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Question 19  fully amortising loan, APR

You want to buy an apartment priced at $300,000. You have saved a deposit of $30,000. The bank has agreed to lend you the $270,000 as a fully amortising loan with a term of 25 years. The interest rate is 12% pa and is not expected to change.

What will be your monthly payments? Remember that mortgage loan payments are paid in arrears (at the end of the month).



Question 87  fully amortising loan, APR

You want to buy an apartment worth $500,000. You have saved a deposit of $50,000. The bank has agreed to lend you the $450,000 as a fully amortising mortgage loan with a term of 25 years. The interest rate is 6% pa and is not expected to change.

What will be your monthly payments?



Question 134  fully amortising loan, APR

You want to buy an apartment worth $400,000. You have saved a deposit of $80,000. The bank has agreed to lend you the $320,000 as a fully amortising mortgage loan with a term of 30 years. The interest rate is 6% pa and is not expected to change. What will be your monthly payments?



Question 149  fully amortising loan, APR

You want to buy an apartment priced at $500,000. You have saved a deposit of $50,000. The bank has agreed to lend you the $450,000 as a fully amortising loan with a term of 30 years. The interest rate is 6% pa and is not expected to change. What will be your monthly payments?



Question 187  fully amortising loan, APR

You just signed up for a 30 year fully amortising mortgage with monthly payments of $1,000 per month. The interest rate is 6% pa which is not expected to change.

How much did you borrow? After 20 years, how much will be owing on the mortgage? The interest rate is still 6% and is not expected to change.



Question 203  fully amortising loan, APR

You just signed up for a 30 year fully amortising mortgage loan with monthly payments of $1,500 per month. The interest rate is 9% pa which is not expected to change.

How much did you borrow? After 10 years, how much will be owing on the mortgage? The interest rate is still 9% and is not expected to change.



Question 222  fully amortising loan, APR

You just agreed to a 30 year fully amortising mortgage loan with monthly payments of $2,500. The interest rate is 9% pa which is not expected to change.

How much did you borrow? After 10 years, how much will be owing on the mortgage? The interest rate is still 9% and is not expected to change. The below choices are given in the same order.



Question 259  fully amortising loan, APR

You want to buy a house priced at $400,000. You have saved a deposit of $40,000. The bank has agreed to lend you $360,000 as a fully amortising loan with a term of 30 years. The interest rate is 8% pa payable monthly and is not expected to change.

What will be your monthly payments?



Question 29  interest only loan

You want to buy an apartment priced at $300,000. You have saved a deposit of $30,000. The bank has agreed to lend you the $270,000 as an interest only loan with a term of 25 years. The interest rate is 12% pa and is not expected to change.

What will be your monthly payments? Remember that mortgage payments are paid in arrears (at the end of the month).



Question 57  interest only loan

You just borrowed $400,000 in the form of a 25 year interest-only mortgage with monthly payments of $3,000 per month. The interest rate is 9% pa which is not expected to change.

You actually plan to pay more than the required interest payment. You plan to pay $3,300 in mortgage payments every month, which your mortgage lender allows. These extra payments will reduce the principal and the minimum interest payment required each month.

At the maturity of the mortgage, what will be the principal? That is, after the last (300th) interest payment of $3,300 in 25 years, how much will be owing on the mortgage?



Question 107  interest only loan

You want to buy an apartment worth $300,000. You have saved a deposit of $60,000.

The bank has agreed to lend you $240,000 as an interest only mortgage loan with a term of 30 years. The interest rate is 6% pa and is not expected to change. What will be your monthly payments?



Question 160  interest only loan

You want to buy an apartment priced at $500,000. You have saved a deposit of $50,000. The bank has agreed to lend you the $450,000 as an interest only loan with a term of 30 years. The interest rate is 6% pa and is not expected to change. What will be your monthly payments?



Question 298  interest only loan

A prospective home buyer can afford to pay $2,000 per month in mortgage loan repayments. The central bank recently lowered its policy rate by 0.25%, and residential home lenders cut their mortgage loan rates from 4.74% to 4.49%.

How much more can the prospective home buyer borrow now that interest rates are 4.49% rather than 4.74%? Give your answer as a proportional increase over the original amount he could borrow (##V_\text{before}##), so:

###\text{Proportional increase} = \frac{V_\text{after}-V_\text{before}}{V_\text{before}} ###

Assume that:

  • Interest rates are expected to be constant over the life of the loan.

  • Loans are interest-only and have a life of 30 years.

  • Mortgage loan payments are made every month in arrears and all interest rates are given as annualised percentage rates compounding per month.



Question 550  fully amortising loan, interest only loan, APR

Many Australian home loans that are interest-only actually require payments to be made on a fully amortising basis after a number of years.

You decide to borrow $600,000 from the bank at an interest rate of 4.25% pa for 25 years. The payments will be interest-only for the first 10 years (t=0 to 10 years), then they will have to be paid on a fully amortising basis for the last 15 years (t=10 to 25 years).

Assuming that interest rates will remain constant, what will be your monthly payments over the first 10 years from now, and then the next 15 years after that? The answer options are given in the same order.



Question 459  interest only loan, inflation

In Australia in the 1980's, inflation was around 8% pa, and residential mortgage loan interest rates were around 14%.

In 2013, inflation was around 2.5% pa, and residential mortgage loan interest rates were around 4.5%.

If a person can afford constant mortgage loan payments of $2,000 per month, how much more can they borrow when interest rates are 4.5% pa compared with 14.0% pa?

Give your answer as a proportional increase over the amount you could borrow when interest rates were high ##(V_\text{high rates})##, so:

###\text{Proportional increase} = \dfrac{V_\text{low rates}-V_\text{high rates}}{V_\text{high rates}} ###

Assume that:

  • Interest rates are expected to be constant over the life of the loan.
  • Loans are interest-only and have a life of 30 years.
  • Mortgage loan payments are made every month in arrears and all interest rates are given as annualised percentage rates (APR's) compounding per month.



Question 754  fully amortising loan, interest only loan

How much more can you borrow using an interest-only loan compared to a 25-year fully amortising loan if interest rates are 4% pa compounding per month and are not expected to change? If it makes it easier, assume that you can afford to pay $2,000 per month on either loan. Express your answer as a proportional increase using the following formula:

###\text{Proportional Increase} = \dfrac{V_\text{0,interest only}}{V_\text{0,fully amortising}} - 1###



Question 751  NPV, Annuity

Telsa Motors advertises that its Model S electric car saves $570 per month in fuel costs. Assume that Tesla cars last for 10 years, fuel and electricity costs remain the same, and savings are made at the end of each month with the first saving of $570 in one month from now.

The effective annual interest rate is 15.8%, and the effective monthly interest rate is 1.23%. What is the present value of the savings?



Question 607  debt terminology

You deposit cash into your bank account. Have you or your money?


Question 608  debt terminology

You deposit cash into your bank account. Have you or debt?


Question 609  debt terminology

You deposit cash into your bank account. Have you or debt?


Question 610  debt terminology

You deposit cash into your bank account. Does the deposit account represent a debt or to you?


Question 611  debt terminology

You owe money. Are you a or a ?


Question 612  debt terminology

You are owed money. Are you a or a ?


Question 614  debt terminology

You buy a house funded using a home loan. Have you or debt?


Question 615  debt terminology

You buy a house funded using a home loan. Have you or debt?


Question 372  debt terminology

Which of the following statements is NOT correct? Borrowers:



Question 541  debt terminology

Which of the following statements is NOT correct? Bond investors:



Question 656  debt terminology

Which of the following statements is NOT correct? Lenders:



Question 735  debt terminology

You deposit money into a bank. Which of the following statements is NOT correct? You:



Question 736  debt terminology

You bought a house, primarily funded using a home loan from a bank. Which of the following statements is NOT correct?



Question 132  bill pricing, simple interest rate

A 90-day Bank Accepted Bill (BAB) has a face value of $1,000,000. The simple interest rate is 10% pa and there are 365 days in the year. What is its price now?



Question 327  bill pricing, simple interest rate, no explanation

On 27/09/13, three month Swiss government bills traded at a yield of -0.2%, given as a simple annual yield. That is, interest rates were negative.

If the face value of one of these 90 day bills is CHF1,000,000 (CHF represents Swiss Francs, the Swiss currency), what is the price of one of these bills?



Question 914  bill pricing, money market, return types

A bank bill was bought for $99,000 and sold for $100,000 thirty (30) days later. There are 365 days in the year. Which of the following formulas gives the simple interest rate per annum over those 30 days?


Note: To help you identify which is the correct answer without doing any calculations yourself, the formulas used to calculate the numbers are given.


Question 913  bill pricing, money market

A 90 day bank bill has a face value of $100,000.

Investor A bought the bill when it was first issued at a simple yield to maturity of 3% pa and sold it 20 days later to Investor B who expected to earn a simple yield to maturity of 5% pa. Investor B held it until maturity.

Which of the following statements is NOT correct?



Question 94  leverage, capital structure, real estate

Your friend just bought a house for $400,000. He financed it using a $320,000 mortgage loan and a deposit of $80,000.

In the context of residential housing and mortgages, the 'equity' tied up in the value of a person's house is the value of the house less the value of the mortgage. So the initial equity your friend has in his house is $80,000. Let this amount be E, let the value of the mortgage be D and the value of the house be V. So ##V=D+E##.

If house prices suddenly fall by 10%, what would be your friend's percentage change in equity (E)? Assume that the value of the mortgage is unchanged and that no income (rent) was received from the house during the short time over which house prices fell.

Remember:

### r_{0\rightarrow1}=\frac{p_1-p_0+c_1}{p_0} ###

where ##r_{0-1}## is the return (percentage change) of an asset with price ##p_0## initially, ##p_1## one period later, and paying a cash flow of ##c_1## at time ##t=1##.



Question 408  leverage, portfolio beta, portfolio risk, real estate, CAPM

You just bought a house worth $1,000,000. You financed it with an $800,000 mortgage loan and a deposit of $200,000.

You estimate that:

  • The house has a beta of 1;
  • The mortgage loan has a beta of 0.2.

What is the beta of the equity (the $200,000 deposit) that you have in your house?

Also, if the risk free rate is 5% pa and the market portfolio's return is 10% pa, what is the expected return on equity in your house? Ignore taxes, assume that all cash flows (interest payments and rent) were paid and received at the end of the year, and all rates are effective annual rates.



Question 506  leverage, accounting ratio

A firm has a debt-to-equity ratio of 25%. What is its debt-to-assets ratio?



Question 507  leverage, accounting ratio

A firm has a debt-to-equity ratio of 60%. What is its debt-to-assets ratio?



Question 117  WACC

A firm can issue 5 year annual coupon bonds at a yield of 8% pa and a coupon rate of 12% pa.

The beta of its levered equity is 1. Five year government bonds yield 5% pa with a coupon rate of 6% pa. The market's expected dividend return is 4% pa and its expected capital return is 6% pa.

The firm's debt-to-equity ratio is 2:1. The corporate tax rate is 30%.

What is the firm's after-tax WACC? Assume a classical tax system.



Question 67  CFFA, interest tax shield

Here are the Net Income (NI) and Cash Flow From Assets (CFFA) equations:

###NI=(Rev-COGS-FC-Depr-IntExp).(1-t_c)###

###CFFA=NI+Depr-CapEx - \varDelta NWC+IntExp###

What is the formula for calculating annual interest expense (IntExp) which is used in the equations above?

Select one of the following answers. Note that D is the value of debt which is constant through time, and ##r_D## is the cost of debt.



Question 77  interest tax shield

The equations for Net Income (NI, also known as Earnings or Net Profit After Tax) and Cash Flow From Assets (CFFA, also known as Free Cash Flow to the Firm) per year are:

###NI=(Rev-COGS-FC-Depr-IntExp).(1-t_c)###

###CFFA=NI+Depr-CapEx - \varDelta NWC+IntExp###

For a firm with debt, what is the amount of the interest tax shield per year?



Question 95  interest tax shield

The equations for Net Income (NI, also known as Earnings or Net Profit After Tax) and Cash Flow From Assets (CFFA, also known as Free Cash Flow to the Firm) per year are:

###NI=(Rev-COGS-FC-Depr-IntExp).(1-t_c)###

###CFFA=NI+Depr-CapEx - \varDelta NWC+IntExp###

For a firm with debt, what is the formula for the present value of interest tax shields if the tax shields occur in perpetuity?

You may assume:

  • the value of debt (D) is constant through time,
  • The cost of debt and the yield on debt are equal and given by ##r_D##.
  • the appropriate rate to discount interest tax shields is ##r_D##.
  • ##\text{IntExp}=D.r_D##



Question 240  negative gearing, interest tax shield

Unrestricted negative gearing is allowed in Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Negative gearing laws allow income losses on investment properties to be deducted from a tax-payer's pre-tax personal income. Negatively geared investors benefit from this tax advantage. They also hope to benefit from capital gains which exceed the income losses.

For example, a property investor buys an apartment funded by an interest only mortgage loan. Interest expense is $2,000 per month. The rental payments received from the tenant living on the property are $1,500 per month. The investor can deduct this income loss of $500 per month from his pre-tax personal income. If his personal marginal tax rate is 46.5%, this saves $232.5 per month in personal income tax.

The advantage of negative gearing is an example of the benefits of:



Question 296  CFFA, interest tax shield

Which one of the following will decrease net income (NI) but increase cash flow from assets (CFFA) in this year for a tax-paying firm, all else remaining constant?

Remember:

###NI=(Rev-COGS-FC-Depr-IntExp).(1-t_c )### ###CFFA=NI+Depr-CapEx - ΔNWC+IntExp###



Question 773  CFFA, WACC, interest tax shield, DDM

Use the below information to value a levered company with constant annual perpetual cash flows from assets. The next cash flow will be generated in one year from now, so a perpetuity can be used to value this firm. Both the operating and firm free cash flows are constant (but not equal to each other).

Data on a Levered Firm with Perpetual Cash Flows
Item abbreviation Value Item full name
##\text{OFCF}## $48.5m Operating free cash flow
##\text{FFCF or CFFA}## $50m Firm free cash flow or cash flow from assets
##g## 0% pa Growth rate of OFCF and FFCF
##\text{WACC}_\text{BeforeTax}## 10% pa Weighted average cost of capital before tax
##\text{WACC}_\text{AfterTax}## 9.7% pa Weighted average cost of capital after tax
##r_\text{D}## 5% pa Cost of debt
##r_\text{EL}## 11.25% pa Cost of levered equity
##D/V_L## 20% pa Debt to assets ratio, where the asset value includes tax shields
##t_c## 30% Corporate tax rate
 

 

What is the value of the levered firm including interest tax shields?



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?



Question 943  dividend date, ex dividend date

On which date would the stock price increase if the dividend and earnings are higher than expected?



Question 309  stock pricing, ex dividend date

A company announces that it will pay a dividend, as the market expected. The company's shares trade on the stock exchange which is open from 10am in the morning to 4pm in the afternoon each weekday. When would the share price be expected to fall by the amount of the dividend? Ignore taxes.

The share price is expected to fall during the:



Question 945  stock split, bonus issue, stock dividend

A 3-for-2 stock split is equivalent to a 1-for-2 bonus issue or a 200% stock dividend. or ?


Question 567  stock split, capital structure

A company conducts a 4 for 3 stock split. What is the percentage change in the stock price and the number of shares outstanding? The answers are given in the same order.



Question 665  stock split

A company conducts a 10 for 3 stock split. What is the percentage increase in the stock price and the number of shares outstanding? The answers are given in the same order.



Question 806  stock split, no explanation

A firm conducts a two-for-one stock split. Which of the following consequences would NOT be expected?



Question 414  PE ratio, pay back period, no explanation

A mature firm has constant expected future earnings and dividends. Both amounts are equal. So earnings and dividends are expected to be equal and unchanging.

Which of the following statements is NOT correct?



Question 86  CAPM

Treasury bonds currently have a return of 5% pa. A stock has a beta of 0.5 and the market return is 10% pa. What is the expected return of the stock?



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?



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?



Question 617  systematic and idiosyncratic risk, risk, CAPM

A stock's required total return will increase when its:



Question 672  CAPM, beta

A stock has a beta of 1.5. The market's expected total return is 10% pa and the risk free rate is 5% pa, both given as effective annual rates.

What do you think will be the stock's expected return over the next year, given as an effective annual rate?



Question 673  CAPM, beta, expected and historical returns

A stock has a beta of 1.5. The market's expected total return is 10% pa and the risk free rate is 5% pa, both given as effective annual rates.

In the last 5 minutes, bad economic news was released showing a higher chance of recession. Over this time the share market fell by 1%. The risk free rate was unchanged.

What do you think was the stock's historical return over the last 5 minutes, given as an effective 5 minute rate?



Question 807  market efficiency, expected and historical returns, CAPM, beta, systematic risk, no explanation

You work in Asia and just woke up. It looked like a nice day but then you read the news and found out that last night the American share market fell by 10% while you were asleep due to surprisingly poor macro-economic world news. You own a portfolio of liquid stocks listed in Asia with a beta of 1.6. When the Asian equity markets open, what do you expect to happen to your share portfolio? Assume that the capital asset pricing model (CAPM) is correct and that the market portfolio contains all shares in the world, of which American shares are a big part. Your portfolio beta is measured against this world market portfolio.

When the Asian equity market opens for trade, you would expect your portfolio value to:



Question 80  CAPM, risk, diversification

Diversification is achieved by investing in a large amount of stocks. What type of risk is reduced by diversification?



Question 657  systematic and idiosyncratic risk, CAPM, no explanation

A stock's required total return will decrease when its:



Question 326  CAPM

A fairly priced stock has an expected return equal to the market's. Treasury bonds yield 5% pa and the market portfolio's expected return is 10% pa. What is the stock's beta?



Question 96  bond pricing, zero coupon bond, term structure of interest rates, forward interest rate

An Australian company just issued two bonds paying semi-annual coupons:

  • 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 forward rate on the company's debt from years 1 to 2? Give your answer as an APR compounding every 6 months, which is how the above bond yields are quoted.



Question 267  term structure of interest rates

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.



Question 25  bond pricing, zero coupon bond, term structure of interest rates, forward interest rate

A European company just issued two bonds, a

  • 2 year zero coupon bond at a yield of 8% pa, and a
  • 3 year zero coupon bond at a yield of 10% pa.

What is the company's forward rate over the third year (from t=2 to t=3)? Give your answer as an effective annual rate, which is how the above bond yields are quoted.



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.



Question 108  bond pricing, zero coupon bond, term structure of interest rates, forward interest rate

An Australian company just issued two bonds:

  • A 1 year zero coupon bond at a yield of 10% pa, and
  • A 2 year zero coupon bond at a yield of 8% pa.

What is the forward rate on the company's debt from years 1 to 2? Give your answer as an APR compounding every 6 months, which is how the above bond yields are quoted.



Question 143  bond pricing, zero coupon bond, term structure of interest rates, forward interest rate

An Australian company just issued two bonds:

  • A 6-month zero coupon bond at a yield of 6% pa, and
  • A 12 month zero coupon bond at a yield of 7% pa.

What is the company's forward rate from 6 to 12 months? Give your answer as an APR compounding every 6 months, which is how the above bond yields are quoted.



Question 572  bond pricing, zero coupon bond, term structure of interest rates, expectations hypothesis, forward interest rate, yield curve

In the below term structure of interest rates equation, all rates are effective annual yields and the numbers in subscript represent the years that the yields are measured over:

###(1+r_{0-3})^3 = (1+r_{0-1})(1+r_{1-2})(1+r_{2-3}) ###

Which of the following statements is NOT correct?



Question 693  boot strapping zero coupon yield, forward interest rate, term structure of interest rates

Information about three risk free Government bonds is given in the table below.

Federal Treasury Bond Data
Maturity Yield to maturity Coupon rate Face value Price
(years) (pa, compounding semi-annually) (pa, paid semi-annually) ($) ($)
0.5 3% 4% 100 100.4926
1 4% 4% 100 100.0000
1.5 5% 4% 100 98.5720
 

 

Based on the above government bonds' yields to maturity, which of the below statements about the spot zero rates and forward zero rates is NOT correct?



Question 784  boot strapping zero coupon yield, forward interest rate, term structure of interest rates

Information about three risk free Government bonds is given in the table below.

Federal Treasury Bond Data
Maturity Yield to maturity Coupon rate Face value Price
(years) (pa, compounding annually) (pa, paid annually) ($) ($)
1 0% 2% 100 102
2 1% 2% 100 101.9703951
3 2% 2% 100 100
 

 

Based on the above government bonds' yields to maturity, which of the below statements about the spot zero rates and forward zero rates is NOT correct?



Question 30  income and capital returns

A share was bought for $20 (at t=0) and paid its annual dividend of $3 one year later (at t=1). Just after the dividend was paid, the share price was $16 (at t=1). What was the total return, capital return and income return? Calculate your answers as effective annual rates.

The choices are given in the same order: ## r_\text{total},r_\text{capital},r_\text{income} ##.



Question 934  standard deviation, risk

Which of the following statements about an asset’s standard deviation of returns is NOT correct? All other things remaining equal, the higher the asset’s standard deviation of returns:



Question 279  diversification

Do you think that the following statement is or ? “Buying a single company stock usually provides a safer return than a stock mutual fund.”


Question 81  risk, correlation, diversification

Stock A and B's returns have a correlation of 0.3. Which statement is NOT correct?



Question 284  covariance, correlation

The following table shows a sample of historical total returns of shares in two different companies A and B.

Stock Returns
Total effective annual returns
Year ##r_A## ##r_B##
2007 0.2 0.4
2008 0.04 -0.2
2009 -0.1 -0.3
2010 0.18 0.5
 

What is the historical sample covariance (##\hat{\sigma}_{A,B}##) and correlation (##\rho_{A,B}##) of stock A and B's total effective annual returns?



Question 82  portfolio return

Portfolio Details
Stock Expected
return
Standard
deviation
Correlation Dollars
invested
A 0.1 0.4 0.5 60
B 0.2 0.6 140
 

What is the expected return of the above portfolio?



Question 111  portfolio risk, correlation

All things remaining equal, the variance of a portfolio of two positively-weighted stocks rises as:



Question 73  portfolio risk, standard deviation

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 558  portfolio weights, portfolio return, short selling

An investor wants to make a portfolio of two stocks A and B with a target expected portfolio return of 16% pa.

  • Stock A has an expected return of 8% pa.
  • Stock B has an expected return of 12% pa.

What portfolio weights should the investor have in stocks A and B respectively?



Question 560  standard deviation, variance, needs refinement

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 ##(\%)##.


Question 931  confidence interval, normal distribution

A stock's returns are normally distributed with a mean of 10% pa and a standard deviation of 20 percentage points pa. What is the 90% confidence interval of returns over the next year? Note that the Z-statistic corresponding to a one-tail:

  • 90% normal probability density function is 1.282.
  • 95% normal probability density function is 1.645.
  • 97.5% normal probability density function is 1.960.

The 90% confidence interval of annual returns is between:



Question 932  confidence interval, normal distribution

A stock's returns are normally distributed with a mean of 10% pa and a standard deviation of 20 percentage points pa. What is the 95% confidence interval of returns over the next year? Note that the Z-statistic corresponding to a one-tail:

  • 90% normal probability density function is 1.282.
  • 95% normal probability density function is 1.645.
  • 97.5% normal probability density function is 1.960.

The 95% confidence interval of annual returns is between:



Question 933  confidence interval, normal distribution

A stock has an expected return of 10% pa and you're 90% sure that over the next year, the return will be between -15% and 35%. The stock's returns are normally distributed. Note that the Z-statistic corresponding to a one-tail:

  • 90% normal probability density function is 1.282.
  • 95% normal probability density function is 1.645.
  • 97.5% normal probability density function is 1.960.

What is the stock’s standard deviation of returns in percentage points per annum (pp pa)?



Question 563  correlation

What is the correlation of a variable X with itself?

The corr(X, X) or ##\rho_{X,X}## equals:



Question 564  covariance

What is the covariance of a variable X with a constant C?

The cov(X, C) or ##\sigma_{X,C}## equals:



Question 565  correlation

What is the correlation of a variable X with a constant C?

The corr(X, C) or ##\rho_{X,C}## equals:



Question 272  NPV

Suppose you had $100 in a savings account and the interest rate was 2% per year.

After 5 years, how much do you think you would have in the account if you left the money to grow?

than $102, $102 or than $102?


Question 278  inflation, real and nominal returns and cash flows

Imagine that the interest rate on your savings account was 1% per year and inflation was 2% per year.

After one year, would you be able to buy , exactly the as or than today with the money in this account?


Question 1  NPV

Jan asks you for a loan. He wants $100 now and offers to pay you back $120 in 1 year. You can borrow and lend from the bank at an interest rate of 10% pa, given as an effective annual rate.

Ignore credit risk. Remember:

### V_0 = \frac{V_t}{(1+r_\text{eff})^t} ###

Will you or Jan's deal?


Question 2  NPV, Annuity

Katya offers to pay you $10 at the end of every year for the next 5 years (t=1,2,3,4,5) if you pay her $50 now (t=0). You can borrow and lend from the bank at an interest rate of 10% pa, given as an effective annual rate. Ignore credit risk.

Will you or politely Katya's deal?


Question 5  DDM

For a price of $6, Carlos will sell you a share which will pay a dividend of $1 in one year and every year after that forever. The required return of the stock is 10% pa.

Would you like to his share or politely ?


Question 6  DDM

For a price of $102, Andrea will sell you a share which just paid a dividend of $10 yesterday, and is expected to pay dividends every year forever, growing at a rate of 5% pa.

