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Question 305  option, short selling, speculation

You believe that the price of a share will fall significantly very soon, but the rest of the market does not. The market thinks that the share price will remain the same. Assuming that your prediction will soon be true, which of the following trades is a bad idea? In other words, which trade will NOT make money or prevent losses?



Question 102  option, hedging

A company runs a number of slaughterhouses which supply hamburger meat to McDonalds. The company is afraid that live cattle prices will increase over the next year, even though there is widespread belief in the market that they will be stable. What can the company do to hedge against the risk of increasing live cattle prices? Which statement(s) are correct?

(i) buy call options on live cattle.

(ii) buy put options on live cattle.

(iii) sell call options on live cattle.

Select the most correct response:



Question 66  CAPM, SML

Government bonds currently have a return of 5% pa. A stock has an expected return of 6% pa and the market return is 7% pa. What is the beta of the stock?



Question 71  CAPM, risk

Stock A has a beta of 0.5 and stock B has a beta of 1. Which statement is NOT correct?



Question 76  CAPM, SML

Government bonds currently have a return of 5%. A stock has a beta of 2 and the market return is 7%. What is the expected return of the stock?



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 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 92  CAPM, SML, CML

Which statement(s) are correct?

(i) All stocks that plot on the Security Market Line (SML) are fairly priced.

(ii) All stocks that plot above the Security Market Line (SML) are overpriced.

(iii) All fairly priced stocks that plot on the Capital Market Line (CML) have zero idiosyncratic risk.

Select the most correct response:



Question 93  correlation, CAPM, systematic risk

A stock's correlation with the market portfolio increases while its total risk is unchanged. What will happen to the stock's expected return and systematic risk?



Question 98  capital structure, CAPM

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

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



Question 106  CAPM

A fairly priced stock has an expected return of 15% pa. Treasury bonds yield 5% pa and the market portfolio's expected return is 10% pa. What is the beta of the stock?



Question 110  CAPM, SML, NPV

The security market line (SML) shows the relationship between beta and expected return.

Buying investment projects that plot above the SML would lead to:



Question 112  CAPM, risk

According to the theory of the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), total risk can be broken into two components, systematic risk and idiosyncratic risk. Which of the following events would be considered a systematic, undiversifiable event according to the theory of the CAPM?



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 231  CAPM

A fairly priced stock has a beta that is the same as the market portfolio's beta. Treasury bonds yield 5% pa and the market portfolio's expected 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 235  SML, NPV, CAPM, risk

The security market line (SML) shows the relationship between beta and expected return.

Investment projects that plot on the SML would have:



Question 248  CAPM, DDM, income and capital returns

The total return of any asset can be broken down in different ways. One possible way is to use the dividend discount model (or Gordon growth model):

###p_0 = \frac{c_1}{r_\text{total}-r_\text{capital}}###

Which, since ##c_1/p_0## is the income return (##r_\text{income}##), can be expressed as:

###r_\text{total}=r_\text{income}+r_\text{capital}###

So the total return of an asset is the income component plus the capital or price growth component.

Another way to break up total return is to use the Capital Asset Pricing Model:

###r_\text{total}=r_\text{f}+β(r_\text{m}- r_\text{f})###

###r_\text{total}=r_\text{time value}+r_\text{risk premium}###

So the risk free rate is the time value of money and the term ##β(r_\text{m}- r_\text{f})## is the compensation for taking on systematic risk.

Using the above theory and your general knowledge, which of the below equations, if any, are correct?

(I) ##r_\text{income}=r_\text{time value}##

(II) ##r_\text{income}=r_\text{risk premium}##

(III) ##r_\text{capital}=r_\text{time value}##

(IV) ##r_\text{capital}=r_\text{risk premium}##

(V) ##r_\text{income}+r_\text{capital}=r_\text{time value}+r_\text{risk premium}##

Which of the equations are correct?



Question 271  CAPM, option, risk, systematic risk, systematic and idiosyncratic risk

All things remaining equal, according to the capital asset pricing model, if the systematic variance of an asset increases, its required return will increase and its price will decrease.
If the idiosyncratic variance of an asset increases, its price will be unchanged.

What is the relationship between the price of a call or put option and the total, systematic and idiosyncratic variance of the underlying asset that the option is based on? Select the most correct answer.

Call and put option prices increase when the:



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 81  risk, correlation, diversification

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



Question 105  NPV, risk, market efficiency

A person is thinking about borrowing $100 from the bank at 7% pa and investing it in shares with an expected return of 10% pa. One year later the person intends to sell the shares and pay back the loan in full. Both the loan and the shares are fairly priced.

What is the Net Present Value (NPV) of this one year investment? Note that you are asked to find the present value (##V_0##), not the value in one year (##V_1##).



Question 292  standard deviation, risk

Find the sample standard deviation of returns using the data in the table:

Stock Returns
Year Return pa  
2008 0.3
2009 0.02
2010 -0.2
2011 0.4
 

The returns above and standard deviations below are given in decimal form.



Question 68  WACC, CFFA, capital budgeting

A manufacturing company is considering a new project in the more risky services industry. The cash flows from assets (CFFA) are estimated for the new project, with interest expense excluded from the calculations. To get the levered value of the project, what should these unlevered cash flows be discounted by?

Assume that the manufacturing firm has a target debt-to-assets ratio that it sticks to.



Question 69  interest tax shield, capital structure, leverage, WACC

Which statement about risk, required return and capital structure is the most correct?



Question 74  WACC, capital structure, CAPM

A firm's weighted average cost of capital before tax (##r_\text{WACC before tax}##) would increase due to:



Question 78  WACC, capital structure

A company issues a large amount of bonds to raise money for new projects of similar risk to the company's existing projects. The net present value (NPV) of the new projects is positive but small. Assume a classical tax system. Which statement is NOT correct?



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 85  WACC, CAPM

A company has:

  • 140 million shares outstanding.
  • The market price of one share is currently $2.
  • The company's debentures are publicly traded and their market price is equal to 93% of the face value.
  • The debentures have a total face value of $50,000,000 and the current yield to maturity of corporate debentures is 12% per annum.
  • The risk-free rate is 8.50% and the market return is 13.7%.
  • Market analysts estimated that the company's stock has a beta of 0.90.
  • The corporate tax rate is 30%.

What is the company's after-tax weighted average cost of capital (WACC) in a classical tax system?



Question 88  WACC, CAPM

A firm can issue 3 year annual coupon bonds at a yield of 10% pa and a coupon rate of 8% pa.

The beta of its levered equity is 2. The market's expected return is 10% pa and 3 year government bonds yield 6% pa with a coupon rate of 4% pa.

The market value of equity is $1 million and the market value of debt is $1 million. The corporate tax rate is 30%.

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



Question 89  WACC, CFFA, interest tax shield

A retail furniture company buys furniture wholesale and distributes it through its retail stores. The owner believes that she has some good ideas for making stylish new furniture. She is considering a project to buy a factory and employ workers to manufacture the new furniture she's designed. Furniture manufacturing has more systematic risk than furniture retailing.

Her furniture retailing firm's after-tax WACC is 20%. Furniture manufacturing firms have an after-tax WACC of 30%. Both firms are optimally geared. Assume a classical tax system.

Which method(s) will give the correct valuation of the new furniture-making project? Select the most correct answer.



Question 91  WACC, capital structure

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



Question 310  foreign exchange rate

Is it possible for all countries' exchange rates to appreciate by 5% in the same year, including the USD? or ?


Question 312  foreign exchange rate, American and European terms

If the current AUD exchange rate is USD 0.9686 = AUD 1, what is the American terms quote of the AUD against the USD?



Question 313  foreign exchange rate, American and European terms

If the AUD appreciates against the USD, the American terms quote of the AUD will or ?



Question 314  foreign exchange rate, American and European terms

If the USD appreciates against the AUD, the American terms quote of the AUD will or ?



Question 315  foreign exchange rate, American and European terms

If the current AUD exchange rate is USD 0.9686 = AUD 1, what is the European terms quote of the AUD against the USD?



Question 316  foreign exchange rate, American and European terms

If the AUD appreciates against the USD, the European terms quote of the AUD will or ?



Question 317  foreign exchange rate, American and European terms

If the USD appreciates against the AUD, the European terms quote of the AUD will or ?



Question 318  foreign exchange rate, American and European terms

How is the AUD normally quoted in Australia? Using or terms?


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 321  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.

Then unexpectedly, the RBA announce that they will increase the policy rate by 50 basis points due to high future GDP and inflation forecasts.

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



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 245  foreign exchange rate, monetary policy, foreign exchange rate direct quote, no explanation

Investors expect Australia's central bank, the RBA, to leave the policy rate unchanged at their next meeting.

