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)?
Carlos and Edwin are brothers and they both love Holden Commodore cars.
Carlos likes to buy the latest Holden Commodore car for $40,000 every 4 years as soon as the new model is released. As soon as he buys the new car, he sells the old one on the second hand car market for $20,000. Carlos never has to bother with paying for repairs since his cars are brand new.
Edwin also likes Commodores, but prefers to buy 4-year old cars for $20,000 and keep them for 11 years until the end of their life (new ones last for 15 years in total but the 4-year old ones only last for another 11 years). Then he sells the old car for $2,000 and buys another 4-year old second hand car, and so on.
Every time Edwin buys a second hand 4 year old car he immediately has to spend $1,000 on repairs, and then $1,000 every year after that for the next 10 years. So there are 11 payments in total from when the second hand car is bought at t=0 to the last payment at t=10. One year later (t=11) the old car is at the end of its total 15 year life and can be scrapped for $2,000.
Assuming that Carlos and Edwin maintain their love of Commodores and keep up their habits of buying new ones and second hand ones respectively, how much larger is Carlos' equivalent annual cost of car ownership compared with Edwin's?
The real discount rate is 10% pa. All cash flows are real and are expected to remain constant. Inflation is forecast to be 3% pa. All rates are effective annual. Ignore capital gains tax and tax savings from depreciation since cars are tax-exempt for individuals.
Estimate Microsoft's (MSFT) share price using a price earnings (PE) multiples approach with the following assumptions and figures only:
- Apple, Google and Microsoft are comparable companies,
- Apple's (AAPL) share price is $526.24 and historical EPS is $40.32.
- Google's (GOOG) share price is $1,215.65 and historical EPS is $36.23.
- Micrsoft's (MSFT) historical earnings per share (EPS) is $2.71.
Source: Google Finance 28 Feb 2014.
Question 524 risk, expected and historical returns, bankruptcy or insolvency, capital structure, corporate financial decision theory, limited liability
Which of the following statements is NOT correct?
The standard deviation and variance of a stock's annual returns are calculated over a number of years. The units of the returns are percent per annum ##(\% pa)##.
What are the units of the standard deviation ##(\sigma)## and variance ##(\sigma^2)## of returns respectively?
Hint: Visit Wikipedia to understand the difference between percentage points ##(\text{pp})## and percent ##(\%)##.
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 877 arithmetic and geometric averages, utility, utility function
Gross discrete returns in different states of the world are presented in the table below. A gross discrete return is defined as ##P_1/P_0##, where ##P_0## is the price now and ##P_1## is the expected price in the future. An investor can purchase only a single asset, A, B, C or D. Assume that a portfolio of assets is not possible.
| Gross Discrete Returns | ||
| In Different States of the World | ||
| Investment | World states (probability) | |
| asset | Good (50%) | Bad (50%) |
| A | 2 | 0.5 |
| B | 1.1 | 0.9 |
| C | 1.1 | 0.95 |
| D | 1.01 | 1.01 |
Which of the following statements about the different assets is NOT correct? Asset:
Question 978 comparative advantage in trade, production possibilities curve, no explanation
Arthur and Bindi are the only people on a remote island. Their production possibility curves are shown in the graph.
Assuming that Arthur and Bindi cooperate according to the principles of comparative advantage, what will be their combined production possibilities curve?