So the next dividend will be ##10(1+0.05)^1=$10.50## in one year from now, and the year after it will be ##10(1+0.05)^2=11.025## and so on.

The required return of the stock is 15% pa.

Would you like to the share or politely ?


Question 7  DDM

For a price of $1040, Camille will sell you a share which just paid a dividend of $100, and is expected to pay dividends every year forever, growing at a rate of 5% pa.

So the next dividend will be ##100(1+0.05)^1=$105.00##, and the year after it will be ##100(1+0.05)^2=110.25## and so on.

The required return of the stock is 15% pa.

Would you like to the share or politely ?


Question 8  DDM

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.

Would you like to the shares or politely ?


Question 10  DDM

For a price of $95, Sherylanne will sell you a share which is expected to pay its first dividend of $10 in 7 years (t=7), and will continue to pay the same $10 dividend every year after that forever.

The required return of the stock is 10% pa.

Would you like to the share or politely ?


Question 11  bond pricing

For a price of $100, Vera will sell you a 2 year bond paying semi-annual coupons of 10% pa. The face value of the bond is $100. Other bonds with similar risk, maturity and coupon characteristics trade at a yield of 8% pa.

Would you like to her bond or politely ?


Question 12  bond pricing

For a price of $100, Carol will sell you a 5 year bond paying semi-annual coupons of 16% pa. The face value of the bond is $100. Other bonds with similar risk, maturity and coupon characteristics trade at a yield of 12% pa.

Would you like to her bond or politely ?


Question 13  bond pricing

For a price of $100, Rad will sell you a 5 year bond paying semi-annual coupons of 16% pa. The face value of the bond is $100. Other bonds with the same risk, maturity and coupon characteristics trade at a yield of 6% pa.

Would you like to the bond or politely ?


Question 14  bond pricing

For a price of $100, Andrea will sell you a 2 year bond paying annual coupons of 10% pa. The face value of the bond is $100. Other bonds with the same risk, maturity and coupon characteristics trade at a yield of 6% pa.

Would you like to the bond or politely ?


Question 15  bond pricing

For a price of $95, Nicole will sell you a 10 year bond paying semi-annual coupons of 8% pa. The face value of the bond is $100. Other bonds with the same risk, maturity and coupon characteristics trade at a yield of 8% pa.

Would you like to the bond or politely ?


Question 223  CFFA, interest tax shield

Which one of the following will increase the Cash Flow From Assets in this year for a tax-paying firm, all else remaining constant?



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.



Question 121  capital structure, leverage, financial distress, interest tax shield

Fill in the missing words in the following sentence:

All things remaining equal, as a firm's amount of debt funding falls, benefits of interest tax shields __________ and the costs of financial distress __________.



Question 646  open interest, trade volume, future

Alice, Bob, Chris and Delta are traders in the futures market. The following trades occur over a single day in a newly-opened equity index future that matures in one year which the exchange just made available.

1. Alice buys a future from Bob.

2. Chris buys a future from Delta.

3. Delta buys a future from Alice.

These were the only trades made in this equity index future. What was the trading volume and what is the open interest?



Question 647  open interest, trade volume, future

Alice, Bob, Chris and Delta are traders in the futures market. The following trades occur over a single day in a newly-opened equity index future that matures in one year which the exchange just made available.

1. Alice buys a future from Bob.

2. Chris buys a future from Delta.

3. Delta buys a future from Bob.

These were the only trades made in this equity index future. What was the trading volume and what is the open interest?



Question 682  open interest, trade volume, future

Alice, Bob, Chris and Delta are traders in the futures market. The following trades occur over a single day in a newly-opened equity index future that matures in one year which the exchange just made available.

1. Alice buys a future from Bob.

2. Chris buys a future from Delta.

3. Bob buys a future from Chris.

These were the only trades made in this equity index future. What was the trading volume and what is the open interest?



Question 683  open interest, trade volume, future

Alice, Bob, Chris and Delta are traders in the futures market. The following trades occur over a single day in a newly-opened equity index future that matures in one year which the exchange just made available.

1. Alice buys a future from Bob.

2. Chris buys a future from Delta.

3. Alice buys a future from Chris.

These were the only trades made in this equity index future. What was the trading volume and what is the open interest?



Question 799  LVR, leverage, accounting ratio

In the home loan market, the acronym LVR stands for Loan to Valuation Ratio. If you bought a house worth one million dollars, partly funded by an $800,000 home loan, then your LVR was 80%. The LVR is equivalent to which of the following ratios?



Question 109  credit rating, credit risk

Bonds with lower (worse) credit ratings tend to have:



Question 120  credit risk, payout policy

A newly floated farming company is financed with senior bonds, junior bonds, cumulative non-voting preferred stock and common stock. The new company has no retained profits and due to floods it was unable to record any revenues this year, leading to a loss. The firm is not bankrupt yet since it still has substantial contributed equity (same as paid-up capital).

On which securities must it pay interest or dividend payments in this terrible financial year?



Question 197  credit risk, bank accepted bill

A highly levered risky firm is trying to raise more debt. The types of debt being considered, in no particular order, are senior bonds, junior bonds, bank accepted bills, promissory notes and bank loans.

Which of these forms of debt is the safest from the perspective of the debt investors who are thinking of investing in the firm's new debt?



Question 221  credit risk

You're considering making an investment in a particular company. They have preference shares, ordinary shares, senior debt and junior debt.

Which is the safest investment? Which has the highest expected returns?



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?


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 952  option, in the money option

If a put option is in-the-money, then the spot price (##S_0##) is than, than or to the put option's strike price (##K_T##)?


Question 115  capital structure, leverage, WACC

A firm has a debt-to-assets ratio of 50%. The firm then issues a large amount of debt to raise money for new projects of similar market risk to the company's existing projects. Assume a classical tax system. Which statement is correct?



Question 858  indirect security, intermediated finance, no explanation

Which of the following transactions involves an ‘indirect security’ using a ‘financial intermediary’?



Question 513  stock split, reverse stock split, stock dividend, bonus issue, rights issue

Which of the following statements is NOT correct?



Question 566  capital structure, capital raising, rights issue, on market repurchase, dividend, stock split, bonus issue

A company's share price fell by 20% and its number of shares rose by 25%. Assume that there are no taxes, no signalling effects and no transaction costs.

Which one of the following corporate events may have happened?



Question 319  foreign exchange rate, monetary policy, American and European terms

Investors expect the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to keep the policy rate steady at their next meeting.

Then unexpectedly, the RBA announce that they will increase the policy rate by 25 basis points due to fears that the economy is growing too fast and that inflation will be above their target rate of 2 to 3 per cent.

What do you expect to happen to Australia's exchange rate in the short term? The Australian dollar is likely to:



Question 320  foreign exchange rate, monetary policy, American and European terms

Investors expect the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to decrease the overnight cash rate at their next meeting.

Then unexpectedly, the RBA announce that they will keep the policy rate unchanged.

What do you expect to happen to Australia's exchange rate in the short term? The Australian dollar is likely to:



Question 322  foreign exchange rate, monetary policy, American and European terms

The market expects the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to decrease the policy rate by 25 basis points at their next meeting.

Then unexpectedly, the RBA announce that they will decrease the policy rate by 50 basis points due to fears of a recession and deflation.

What do you expect to happen to Australia's exchange rate? The Australian dollar will:



Question 842  monetary policy, institution

Which Australian institution is in charge of monetary policy?



Question 843  monetary policy, institution, no explanation

The Australian central bank implements monetary policy by directly controlling which interest rate?



Question 848  monetary policy, no explanation

Which of the following is NOT the Australian central bank’s responsibility?



Question 862  yield curve, bond pricing, bill pricing, monetary policy, no explanation

Refer to the below graph when answering the questions.

Graph

Which of the following statements is NOT correct?



Question 890  foreign exchange rate, monetary policy, no explanation

The market expects the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to increase the policy rate by 25 basis points at their next meeting. The current exchange rate is 0.8 USD per AUD.

Then unexpectedly, the RBA announce that they will increase the policy rate by 50 basis points due to increased fears of inflation.

What do you expect to happen to Australia's exchange rate on the day when the surprise announcement is made? The Australian dollar is likely to suddenly:



Question 891  foreign exchange rate, monetary policy, no explanation

Suppose the market expects the Bank of Japan (BoJ) to decrease their short term interest rate by 15 basis points at their next meeting. The current short term interest rate is -0.1% pa and the exchange rate is 100 JPY per USD.

Then unexpectedly, the BoJ announce that they will leave the short term interest rate unchanged.

What do you expect to happen to Japan’s exchange rate on the day when the surprise announcement is made? The Japanese Yen (JPY) is likely to suddenly:



Question 882  Asian currency crisis, foreign exchange rate, original sin, no explanation

In the 1997 Asian currency crisis, the businesses most vulnerable to bankruptcy were those that:



Question 900  Basel accord

Which of the following statements about the Basel 3 minimum capital requirements is NOT correct? Common equity tier 1 (CET1) comprises the highest quality components of capital that fully satisfy all of the following characteristics:



Question 901  Basel accord

The below graph from the RBA shows the phase-in of the Basel 3 minimum regulatory capital requirements under the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) on the left panel and in Australia under the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA) on the right panel.

Which of the following statements about the Basel 3 minimum regulatory capital requirements as at 2019 is NOT correct? All minimum amounts exclude the 2.5% counter-cyclical buffer.

The Basel 3 minimum regulatory capital requirement as a percent of Risk Weighted Assets (RWA) is:



Question 857  DuPont formula, accounting ratio

The DuPont formula is:

###\dfrac{\text{Net Profit}}{\text{Sales}} \times \dfrac{\text{Sales}}{\text{Total Assets}} \times \dfrac{\text{Total Assets}}{\text{Owners' Equity}}###

Which of the following statements about the DuPont formula is NOT correct?



Question 358  PE ratio, Multiples valuation

Estimate the Chinese bank ICBC's share price using a backward-looking price earnings (PE) multiples approach with the following assumptions and figures only. Note that the renminbi (RMB) is the Chinese currency, also known as the yuan (CNY).

  • The 4 major Chinese banks ICBC, China Construction Bank (CCB), Bank of China (BOC) and Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) are comparable companies;
  • ICBC 's historical earnings per share (EPS) is RMB 0.74;
  • CCB's backward-looking PE ratio is 4.59;
  • BOC 's backward-looking PE ratio is 4.78;
  • ABC's backward-looking PE ratio is also 4.78;

Note: Figures sourced from Google Finance on 25 March 2014. Share prices are from the Shanghai stock exchange.



Question 348  PE ratio, Multiples valuation

Estimate the US bank JP Morgan's share price using a price earnings (PE) multiples approach with the following assumptions and figures only:

  • The major US banks JP Morgan Chase (JPM), Citi Group (C) and Wells Fargo (WFC) are comparable companies;
  • JP Morgan Chase's historical earnings per share (EPS) is $4.37;
  • Citi Group's share price is $50.05 and historical EPS is $4.26;
  • Wells Fargo's share price is $48.98 and historical EPS is $3.89.

Note: Figures sourced from Google Finance on 24 March 2014.



Question 750  PE ratio, Multiples valuation

Itau Unibanco is a major listed bank in Brazil with a market capitalisation of equity equal to BRL 85.744 billion, EPS of BRL 3.96 and 2.97 billion shares on issue.

Banco Bradesco is another major bank with total earnings of BRL 8.77 billion and 2.52 billion shares on issue.

Estimate Banco Bradesco's current share price using a price-earnings multiples approach assuming that Itau Unibanco is a comparable firm.

Note that BRL is the Brazilian Real, their currency. Figures sourced from Google Finance on the market close of the BVMF on 24 July 2015.



Question 347  PE ratio, Multiples valuation

Which of the following investable assets are NOT suitable for valuation using PE multiples techniques?



Question 463  PE ratio, Multiples valuation

Private equity firms are known to buy medium sized private companies operating in the same industry, merge them together into a larger company, and then sell it off in a public float (initial public offering, IPO).

If medium-sized private companies trade at PE ratios of 5 and larger listed companies trade at PE ratios of 15, what return can be achieved from this strategy?

Assume that:

  • The medium-sized companies can be bought, merged and sold in an IPO instantaneously.
  • There are no costs of finding, valuing, merging and restructuring the medium sized companies. Also, there is no competition to buy the medium-sized companies from other private equity firms.
  • The large merged firm's earnings are the sum of the medium firms' earnings.
  • The only reason for the difference in medium and large firm's PE ratios is due to the illiquidity of the medium firms' shares.
  • Return is defined as: ##r_{0→1} = (p_1-p_0+c_1)/p_0## , where time zero is just before the merger and time one is just after.



Question 855  cash cycle, accounting ratio

The below diagram shows a firm’s cash cycle.

Diagram

Which of the following statements about companies’ cash cycle is NOT correct?



Question 868  cash cycle

What is the Cash Conversion Cycle for a firm with a:

  • Payables period of 1 day;
  • Inventory period of 50 days; and
  • Receivables period of 30 days?

All answer options are in days:



Question 367  CFFA, interest tax shield

There are many ways to calculate a firm's free cash flow (FFCF), also called cash flow from assets (CFFA). Some include the annual interest tax shield in the cash flow and some do not.

Which of the below FFCF formulas include the interest tax shield in the cash flow?

###(1) \quad FFCF=NI + Depr - CapEx -ΔNWC + IntExp### ###(2) \quad FFCF=NI + Depr - CapEx -ΔNWC + IntExp.(1-t_c)### ###(3) \quad FFCF=EBIT.(1-t_c )+ Depr- CapEx -ΔNWC+IntExp.t_c### ###(4) \quad FFCF=EBIT.(1-t_c) + Depr- CapEx -ΔNWC### ###(5) \quad FFCF=EBITDA.(1-t_c )+Depr.t_c- CapEx -ΔNWC+IntExp.t_c### ###(6) \quad FFCF=EBITDA.(1-t_c )+Depr.t_c- CapEx -ΔNWC### ###(7) \quad FFCF=EBIT-Tax + Depr - CapEx -ΔNWC### ###(8) \quad FFCF=EBIT-Tax + Depr - CapEx -ΔNWC-IntExp.t_c### ###(9) \quad FFCF=EBITDA-Tax - CapEx -ΔNWC### ###(10) \quad FFCF=EBITDA-Tax - CapEx -ΔNWC-IntExp.t_c###

The formulas for net income (NI also called earnings), EBIT and EBITDA are given below. Assume that depreciation and amortisation are both represented by 'Depr' and that 'FC' represents fixed costs such as rent.

###NI=(Rev - COGS - Depr - FC - IntExp).(1-t_c )### ###EBIT=Rev - COGS - FC-Depr### ###EBITDA=Rev - COGS - FC### ###Tax =(Rev - COGS - Depr - FC - IntExp).t_c= \dfrac{NI.t_c}{1-t_c}###



Question 84  WACC, capital structure, capital budgeting

A firm is considering a new project of similar risk to the current risk of the firm. This project will expand its existing business. The cash flows of the project have been calculated assuming that there is no interest expense. In other words, the cash flows assume that the project is all-equity financed.

In fact the firm has a target debt-to-equity ratio of 1, so the project will be financed with 50% debt and 50% equity. To find the levered value of the firm's assets, what discount rate should be applied to the project's unlevered cash flows? Assume a classical tax system.



Question 303  WACC, CAPM, CFFA

There are many different ways to value a firm's assets. Which of the following will NOT give the correct market value of a levered firm's assets ##(V_L)##? Assume that:

  • The firm is financed by listed common stock and vanilla annual fixed coupon bonds, which are both traded in a liquid market.
  • The bonds' yield is equal to the coupon rate, so the bonds are issued at par. The yield curve is flat and yields are not expected to change. When bonds mature they will be rolled over by issuing the same number of new bonds with the same expected yield and coupon rate, and so on forever.
  • Tax rates on the dividends and capital gains received by investors are equal, and capital gains tax is paid every year, even on unrealised gains regardless of when the asset is sold.
  • There is no re-investment of the firm's cash back into the business. All of the firm's excess cash flow is paid out as dividends so real growth is zero.
  • The firm operates in a mature industry with zero real growth.
  • All cash flows and rates in the below equations are real (not nominal) and are expected to be stable forever. Therefore the perpetuity equation with no growth is suitable for valuation.

Where:

###r_\text{WACC before tax} = r_D.\frac{D}{V_L} + r_{EL}.\frac{E_L}{V_L} = \text{Weighted average cost of capital before tax}### ###r_\text{WACC after tax} = r_D.(1-t_c).\frac{D}{V_L} + r_{EL}.\frac{E_L}{V_L} = \text{Weighted average cost of capital after tax}### ###NI_L=(Rev-COGS-FC-Depr-\mathbf{IntExp}).(1-t_c) = \text{Net Income Levered}### ###CFFA_L=NI_L+Depr-CapEx - \varDelta NWC+\mathbf{IntExp} = \text{Cash Flow From Assets Levered}### ###NI_U=(Rev-COGS-FC-Depr).(1-t_c) = \text{Net Income Unlevered}### ###CFFA_U=NI_U+Depr-CapEx - \varDelta NWC= \text{Cash Flow From Assets Unlevered}###

Question 476  income and capital returns, idiom

The saying "buy low, sell high" suggests that investors should make a:



Question 490  expected and historical returns, accounting ratio

Which of the following is NOT a synonym of 'required return'?



