For a price of $10.20 each, Renee will sell you 100 shares. Each share is expected to pay dividends in perpetuity, growing at a rate of 5% pa. The next dividend is one year away (t=1) and is expected to be $1 per share.
The required return of the stock is 15% pa.
Suppose that the US government recently announced that subsidies for fresh milk producers will be gradually phased out over the next year. Newspapers say that there are expectations of a 40% increase in the spot price of fresh milk over the next year.
Option prices on fresh milk trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) reflect expectations of this 40% increase in spot prices over the next year. Similarly to the rest of the market, you believe that prices will rise by 40% over the next year.
What option trades are likely to be profitable, or to be more specific, result in a positive Net Present Value (NPV)?
Assume that:
- Only the spot price is expected to increase and there is no change in expected volatility or other variables that affect option prices.
- No taxes, transaction costs, information asymmetry, bid-ask spreads or other market frictions.
A firm wishes to raise $10 million now. They will issue 6% pa semi-annual coupon bonds that will mature in 8 years and have a face value of $1,000 each. Bond yields are 10% pa, given as an APR compounding every 6 months, and the yield curve is flat.
How many bonds should the firm issue? All numbers are rounded up.
A share was bought for $4 and paid an dividend of $0.50 one year later (at t=1 year).
Just after the dividend was paid, the share price fell to $3.50 (at t=1 year). What were the total return, capital return and income returns given as effective annual rates? The answer choices are given in the same order:
##r_\text{total}##, ##r_\text{capital}##, ## r_\text{income}##
A 30 year Japanese government bond was just issued at par with a yield of 1.7% pa. The fixed coupon payments are semi-annual. The bond has a face value of $100.
Six months later, just after the first coupon is paid, the yield of the bond increases to 2% pa. What is the bond's new price?
Question 323 foreign exchange rate, monetary policy, American and European terms
The market expects the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to increase the policy rate by 25 basis points at their next meeting.
As expected, the RBA increases the policy rate by 25 basis points.
What do you expect to happen to Australia's exchange rate in the short term? The Australian dollar will:
Acquirer firm plans to launch a takeover of Target firm. The deal is expected to create a present value of synergies totaling $0.5 million, but investment bank fees and integration costs with a present value of $1.5 million is expected. A 10% cash and 90% scrip offer will be made that pays the fair price for the target's shares only. Assume that the Target and Acquirer agree to the deal. The cash will be paid out of the firms' cash holdings, no new debt or equity will be raised.
Firms Involved in the Takeover | ||
Acquirer | Target | |
Assets ($m) | 60 | 10 |
Debt ($m) | 20 | 2 |
Share price ($) | 10 | 8 |
Number of shares (m) | 4 | 1 |
Assume that the firms' debt and equity are fairly priced, and that each firms' debts' risk, yield and values remain constant. The acquisition is planned to occur immediately, so ignore the time value of money.
Calculate the merged firm's share price and total number of shares after the takeover has been completed.
A 2-year futures contract on a stock paying a continuous dividend yield of 3% pa was bought when the underlying stock price was $10 and the risk free rate was 10% per annum with continuous compounding. Assume that investors are risk-neutral, so the stock's total required return is the risk free rate.
Find the forward price ##(F_2)## and value of the contract ##(V_0)## initially. Also find the value of the contract in 6 months ##(V_{0.5})## if the stock price rose to $12.
The standard deviation of monthly changes in the spot price of corn is 50 cents per bushel. The standard deviation of monthly changes in the futures price of corn is 40 cents per bushel. The correlation between the spot price of corn and the futures price of corn is 0.9.
It is now March. A corn chip manufacturer is committed to buying 250,000 bushels of corn in May. The spot price of corn is 381 cents per bushel and the June futures price is 399 cents per bushel.
The corn chip manufacturer wants to use the June corn futures contracts to hedge his risk. Each futures contract is for the delivery of 5,000 bushels of corn. One bushel is about 127 metric tons.
How many corn futures should the corn chip manufacturer buy to hedge his risk? Round your answer to the nearest whole number of contracts. Remember to tail the hedge.
Question 903 option, Black-Scholes-Merton option pricing, option on stock index
A six month European-style call option on the S&P500 stock index has a strike price of 2800 points.
The underlying S&P500 stock index currently trades at 2700 points, has a continuously compounded dividend yield of 2% pa and a standard deviation of continuously compounded returns of 25% pa.
The risk-free interest rate is 5% pa continuously compounded.
Use the Black-Scholes-Merton formula to calculate the option price. The call option price now is: