1% per month given as an effective monthly rate.

The only difference between the plans is the phone, so what is the implied cost of the phone as a present value? Given that the latest smart phone actually costs $600 to purchase outright from another retailer, should you commit to the BYO plan or the bundled plan?

(a) $480, so the bundled plan is best.

(b) $462.94, so the BYO plan is best.

(c) $429.12, so the bundled plan is best.

(d) $424.87, so the BYO plan is best.

(e) $420.66, so the bundled plan is best.

Question 778  CML, systematic and idiosyncratic risk, portfolio risk, CAPM

The capital market line (CML) is shown in the graph below. The total standard deviation is denoted by σ and the expected return is μ. Assume that markets are efficient so all assets are fairly priced.

Which of the below statements is NOT correct?

(a) The risk free security has zero systematic variance and zero idiosyncratic variance.

(b) The market portfolio has zero idiosyncratic variance.

(c) Any portfolio comprised of the market portfolio and risk free security has zero idiosyncratic variance.

(d) Portfolios that plot on the CML must only be comprised of the risk free security and the market portfolio.

(e) Portfolios that plot on the CML have some idiosyncratic variance and some systematic variance.

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?

(a) Right now, borrow USD in America, convert it into EUR at the spot, lend it in Germany and lock in to buy USD and sell EUR forward one year. One year later, withdraw the EUR, convert it into USD and pay back the USD loan.

(b) American debt may be under-priced, buy it.

(c) German debt may be over-priced, sell it.

(d) The spot EUR may be over-priced compared to the USD, sell the EUR now.

(e) The forward EUR may be under-priced compared to the USD, lock in to buy the EUR in one year.

Question 878  foreign exchange rate, American and European terms

If the Australian dollar quote of 0.8 USD per AUD suddenly falls to 0.7 USD per AUD, has the Australian dollar or against the US dollar?

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}###

(a) 0%

(b) 30.102999566%

(c) 69.314718056%

(d) 100%

(e) 200%