Question 478  income and capital returns

Total cash flows can be broken into income and capital cash flows. What is the name given to the income cash flow from owning shares?



Question 508  income and capital returns

Which of the following equations is NOT equal to the total return of an asset?

Let ##p_0## be the current price, ##p_1## the expected price in one year and ##c_1## the expected income in one year.



Question 136  income and capital returns

A stock was bought for $8 and paid a dividend of $0.50 one year later (at t=1 year). Just after the dividend was paid, the stock price was $7 (at t=1 year).

What were the total, capital and dividend returns given as effective annual rates? The choices are given in the same order:

##r_\text{total}##, ##r_\text{capital}##, ##r_\text{dividend}##.



Question 151  income and capital returns

A share was bought for $30 (at t=0) and paid its annual dividend of $6 one year later (at t=1).

Just after the dividend was paid, the share price fell to $27 (at t=1). What were the total, capital and income returns given as effective annual rates?

The choices are given in the same order:

##r_\text{total}## , ##r_\text{capital}## , ##r_\text{dividend}##.



Question 21  income and capital returns, bond pricing

A fixed coupon bond was bought for $90 and paid its annual coupon of $3 one year later (at t=1 year). Just after the coupon was paid, the bond price was $92 (at t=1 year). What was the total return, capital return and income return? Calculate your answers as effective annual rates.

The choices are given in the same order: ## r_\text{total},r_\text{capital},r_\text{income} ##.



Question 870  income and capital returns

An Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock was purchased by an investor for $120 and one year later was sold for $150. A dividend of $4 was also collected at the end of the year just before the stock was sold.

Which of the following statements about the stock investment is NOT correct? Ignore taxes.

Over the year, the investor made a:


.


Question 915  price gains and returns over time, IRR, NPV, income and capital returns, effective return

For a share price to double over 7 years, what must its capital return be as an effective annual rate?



Question 863  option, binomial option pricing

A one year European-style call option has a strike price of $4. The option's underlying stock pays no dividends and currently trades at $5. The risk-free interest rate is 10% pa continuously compounded. Use a single step binomial tree to calculate the option price, assuming that the price could rise to $8 ##(u = 1.6)## or fall to $3.125 ##(d = 1/1.6)## in one year. The call option price now is:



Question 864  option, binomial option pricing

A one year European-style put option has a strike price of $4. The option's underlying stock pays no dividends and currently trades at $5. The risk-free interest rate is 10% pa continuously compounded. Use a single step binomial tree to calculate the option price, assuming that the price could rise to $8 ##(u = 1.6)## or fall to $3.125 ##(d = 1/1.6)## in one year. The put option price now is:



Question 865  option, Black-Scholes-Merton option pricing

A one year European-style call option has a strike price of $4.

The option's underlying stock currently trades at $5, pays no dividends and its standard deviation of continuously compounded returns is 47% pa.

The risk-free interest rate is 10% pa continuously compounded.

Use the Black-Scholes-Merton formula to calculate the option price. The call option price now is:



Question 866  option, Black-Scholes-Merton option pricing

A one year European-style put option has a strike price of $4.

The option's underlying stock currently trades at $5, pays no dividends and its standard deviation of continuously compounded returns is 47% pa.

The risk-free interest rate is 10% pa continuously compounded.

Use the Black-Scholes-Merton formula to calculate the option price. The put option price now is:



Question 803  capital raising, rights issue, initial public offering, on market repurchase, no explanation

Which one of the following capital raisings or payouts involve the sale of shares to existing shareholders only?



Question 812  rights issue

A firm is about to conduct a 2-for-7 rights issue with a subscription price of $10 per share. They haven’t announced the capital raising to the market yet and the share price is currently $13 per share. Assume that every shareholder will exercise their rights, the cash raised will simply be put in the bank, and the rights issue is completed so quickly that the time value of money can be ignored. Disregard signalling, taxes and agency-related effects.

Which of the following statements about the rights issue is NOT correct? After the rights issue is completed:



Question 789  rights issue, capital raising

A firm wishes to raise $30 million now. The firm's current market value of equity is $60m and the market price per share is $20. They estimate that they'll be able to issue shares in a rights issue at a subscription price of $15. Ignore the time value of money and assume that all shareholders exercise their rights. Which of the following statements is NOT correct?



Question 989  PE ratio, Multiples valuation, leverage, accounting ratio

A firm has 20 million stocks, earnings (or net income) of $100 million per annum and a 60% debt-to-equity ratio where both the debt and asset values are market values rather than book values. Similar firms have a PE ratio of 12.

Which of the below statements is NOT correct based on a PE multiples valuation?



Question 466  limited liability, business structure

Which business structure or structures have the advantage of limited liability for equity investors?



Question 531  bankruptcy or insolvency, capital structure, risk, limited liability

Who is most in danger of being personally bankrupt? Assume that all of their businesses' assets are highly liquid and can therefore be sold immediately.



Question 867  limited liability, business structure

Which one of the following businesses is likely to be a public company in Australia, judging by its name?



Question 452  limited liability, expected and historical returns

What is the lowest and highest expected share price and expected return from owning shares in a company over a finite period of time?

Let the current share price be ##p_0##, the expected future share price be ##p_1##, the expected future dividend be ##d_1## and the expected return be ##r##. Define the expected return as:

##r=\dfrac{p_1-p_0+d_1}{p_0} ##

The answer choices are stated using inequalities. As an example, the first answer choice "(a) ##0≤p<∞## and ##0≤r< 1##", states that the share price must be larger than or equal to zero and less than positive infinity, and that the return must be larger than or equal to zero and less than one.



Question 116  capital structure, CAPM

A firm changes its capital structure by issuing a large amount of equity and using the funds to repay debt. Its assets are unchanged. Ignore interest tax shields.

According to the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), which statement is correct?



Question 289  DDM, expected and historical returns, ROE

In the dividend discount model:

###P_0 = \dfrac{C_1}{r-g}###

The return ##r## is supposed to be the:



Question 329  DDM, expected and historical returns

In the dividend discount model:

### P_0= \frac{d_1}{r-g} ###

The pronumeral ##g## is supposed to be the:



Question 406  leverage, WACC, margin loan, portfolio return

One year ago you bought $100,000 of shares partly funded using a margin loan. The margin loan size was $70,000 and the other $30,000 was your own wealth or 'equity' in the share assets.

The interest rate on the margin loan was 7.84% pa.

Over the year, the shares produced a dividend yield of 4% pa and a capital gain of 5% pa.

What was the total return on your wealth? Ignore taxes, assume that all cash flows (interest payments and dividends) were paid and received at the end of the year, and all rates above are effective annual rates.

Hint: Remember that wealth in this context is your equity (E) in the house asset (V = D+E) which is funded by the loan (D) and your deposit or equity (E).


Question 917  Macaulay duration, duration

Which of the following statements about Macaulay duration is NOT correct? The Macaulay duration:



Question 994  duration

Find the Macaulay duration of a 2 year 5% pa annual fixed coupon bond which has a $100 face value and currently has a yield to maturity of 8% pa. The Macaulay duration is:



Question 995  duration

Find the Macaulay duration of a 2 year 5% pa semi-annual fixed coupon bond which has a $100 face value and currently has a yield to maturity of 8% pa. The Macaulay duration is:



Question 871  duration, Macaulay duration, modified duration, portfolio duration

Which of the following statements about Macaulay duration is NOT correct? The Macaulay duration:



Question 996  duration, CAPM

Assume that the market portfolio has a duration of 15 years and an individual stock has a duration of 20 years.

What can you say about the stock's (single factor CAPM) beta with respect to the market portfolio? The stock's beta is likely to be:



Question 997  duration

Which of the following assets would have the shortest duration?



Question 999  duration, duration of a perpetuity with growth, 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 Macaulay duration of the stock now?



Question 796  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 risk-neutral probability that a European call option will be exercised?



Question 797  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 risk-neutral probability that a European put option will be exercised?



Question 708  continuously compounding rate, continuously compounding rate conversion

Convert a 10% continuously compounded annual rate ##(r_\text{cc annual})## into an effective annual rate ##(r_\text{eff annual})##. The equivalent effective annual rate is:



Question 709  continuously compounding rate, APR

Which of the following interest rate quotes is NOT equivalent to a 10% effective annual rate of return? Assume that each year has 12 months, each month has 30 days, each day has 24 hours, each hour has 60 minutes and each minute has 60 seconds. APR stands for Annualised Percentage Rate.



Question 711  continuously compounding rate, continuously compounding rate conversion

A continuously compounded semi-annual return of 5% ##(r_\text{cc 6mth})## is equivalent to a continuously compounded annual return ##(r_\text{cc annual})## of:



Question 712  effective rate conversion

An effective monthly return of 1% ##(r_\text{eff monthly})## is equivalent to an effective annual return ##(r_\text{eff annual})## of:



Question 713  effective rate conversion

An effective semi-annual return of 5% ##(r_\text{eff 6mth})## is equivalent to an effective annual return ##(r_\text{eff annual})## of:



Question 714  return distribution, no explanation

Which of the following quantities is commonly assumed to be normally distributed?



Question 715  return distribution

If a variable, say X, is normally distributed with mean ##\mu## and variance ##\sigma^2## then mathematicians write ##X \sim \mathcal{N}(\mu, \sigma^2)##.

If a variable, say Y, is log-normally distributed and the underlying normal distribution has mean ##\mu## and variance ##\sigma^2## then mathematicians write ## Y \sim \mathbf{ln} \mathcal{N}(\mu, \sigma^2)##.

The below three graphs show probability density functions (PDF) of three different random variables Red, Green and Blue.

PDF graph

Select the most correct statement:



Question 716  return distribution

The below three graphs show probability density functions (PDF) of three different random variables Red, Green and Blue.

PDF graph

Which of the below statements is NOT correct?



Question 717  return distribution

The below three graphs show probability density functions (PDF) of three different random variables Red, Green and Blue. Let ##P_1## be the unknown price of a stock in one year. ##P_1## is a random variable. Let ##P_0 = 1##, so the share price now is $1. This one dollar is a constant, it is not a variable.

PDF graph

Which of the below statements is NOT correct? Financial practitioners commonly assume that the shape of the PDF represented in the colour:



Question 725  return distribution, mean and median returns

If a stock's future expected effective annual returns are log-normally distributed, what will be bigger, the stock's or effective annual return? Or would you expect them to be ?


Question 718  arithmetic and geometric averages

The symbol ##\text{GDR}_{0\rightarrow 1}## represents a stock's gross discrete return per annum over the first year. ##\text{GDR}_{0\rightarrow 1} = P_1/P_0##. The subscript indicates the time period that the return is mentioned over. So for example, ##\text{AAGDR}_{1 \rightarrow 3}## is the arithmetic average GDR measured over the two year period from years 1 to 3, but it is expressed as a per annum rate.

Which of the below statements about the arithmetic and geometric average GDR is NOT correct?



Question 811  log-normal distribution, mean and median returns, return distribution, arithmetic and geometric averages

Which of the following statements about probability distributions is NOT correct?



Question 721  mean and median returns, return distribution, arithmetic and geometric averages, continuously compounding rate

Fred owns some Commonwealth Bank (CBA) shares. He has calculated CBA’s monthly returns for each month in the past 20 years using this formula:

###r_\text{t monthly}=\ln⁡ \left( \dfrac{P_t}{P_{t-1}} \right)###

He then took the arithmetic average and found it to be 1% per month using this formula:

###\bar{r}_\text{monthly}= \dfrac{ \displaystyle\sum\limits_{t=1}^T{\left( r_\text{t monthly} \right)} }{T} =0.01=1\% \text{ per month}###

He also found the standard deviation of these monthly returns which was 5% per month:

###\sigma_\text{monthly} = \dfrac{ \displaystyle\sum\limits_{t=1}^T{\left( \left( r_\text{t monthly} - \bar{r}_\text{monthly} \right)^2 \right)} }{T} =0.05=5\%\text{ per month}###

Which of the below statements about Fred’s CBA shares is NOT correct? Assume that the past historical average return is the true population average of future expected returns.



Question 722  mean and median returns, return distribution, arithmetic and geometric averages, continuously compounding rate

Here is a table of stock prices and returns. Which of the statements below the table is NOT correct?

Price and Return Population Statistics
Time Prices LGDR GDR NDR
0 100      
1 50 -0.6931 0.5 -0.5
2 100 0.6931 2 1
 
Arithmetic average 0 1.25 0.25
Arithmetic standard deviation 0.9802 1.0607 1.0607
 

 



Question 724  return distribution, mean and median returns

If a stock's future expected continuously compounded annual returns are normally distributed, what will be bigger, the stock's or continuously compounded annual return? Or would you expect them to be ?


Question 726  return distribution, mean and median returns

If a stock's expected future prices are log-normally distributed, what will be bigger, the stock's or future price? Or would you expect them to be ?


Question 719  mean and median returns, return distribution, arithmetic and geometric averages, continuously compounding rate

A stock has an arithmetic average continuously compounded return (AALGDR) of 10% pa, a standard deviation of continuously compounded returns (SDLGDR) of 80% pa and current stock price of $1. Assume that stock prices are log-normally distributed. The graph below summarises this information and provides some helpful formulas.

graph

In one year, what do you expect the median and mean prices to be? The answer options are given in the same order.



Question 720  mean and median returns, return distribution, arithmetic and geometric averages, continuously compounding rate

A stock has an arithmetic average continuously compounded return (AALGDR) of 10% pa, a standard deviation of continuously compounded returns (SDLGDR) of 80% pa and current stock price of $1. Assume that stock prices are log-normally distributed.

In 5 years, what do you expect the median and mean prices to be? The answer options are given in the same order.



Question 723  mean and median returns, return distribution, arithmetic and geometric averages, continuously compounding rate

Here is a table of stock prices and returns. Which of the statements below the table is NOT correct?

Price and Return Population Statistics
Time Prices LGDR GDR NDR
0 100      
1 99 -0.010050 0.990000 -0.010000
2 180.40 0.600057 1.822222 0.822222
3 112.73 0.470181 0.624889 0.375111
 
Arithmetic average 0.0399 1.1457 0.1457
Arithmetic standard deviation 0.4384 0.5011 0.5011
 

 



Question 779  mean and median returns, return distribution, arithmetic and geometric averages, continuously compounding rate

Fred owns some BHP shares. He has calculated BHP’s monthly returns for each month in the past 30 years using this formula:

###r_\text{t monthly}=\ln⁡ \left( \dfrac{P_t}{P_{t-1}} \right)###

He then took the arithmetic average and found it to be 0.8% per month using this formula:

###\bar{r}_\text{monthly}= \dfrac{ \displaystyle\sum\limits_{t=1}^T{\left( r_\text{t monthly} \right)} }{T} =0.008=0.8\% \text{ per month}###

He also found the standard deviation of these monthly returns which was 15% per month:

###\sigma_\text{monthly} = \dfrac{ \displaystyle\sum\limits_{t=1}^T{\left( \left( r_\text{t monthly} - \bar{r}_\text{monthly} \right)^2 \right)} }{T} =0.15=15\%\text{ per month}###

Assume that the past historical average return is the true population average of future expected returns and the stock's returns calculated above ##(r_\text{t monthly})## are normally distributed. Which of the below statements about Fred’s BHP shares is NOT correct?



Question 792  mean and median returns, return distribution, arithmetic and geometric averages, continuously compounding rate, log-normal distribution, confidence interval

A risk manager has identified that their investment fund’s continuously compounded portfolio returns are normally distributed with a mean of 10% pa and a standard deviation of 40% pa. The fund’s portfolio is currently valued at $1 million. Assume that there is no estimation error in the above figures. To simplify your calculations, all answers below use 2.33 as an approximation for the normal inverse cumulative density function at 99%. All answers are rounded to the nearest dollar. Assume one month is 1/12 of a year. Which of the following statements is NOT correct?



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 926  mean and median returns, return distribution, arithmetic and geometric averages, continuously compounding rate

The arithmetic average continuously compounded or log gross discrete return (AALGDR) on the ASX200 accumulation index over the 24 years from 31 Dec 1992 to 31 Dec 2016 is 9.49% pa.

The arithmetic standard deviation (SDLGDR) is 16.92 percentage points pa.

Assume that the log gross discrete returns are normally distributed and that the above estimates are true population statistics, not sample statistics, so there is no standard error in the sample mean or standard deviation estimates. Also assume that the standardised normal Z-statistic corresponding to a one-tail probability of 2.5% is exactly -1.96.

If you had a $1 million fund that replicated the ASX200 accumulation index, in how many years would the median dollar value of your fund first be expected to lie outside the 95% confidence interval forecast?



Question 927  mean and median returns, mode return, return distribution, arithmetic and geometric averages, continuously compounding rate

The arithmetic average continuously compounded or log gross discrete return (AALGDR) on the ASX200 accumulation index over the 24 years from 31 Dec 1992 to 31 Dec 2016 is 9.49% pa.

The arithmetic standard deviation (SDLGDR) is 16.92 percentage points pa.

Assume that the log gross discrete returns are normally distributed and that the above estimates are true population statistics, not sample statistics, so there is no standard error in the sample mean or standard deviation estimates. Also assume that the standardised normal Z-statistic corresponding to a one-tail probability of 2.5% is exactly -1.96.

If you had a $1 million fund that replicated the ASX200 accumulation index, in how many years would the mean dollar value of your fund first be expected to lie outside the 95% confidence interval forecast?



Question 928  mean and median returns, mode return, return distribution, arithmetic and geometric averages, continuously compounding rate, no explanation

The arithmetic average continuously compounded or log gross discrete return (AALGDR) on the ASX200 accumulation index over the 24 years from 31 Dec 1992 to 31 Dec 2016 is 9.49% pa.

The arithmetic standard deviation (SDLGDR) is 16.92 percentage points pa.

Assume that the log gross discrete returns are normally distributed and that the above estimates are true population statistics, not sample statistics, so there is no standard error in the sample mean or standard deviation estimates. Also assume that the standardised normal Z-statistic corresponding to a one-tail probability of 2.5% is exactly -1.96.

If you had a $1 million fund that replicated the ASX200 accumulation index, in how many years would the mode dollar value of your fund first be expected to lie outside the 95% confidence interval forecast?

Note that the mode of a log-normally distributed future price is: ##P_{T \text{ mode}} = P_0.e^{(\text{AALGDR} - \text{SDLGDR}^2 ).T} ##



Question 929  standard error, mean and median returns, mode return, return distribution, arithmetic and geometric averages, continuously compounding rate

The arithmetic average continuously compounded or log gross discrete return (AALGDR) on the ASX200 accumulation index over the 24 years from 31 Dec 1992 to 31 Dec 2016 is 9.49% pa.

The arithmetic standard deviation (SDLGDR) is 16.92 percentage points pa.

Assume that the data are sample statistics, not population statistics. Assume that the log gross discrete returns are normally distributed.

What is the standard error of your estimate of the sample ASX200 accumulation index arithmetic average log gross discrete return (AALGDR) over the 24 years from 1992 to 2016?



Question 1001  floating coupon bond, bond pricing

Which of the following statements about vanilla floating coupon bonds is NOT correct? A vanilla floating coupon bond's:



Question 1002  floating coupon bond, bond pricing

Which of the following statements about vanilla floating coupon bonds paying quarterly coupons is NOT correct? A vanilla floating coupon bond's:



Question 694  utility

Which of the below statements about utility is NOT generally accepted by economists? Most people are thought to:



Question 695  utility, risk aversion, utility function

Mr Blue, Miss Red and Mrs Green are people with different utility functions. Which of the statements about the 3 utility functions is NOT correct?

Utility curves



Question 696  utility, risk aversion, utility function

Mr Blue, Miss Red and Mrs Green are people with different utility functions. Which of the statements about the 3 utility functions is NOT correct?

Utility curves



Question 697  utility, risk aversion, utility function

Mr Blue, Miss Red and Mrs Green are people with different utility functions. Which of the statements about the 3 utility functions is NOT correct?

Utility curves



Question 698  utility, risk aversion, utility function

Mr Blue, Miss Red and Mrs Green are people with different utility functions. Which of the statements about the 3 utility functions is NOT correct?

Utility curves



Question 699  utility, risk aversion, utility function, gamble

Mr Blue, Miss Red and Mrs Green are people with different utility functions.

Each person has $50 of initial wealth. A coin toss game is offered to each person at a casino where the player can win or lose $50. Each player can flip a coin and if they flip heads, they receive $50. If they flip tails then they will lose $50. Which of the following statements is NOT correct?

Utility curves



Question 700  utility, risk aversion, utility function, gamble

Mr Blue, Miss Red and Mrs Green are people with different utility functions.

Each person has $50 of initial wealth. A coin toss game is offered to each person at a casino where the player can win or lose $50. Each player can flip a coin and if they flip heads, they receive $50. If they flip tails then they will lose $50. Which of the following statements is NOT correct?

Utility curves



Question 701  utility, risk aversion, utility function, gamble

Mr Blue, Miss Red and Mrs Green are people with different utility functions.

Each person has $50 of initial wealth. A coin toss game is offered to each person at a casino where the player can win or lose $50. Each player can flip a coin and if they flip heads, they receive $50. If they flip tails then they will lose $50. Which of the following statements is NOT correct?

Utility curves



Question 702  utility, risk aversion, utility function, gamble

Mr Blue, Miss Red and Mrs Green are people with different utility functions.

Each person has $50 of initial wealth. A coin toss game is offered to each person at a casino where the player can win or lose $50. Each player can flip a coin and if they flip heads, they receive $50. If they flip tails then they will lose $50. Which of the following statements is NOT correct?

Utility curves



Question 703  utility, risk aversion, utility function, gamble

Mr Blue, Miss Red and Mrs Green are people with different utility functions.

Each person has $500 of initial wealth. A coin toss game is offered to each person at a casino where the player can win or lose $500. Each player can flip a coin and if they flip heads, they receive $500. If they flip tails then they will lose $500. Which of the following statements is NOT correct?

Utility curves



Question 704  utility, risk aversion, utility function, gamble

Mr Blue, Miss Red and Mrs Green are people with different utility functions.

Each person has $256 of initial wealth. A coin toss game is offered to each person at a casino where the player can win or lose $256. Each player can flip a coin and if they flip heads, they receive $256. If they flip tails then they will lose $256. Which of the following statements is NOT correct?

Utility curves



Question 706  utility, risk aversion, utility function

Mr Blue, Miss Red and Mrs Green are people with different utility functions.

Note that a fair gamble is a bet that has an expected value of zero, such as paying $0.50 to win $1 in a coin flip with heads or nothing if it lands tails. Fairly priced insurance is when the expected present value of the insurance premiums is equal to the expected loss from the disaster that the insurance protects against, such as the cost of rebuilding a home after a catastrophic fire.

Which of the following statements is NOT correct?

Utility curves



Question 705  utility, risk aversion, utility function

Mr Blue, Miss Red and Mrs Green are people with different utility functions.

Which of the following statements is NOT correct?

Utility curves



Question 775  utility, utility function

Below is a graph of 3 peoples’ utility functions, Mr Blue (U=W^(1/2) ), Miss Red (U=W/10) and Mrs Green (U=W^2/1000). Assume that each of them currently have $50 of wealth.

Utility curves

Which of the following statements about them is NOT correct?

(a) Mr Blue would prefer to invest his wealth in a well diversified portfolio of stocks rather than a single stock, assuming that all stocks had the same total risk and return.



Question 433  Merton model of corporate debt, real option, option, no explanation

A risky firm will last for one period only (t=0 to 1), then it will be liquidated. So it's assets will be sold and the debt holders and equity holders will be paid out in that order. The firm has the following quantities:

##V## = Market value of assets.

##E## = Market value of (levered) equity.

##D## = Market value of zero coupon bonds.

##F_1## = Total face value of zero coupon bonds which is promised to be paid in one year.

What is the payoff to equity holders at maturity, assuming that they keep their shares until maturity?



Question 434  Merton model of corporate debt, real option, option

A risky firm will last for one period only (t=0 to 1), then it will be liquidated. So it's assets will be sold and the debt holders and equity holders will be paid out in that order. The firm has the following quantities:

##V## = Market value of assets.

##E## = Market value of (levered) equity.

##D## = Market value of zero coupon bonds.

##F_1## = Total face value of zero coupon bonds which is promised to be paid in one year.

What is the payoff to debt holders at maturity, assuming that they keep their debt until maturity?



Question 381  Merton model of corporate debt, option, real option

In the Merton model of corporate debt, buying a levered company's debt is equivalent to buying risk free government bonds and:



Question 382  Merton model of corporate debt, real option, option

In the Merton model of corporate debt, buying a levered company's shares is equivalent to:



Question 383  Merton model of corporate debt, real option, option

In the Merton model of corporate debt, buying a levered company's debt is equivalent to buying the company's assets and:



Question 837  option, put call parity

Being long a call and short a put which have the same exercise prices and underlying stock is equivalent to being:



Question 838  option, put call parity

A stock, a call, a put and a bond are available to trade. The call and put options' underlying asset is the stock they and have the same strike prices, ##K_T##.

Being long the call and short the stock is equivalent to being:



Question 839  option, put call parity

A stock, a call, a put and a bond are available to trade. The call and put options' underlying asset is the stock they and have the same strike prices, ##K_T##.

You are currently long the stock. You want to hedge your long stock position without actually trading the stock. How would you do this?



Question 400  option, no explanation

A European put option will mature in ##T## years with a strike price of ##K## dollars. The underlying asset has a price of ##S## dollars.

What is an expression for the payoff at maturity ##(f_T)## in dollars from owning (being long) the put option?