Then unexpectedly, the policy rate is reduced due to fears that Australia's GDP growth is slowing.

What do you expect to happen to Australia's exchange rate? Direct and indirect quotes are given from the perspective of an Australian.

The Australian dollar will:



Question 246  foreign exchange rate, forward foreign exchange rate, cross currency interest rate parity

Suppose the Australian cash rate is expected to be 8.15% pa and the US federal funds rate is expected to be 3.00% pa over the next 2 years, both given as nominal effective annual rates. The current exchange rate is at parity, so 1 USD = 1 AUD.

What is the implied 2 year forward foreign exchange rate?



Question 283  portfolio risk, correlation, needs refinement

Three important classes of investable risky assets are:

  • Corporate debt which has low total risk,
  • Real estate which has medium total risk,
  • Equity which has high total risk.

Assume that the correlation between total returns on:

  • Corporate debt and real estate is 0.1,
  • Corporate debt and equity is 0.1,
  • Real estate and equity is 0.5.

You are considering investing all of your wealth in one or more of these asset classes. Which portfolio will give the lowest total risk? You are restricted from shorting any of these assets. Disregard returns and the risk-return trade-off, pretend that you are only concerned with minimising risk.



Question 83  portfolio risk, standard deviation

Portfolio Details
Stock Expected
return
Standard
deviation
Correlation ##(\rho_{A,B})## Dollars
invested
A 0.1 0.4 0.5 60
B 0.2 0.6 140
 

What is the standard deviation (not variance) of returns of the above portfolio?



Question 285  covariance, portfolio risk

Two risky stocks A and B comprise an equal-weighted portfolio. The correlation between the stocks' returns is 70%.

If the variance of stock A's returns increases but the:

  • Prices and expected returns of each stock stays the same,
  • Variance of stock B's returns stays the same,
  • Correlation of returns between the stocks stays the same.

Which of the following statements is NOT correct?



Question 16  credit card, APR, effective rate

A credit card offers an interest rate of 18% pa, compounding monthly.

Find the effective monthly rate, effective annual rate and the effective daily rate. Assume that there are 365 days in a year.

All answers are given in the same order:

### r_\text{eff monthly} , r_\text{eff yearly} , r_\text{eff daily} ###



Question 24  implicit interest rate in wholesale credit, effective rate

A bathroom and plumbing supplies shop offers credit to its customers. Customers are given 60 days to pay for their goods, but if they pay within 7 days they will get a 2% discount.

What is the effective interest rate implicit in the discount being offered? Assume 365 days in a year and that all customers pay on either the 7th day or the 60th day. All rates given in this question are effective annual rates.



Question 26  APR, effective rate

A European bond paying annual coupons of 6% offers a yield of 10% pa.

Convert the yield into an effective monthly rate, an effective annual rate and an effective daily rate. Assume that there are 365 days in a year.

All answers are given in the same order:

### r_\text{eff, monthly} , r_\text{eff, yearly} , r_\text{eff, daily} ###



Question 290  APR, effective rate, debt terminology

Which of the below statements about effective rates and annualised percentage rates (APR's) is NOT correct?



Question 32  time calculation, APR

You really want to go on a back packing trip to Europe when you finish university. Currently you have $1,500 in the bank. Bank interest rates are 8% pa, given as an APR compounding per month. If the holiday will cost $2,000, how long will it take for your bank account to reach that amount?



Question 254  time calculation, APR

Your main expense is fuel for your car which costs $100 per month. You just refueled, so you won't need any more fuel for another month (first payment at t=1 month).

You have $2,500 in a bank account which pays interest at a rate of 6% pa, payable monthly. Interest rates are not expected to change.

Assuming that you have no income, in how many months time will you not have enough money to fully refuel your car?



Question 265  APR, Annuity

On his 20th birthday, a man makes a resolution. He will deposit $30 into a bank account at the end of every month starting from now, which is the start of the month. So the first payment will be in one month. He will write in his will that when he dies the money in the account should be given to charity.

The bank account pays interest at 6% pa compounding monthly, which is not expected to change.

If the man lives for another 60 years, how much money will be in the bank account if he dies just after making his last (720th) payment?



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 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 113  WACC, CFFA, capital budgeting

The US firm Google operates in the online advertising business. In 2011 Google bought Motorola Mobility which manufactures mobile phones.

