Portfolio Details | ||||||
Stock | Expected return |
Standard deviation |
Covariance ##(\sigma_{A,B})## | Beta | Dollars invested |
|
A | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.12 | 0.5 | 40 | |
B | 0.3 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 80 | ||
What is the standard deviation (not variance) of the above portfolio? Note that the stocks' covariance is given, not correlation.
Question 157 bill pricing, simple interest rate, no explanation
A 90-day Bank Accepted Bill has a face value of $1,000,000. The interest rate is 6% pa and there are 365 days in the year. What is its price?
Question 249 equivalent annual cash flow, effective rate conversion
Details of two different types of desserts or edible treats are given below:
- High-sugar treats like candy, chocolate and ice cream make a person very happy. High sugar treats are cheap at only $2 per day.
- Low-sugar treats like nuts, cheese and fruit make a person equally happy if these foods are of high quality. Low sugar treats are more expensive at $4 per day.
The advantage of low-sugar treats is that a person only needs to pay the dentist $2,000 for fillings and root canal therapy once every 15 years. Whereas with high-sugar treats, that treatment needs to be done every 5 years.
The real discount rate is 10%, given as an effective annual rate. Assume that there are 365 days in every year and that all cash flows are real. The inflation rate is 3% given as an effective annual rate.
Find the equivalent annual cash flow (EAC) of the high-sugar treats and low-sugar treats, including dental costs. The below choices are listed in that order.
Ignore the pain of dental therapy, personal preferences and other factors.
Bonds X and Y are issued by the same company. Both bonds yield 10% pa, and they have the same face value ($100), maturity, seniority, and payment frequency.
The only difference is that bond X pays coupons of 6% pa and bond Y pays coupons of 8% pa. Which of the following statements is true?
A European company just issued two bonds, a
- 3 year zero coupon bond at a yield of 6% pa, and a
- 4 year zero coupon bond at a yield of 6.5% pa.
What is the company's forward rate over the fourth year (from t=3 to t=4)? Give your answer as an effective annual rate, which is how the above bond yields are quoted.
A student won $1m in a lottery. Currently the money is in a bank account which pays interest at 6% pa, given as an APR compounding per month.
She plans to spend $20,000 at the beginning of every month from now on (so the first withdrawal will be at t=0). After each withdrawal, she will check how much money is left in the account. When there is less than $500,000 left, she will donate that remaining amount to charity.
In how many months will she make her last withdrawal and donate the remainder to charity?
Question 345 capital budgeting, break even, NPV
Project Data | ||
Project life | 10 yrs | |
Initial investment in factory | $10m | |
Depreciation of factory per year | $1m | |
Expected scrap value of factory at end of project | $0 | |
Sale price per unit | $10 | |
Variable cost per unit | $6 | |
Fixed costs per year, paid at the end of each year | $2m | |
Interest expense per year | 0 | |
Tax rate | 30% | |
Cost of capital per annum | 10% | |
Notes
- The firm's current liabilities are forecast to stay at $0.5m. The firm's current assets (mostly inventory) is currently $1m, but is forecast to grow by $0.1m at the end of each year due to the project.
At the end of the project, the current assets accumulated due to the project can be sold for the same price that they were bought. - A marketing survey was used to forecast sales. It cost $1.4m which was just paid. The cost has been capitalised by the accountants and is tax-deductible over the life of the project, regardless of whether the project goes ahead or not. This amortisation expense is not included in the depreciation expense listed in the table above.
Assumptions
- All cash flows occur at the start or end of the year as appropriate, not in the middle or throughout the year.
- All rates and cash flows are real. The inflation rate is 3% pa.
- All rates are given as effective annual rates.
Find the break even unit production (Q) per year to achieve a zero Net Income (NI) and Net Present Value (NPV), respectively. The answers below are listed in the same order.
Which firms tend to have high forward-looking price-earnings (PE) ratios?
Question 924 foreign exchange rate, forward foreign exchange rate, arbitrage, forward interest rate, no explanation
Suppose that the yield curve in the United States of America and Australia is flat and that the current:
- USD federal funds rate is 1% pa;
- AUD cash rate is 1.5% pa;
- Spot AUD exchange rate is 1 USD per AUD;
- One year forward AUD exchange rate is 0.97 USD per AUD.
You suspect that there’s an arbitrage opportunity.
Which one of the following statements about the potential arbitrage opportunity is NOT correct?