Fight Finance

Question 61  NPV

In Australia, domestic university students are allowed to buy concession tickets for the bus, train and ferry which sell at a discount of 50% to full-price tickets.

The Australian Government do not allow international university students to buy concession tickets, they have to pay the full price.

Some international students see this as unfair and they are willing to pay for fake university identification cards which have the concession sticker.

What is the most that an international student would be willing to pay for a fake identification card?

Assume that international students:

• consider buying their fake card on the morning of the first day of university from their neighbour, just before they leave to take the train into university.
• buy their weekly train tickets on the morning of the first day of each week.
• ride the train to university and back home again every day seven days per week until summer holidays 40 weeks from now. The concession card only lasts for those 40 weeks. Assume that there are 52 weeks in the year for the purpose of interest rate conversion.
• a single full-priced one-way train ride costs $5.
• have a discount rate of 11% pa, given as an effective annual rate.

Approach this question from a purely financial view point, ignoring the illegality, embarrassment and the morality of committing fraud.

(a) $347.7483

(b) $665.5796

(c) $673.3153

(d) $1,346.6305

(e) $2,693.2610

Question 372  debt terminology

Which of the following statements is NOT correct? Borrowers:

(a) Receive cash at the start and promise to pay cash in the future, as set out in the debt contract.

(b) Are debtors.

(c) Owe money.

(d) Are funded by debt.

(e) Buy debt.

Question 584  option, option payoff at maturity, option profit

Which of the following statements about European call options on non-dividend paying stocks is NOT correct?

(a) A long call option's payoff at maturity is equal to the maximum of zero or the underlying asset price at maturity minus the exercise price. ##f_\text{T,LC} = max(S_T - K, 0)##

(b) A long call option's profit is equal to the payoff at maturity less the initial option price. ##\pi_\text{LC} = max(S_T - K, 0) - c_0##

(c) The breakeven price is the underlying asset price at which a long option contract gives zero profit. When ##max(S_T - K, 0) - c_0 = 0##, then ##S_T = K+c_0##.

(d) A call option's break-even price is always more than its strike price.

(e) Call options should only be exercised at maturity if the underlying asset price is above the break-even price.

Question 675  option, option profit, no explanation

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

(a) ##\pi_{LC}=max⁡(S_T-X_T,0) + f_{LC,0}##

(b) ##\pi_{LC}=max⁡(X_T-S_T,0) + f_{LC,0}##

(c) ##\pi_{LC}=-max⁡(S_T-X_T,0) + f_{LC,0}##

(d) ##\pi_{LC}=max⁡(X_T-S_T,0) - f_{LC,0}##

(e) ##\pi_{LC}=max(S_T-X_T,0) - f_{LC,0}##

Question 765  bond pricing, no explanation

An investor bought a 5 year government bond with a 2% pa coupon rate at par. Coupons are paid semi-annually. The face value is $100.

Calculate the bond's new price 8 months later after yields have increased to 3% pa. Note that both yields are given as APR's compounding semi-annually. Assume that the yield curve was flat before the change in yields, and remained flat afterwards as well.

(a) $95.345378

(b) $95.819741

(c) $96.138082

(d) $96.296464

(e) $96.775559

Question 772  interest tax shield, capital structure, leverage

A firm issues debt and uses the funds to buy back equity. Assume that there are no costs of financial distress or transactions costs. Which of the following statements about interest tax shields is NOT correct?

(a) Higher debt leads to higher interest expense.

(b) Higher interest expense leads to lower profit before tax, following on from above.

(c) Lower profit before tax leads to lower tax payments, following on from above.

(d) Lower tax payments lead to higher cash flow from assets, following on from above.

(e) Lower profit after tax leads to a lower share price, following on from above.

Question 794  option, Black-Scholes-Merton option pricing, option delta, no explanation

Which of the following quantities from the Black-Scholes-Merton option pricing formula gives the Delta of a European call option?

(a) ##N[d_1]##

(b) ##N[d_2]##

(c) ##−N[−d_1]##

(d) ##−N[−d_2]##

(e) ##N[−d_2]##

Where:

###d_1=\dfrac{\ln⁡[S_0/K]+(r+\sigma^2/2).T)}{\sigma.\sqrt{T}}### ###d_2=d_1-\sigma.\sqrt{T}=\dfrac{\ln⁡[S_0/K]+(r-\sigma^2/2).T)}{\sigma.\sqrt{T}}###

Question 816  expected and historical returns

If future expected cash flows rise, and future required returns remain the same, then prices will , or remain the ?

Question 818  option, future, no explanation

Which derivatives position has the possibility of unlimited potential gains?

(a) Long call.

(b) Short call.

(c) Long put.

(d) Short put.

(e) Short future.

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?

(a) The initial futures price is $49.3471.

(b) The initial value of the futures contract is zero.

(c) If the oil price falls to $35 per barrel in one year then the value of the futures contract at that time would be -$11.2334.

(d) If the oil price is still at $40 per barrel in one year then the value of the futures contract at that time would be zero.

(e) If the oil price rises to $45 per barrel in one year then the value of the futures contract at that time would be -$1.0314.