Assume the following:

  • Google had a 10% after-tax weighted average cost of capital (WACC) before it bought Motorola.
  • Motorola had a 20% after-tax WACC before it merged with Google.
  • Google and Motorola have the same level of gearing.
  • Both companies operate in a classical tax system.

You are a manager at Motorola. You must value a project for making mobile phones. Which method(s) will give the correct valuation of the mobile phone manufacturing project? Select the most correct answer.

The mobile phone manufacturing project's:



Question 114  WACC, capital structure, risk

A firm's WACC before tax would decrease due to:



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 123  option

Below are 4 option graphs. Note that the y-axis is payoff at maturity (T). What options do they depict? List them in the order that they are numbered

Image of option graphs



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 119  market efficiency, fundamental analysis, joint hypothesis problem

Your friend claims that by reading 'The Economist' magazine's economic news articles, she can identify shares that will have positive abnormal expected returns over the next 2 years. Assuming that her claim is true, which statement(s) are correct?

(i) Weak form market efficiency is broken.

(ii) Semi-strong form market efficiency is broken.

(iii) Strong form market efficiency is broken.

(iv) The asset pricing model used to measure the abnormal returns (such as the CAPM) is either wrong (mis-specification error) or is measured using the wrong inputs (data errors) so the returns may not be abnormal but rather fair for the level of risk.

Select the most correct response:



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 237  WACC, Miller and Modigliani, interest tax shield

Which of the following discount rates should be the highest for a levered company? Ignore the costs of financial distress.



Question 288  Annuity

There are many ways to write the ordinary annuity formula.

Which of the following is NOT equal to the ordinary annuity formula?



Question 145  NPV, APR, annuity due

A student just won the lottery. She won $1 million in cash after tax. She is trying to calculate how much she can spend per month for the rest of her life. She assumes that she will live for another 60 years. She wants to withdraw equal amounts at the beginning of every month, starting right now.

All of the cash is currently sitting in a bank account which pays interest at a rate of 6% pa, given as an APR compounding per month. On her last withdrawal, she intends to have nothing left in her bank account. How much can she withdraw at the beginning of each month?



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 9  DDM, NPV

For a price of $129, Joanne will sell you a share which is expected to pay a $30 dividend in one year, and a $10 dividend every year after that forever. So the stock's dividends will be $30 at t=1, $10 at t=2, $10 at t=3, and $10 forever onwards.

The required return of the stock is 10% pa.

Would you like to the share or politely ?


Question 20  NPV, APR, Annuity

Your friend wants to borrow $1,000 and offers to pay you back $100 in 6 months, with more $100 payments at the end of every month for another 11 months. So there will be twelve $100 payments in total. She says that 12 payments of $100 equals $1,200 so she's being generous.

If interest rates are 12% pa, given as an APR compounding monthly, what is the Net Present Value (NPV) of your friend's deal?



Question 44  NPV

The required return of a project is 10%, given as an effective annual rate. Assume that the cash flows shown in the table are paid all at once at the given point in time.

What is the Net Present Value (NPV) of the project?

Project Cash Flows
Time (yrs) Cash flow ($)
0 -100
1 0
2 121
 



Question 46  NPV, annuity due

The phone company Telstra have 2 mobile service plans on offer which both have the same amount of phone call, text message and internet data credit. Both plans have a contract length of 24 months and the monthly cost is payable in advance. The only difference between the two plans is that one is a:

  • 'Bring Your Own' (BYO) mobile service plan, costing $50 per month. There is no phone included in this plan. The other plan is a:
  • 'Bundled' mobile service plan that comes with the latest smart phone, costing $71 per month. This plan includes the latest smart phone.

Neither plan has any additional payments at the start or end.

The only difference between the plans is the phone, so what is the implied cost of the phone as a present value?

Assume that the discount rate is 2% per month given as an effective monthly rate, the same high interest rate on credit cards.



Question 48  IRR, NPV, bond pricing, premium par and discount bonds, market efficiency

The theory of fixed interest bond pricing is an application of the theory of Net Present Value (NPV). Also, a 'fairly priced' asset is not over- or under-priced. Buying or selling a fairly priced asset has an NPV of zero.

Considering this, which of the following statements is NOT correct?



Question 58  NPV, inflation, real and nominal returns and cash flows, Annuity

A project to build a toll bridge will take two years to complete, costing three payments of $100 million at the start of each year for the next three years, that is at t=0, 1 and 2.

After completion, the toll bridge will yield a constant $50 million at the end of each year for the next 10 years. So the first payment will be at t=3 and the last at t=12. After the last payment at t=12, the bridge will be given to the government.

The required return of the project is 21% pa given as an effective annual nominal rate.

All cash flows are real and the expected inflation rate is 10% pa given as an effective annual rate. Ignore taxes.

The Net Present Value is:



Question 59  NPV

The required return of a project is 10%, given as an effective annual rate. Assume that the cash flows shown in the table are paid all at once at the given point in time.

What is the Net Present Value (NPV) of the project?

Project Cash Flows
Time (yrs) Cash flow ($)
0 -100
1 11
2 121
 



Question 61  NPV

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

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

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

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

Assume that international students:

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

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



Question 63  bond pricing, NPV, market efficiency

The theory of fixed interest bond pricing is an application of the theory of Net Present Value (NPV). Also, a 'fairly priced' asset is not over- or under-priced. Buying or selling a fairly priced asset has an NPV of zero.

Considering this, which of the following statements is NOT correct?



Question 137  NPV, Annuity

The following cash flows are expected:

  • 10 yearly payments of $60, with the first payment in 3 years from now (first payment at t=3 and last at t=12).
  • 1 payment of $400 in 5 years and 6 months (t=5.5) from now.

What is the NPV of the cash flows if the discount rate is 10% given as an effective annual rate?



Question 140  IRR, NPV, profitability index

A project has an internal rate of return (IRR) which is greater than its required return. Select the most correct statement.



Question 152  NPV, Annuity

The following cash flows are expected:

  • 10 yearly payments of $80, with the first payment in 3 years from now (first payment at t=3).
  • 1 payment of $600 in 5 years and 6 months (t=5.5) from now.

What is the NPV of the cash flows if the discount rate is 10% given as an effective annual rate?



Question 167  NPV, IRR

A project's net present value (NPV) is negative. Select the most correct statement.



Question 182  NPV, IRR, pay back period

A project's NPV is positive. Select the most correct statement:



Question 191  NPV, IRR, profitability index, pay back period

A project's Profitability Index (PI) is less than 1. Select the most correct statement:



Question 200  NPV, no explanation

A stock is expected to pay the following dividends:

Cash Flows of a Stock
Time (yrs) 0 1 2 3 4 ...
Dividend ($) 0 6 12 18 20 ...
 

After year 4, the dividend will grow in perpetuity at 5% pa. The required return of the stock is 10% pa. Both the growth rate and required return are given as effective annual rates.

If all of the dividends since time period zero were deposited into a bank account yielding 8% pa as an effective annual rate, how much money will be in the bank account in 2.5 years (in other words, at t=2.5)?



Question 217  NPV, DDM, multi stage growth model

A stock is expected to pay a dividend of $15 in one year (t=1), then $25 for 9 years after that (payments at t=2 ,3,...10), and on the 11th year (t=11) the dividend will be 2% less than at t=10, and will continue to shrink at the same rate every year after that forever. The required return of the stock is 10%. All rates are effective annual rates.

What is the price of the stock now?



Question 218  NPV, IRR, profitability index, average accounting return

Which of the following statements is NOT correct?



Question 228  DDM, NPV, risk, market efficiency

A very low-risk stock just paid its semi-annual dividend of $0.14, as it has for the last 5 years. You conservatively estimate that from now on the dividend will fall at a rate of 1% every 6 months.

If the stock currently sells for $3 per share, what must be its required total return as an effective annual rate?

If risk free government bonds are trading at a yield of 4% pa, given as an effective annual rate, would you consider buying or selling the stock?

The stock's required total return is:



Question 241  Miller and Modigliani, leverage, payout policy, diversification, NPV

One of Miller and Modigliani's (M&M's) important insights is that a firm's managers should not try to achieve a particular level of leverage in a world with zero taxes and perfect information since investors can make their own leverage. Therefore corporate capital structure policy is irrelevant since investors can achieve their own desired leverage at the personal level by borrowing or lending on their own.

This principal of 'home-made' or 'do-it-yourself' leverage can also be applied to other topics. Read the following statements to decide which are true:

(I) Payout policy: a firm's managers should not try to achieve a particular pattern of equity payout.

(II) Agency costs: a firm's managers should not try to minimise agency costs.

(III) Diversification: a firm's managers should not try to diversify across industries.

(IV) Shareholder wealth: a firm's managers should not try to maximise shareholders' wealth.

Which of the above statement(s) are true?



Question 250  NPV, Loan, arbitrage table

Your neighbour asks you for a loan of $100 and offers to pay you back $120 in one year.

You don't actually have any money right now, but you can borrow and lend from the bank at a rate of 10% pa. Rates are given as effective annual rates.

Assume that your neighbour will definitely pay you back. Ignore interest tax shields and transaction costs.

The Net Present Value (NPV) of lending to your neighbour is $9.09. Describe what you would do to actually receive a $9.09 cash flow right now with zero net cash flows in the future.



Question 251  NPV

You have $100,000 in the bank. The bank pays interest at 10% pa, given as an effective annual rate.

You wish to consume an equal amount now (t=0) and in one year (t=1) and have nothing left in the bank at the end (t=1).

How much can you consume at each time?



Question 252  NPV

You have $100,000 in the bank. The bank pays interest at 10% pa, given as an effective annual rate.

You wish to consume an equal amount now (t=0), in one year (t=1) and in two years (t=2), and still have $50,000 in the bank after that (t=2).

How much can you consume at each time?



Question 253  NPV, APR

You just started work at your new job which pays $48,000 per year.

The human resources department have given you the option of being paid at the end of every week or every month.

Assume that there are 4 weeks per month, 12 months per year and 48 weeks per year.

Bank interest rates are 12% pa given as an APR compounding per month.

What is the dollar gain over one year, as a net present value, of being paid every week rather than every month?



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 300  NPV, opportunity cost

What is the net present value (NPV) of undertaking a full-time Australian undergraduate business degree as an Australian citizen? Only include the cash flows over the duration of the degree, ignore any benefits or costs of the degree after it's completed.

Assume the following:

  • The degree takes 3 years to complete and all students pass all subjects.
  • There are 2 semesters per year and 4 subjects per semester.
  • University fees per subject per semester are $1,277, paid at the start of each semester. Fees are expected to remain constant in real terms for the next 3 years.
  • There are 52 weeks per year.
  • The first semester is just about to start (t=0). The first semester lasts for 19 weeks (t=0 to 19).
  • The second semester starts immediately afterwards (t=19) and lasts for another 19 weeks (t=19 to 38).
  • The summer holidays begin after the second semester ends and last for 14 weeks (t=38 to 52). Then the first semester begins the next year, and so on.
  • Working full time at the grocery store instead of studying full-time pays $20/hr and you can work 35 hours per week. Wages are paid at the end of each week and are expected to remain constant in real terms.
  • Full-time students can work full-time during the summer holiday at the grocery store for the same rate of $20/hr for 35 hours per week.
  • The discount rate is 9.8% pa. All rates and cash flows are real. Inflation is expected to be 3% pa. All rates are effective annual.

The NPV of costs from undertaking the university degree is:



Question 37  IRR

If a project's net present value (NPV) is zero, then its internal rate of return (IRR) will be:



Question 43  pay back period

A project to build a toll road will take 3 years to complete, costing three payments of $50 million, paid at the start of each year (at times 0, 1, and 2).

After completion, the toll road will yield a constant $10 million at the end of each year forever with no costs. So the first payment will be at t=4.

The required return of the project is 10% pa given as an effective nominal rate. All cash flows are nominal.

What is the payback period?



Question 52  IRR, pay back period

A three year project's NPV is negative. The cash flows of the project include a negative cash flow at the very start and positive cash flows over its short life. The required return of the project is 10% pa. Select the most correct statement.



Question 60  pay back period

The required return of a project is 10%, given as an effective annual rate.

What is the payback period of the project in years?

Assume that the cash flows shown in the table are received smoothly over the year. So the $121 at time 2 is actually earned smoothly from t=1 to t=2.

Project Cash Flows
Time (yrs) Cash flow ($)
0 -100
1 11
2 121
 



Question 175  pay back period, no explanation

A project has the following cash flows. Normally cash flows are assumed to happen at the given time. But here, assume that the cash flows are received smoothly over the year. So the $250 at time 2 is actually earned smoothly from t=1 to t=2:

Project Cash Flows
Time (yrs) Cash flow ($)
0 -400
1 200
2 250
 

What is the payback period of the project in years?



Question 190  pay back period

A project has the following cash flows:

Project Cash Flows
Time (yrs) Cash flow ($)
0 -400
1 0
2 500
 

What is the payback period of the project in years?

Normally cash flows are assumed to happen at the given time. But here, assume that the cash flows are received smoothly over the year. So the $500 at time 2 is actually earned smoothly from t=1 to t=2.



Question 220  pay back period, no explanation

A project has the following cash flows. Normally cash flows are assumed to happen at the given time. But here, assume that the cash flows are received smoothly over the year. So the $105 at time 2 is actually earned smoothly from t=1 to t=2:

Project Cash Flows
Time (yrs) Cash flow ($)
0 -90
1 30
2 105
 

What is the payback period of the project in years?



Question 18  DDM, income and capital returns

The following equation is the Dividend Discount Model, also known as the 'Gordon Growth Model' or the 'Perpetuity with growth' equation.

### p_{0} = \frac{c_1}{r_{\text{eff}} - g_{\text{eff}}} ###

What is the discount rate '## r_\text{eff} ##' in this equation?



Question 28  DDM, income and capital returns

The following equation is the Dividend Discount Model, also known as the 'Gordon Growth Model' or the 'Perpetuity with growth' equation.

### P_{0} = \frac{C_1}{r_{\text{eff}} - g_{\text{eff}}} ###

What would you call the expression ## C_1/P_0 ##?



Question 142  DDM, income and capital returns

When using the dividend discount model to price a stock:

### p_{0} = \frac{d_1}{r - g} ###

The growth rate of dividends (g):



Question 148  DDM, income and capital returns

The following equation is the Dividend Discount Model, also known as the 'Gordon Growth Model' or the 'Perpetuity with growth' equation.

### p_0 = \frac{d_1}{r - g} ###

Which expression is NOT equal to the expected dividend yield?



Question 158  DDM, income and capital returns

The following equation is the Dividend Discount Model, also known as the 'Gordon Growth Model' or the 'Perpetuity with growth' equation.

###p_0=\frac{d_1}{r_\text{eff}-g_\text{eff}}###

Which expression is NOT equal to the expected capital return?



Question 171  DDM, income and capital returns

The following is the Dividend Discount Model used to price stocks:

### p_0=\frac{d_1}{r-g} ###

Which of the following statements about the Dividend Discount Model is NOT correct?



Question 186  DDM, income and capital returns

Here's the Dividend Discount Model, used to price stocks:

### p_0=\frac{d_1}{r-g} ###

All rates are effective annual rates and the cash flows (##d_1##) are received every year. Note that the r and g terms in the above DDM could also be labelled: ###r = r_{\text{total, 0}\rightarrow\text{1yr, eff 1yr}}### ###g = r_{\text{capital, 0}\rightarrow\text{1yr, eff 1yr}}### Which of the following statements is NOT correct?



Question 201  DDM, income and capital returns

The following is the Dividend Discount Model (DDM) used to price stocks:

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

If the assumptions of the DDM hold and the stock is fairly priced, which one of the following statements is NOT correct? The long term expected:



Question 264  DDM

The following equation is the Dividend Discount Model, also known as the 'Gordon Growth Model' or the 'Perpetuity with growth' equation.

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

A stock pays dividends annually. It just paid a dividend, but the next dividend (##d_1##) will be paid in one year.

According to the DDM, what is the correct formula for the expected price of the stock in 2.5 years?



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 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 213  income and capital returns, bond pricing, premium par and discount bonds

The coupon rate of a fixed annual-coupon bond is constant (always the same).

What can you say about the income return (##r_\text{income}##) of a fixed annual coupon bond? Remember that:

###r_\text{total} = r_\text{income} + r_\text{capital}###

###r_\text{total, 0 to 1} = \frac{c_1}{p_0} + \frac{p_1-p_0}{p_0}###

Assume that there is no change in the bond's total annual yield to maturity from when it is issued to when it matures.

Select the most correct statement.

From its date of issue until maturity, the income return of a fixed annual coupon:



Question 227  bond pricing, premium par and discount bonds

Which one of the following bonds is trading at a premium?



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 206  CFFA, interest expense, interest tax shield

Interest expense (IntExp) is an important part of a company's income statement (or 'profit and loss' or 'statement of financial performance').

How does an accountant calculate the annual interest expense of a fixed-coupon bond that has a liquid secondary market? Select the most correct answer:

Annual interest expense is equal to:



Question 224  CFFA

Cash Flow From Assets (CFFA) can be defined as:



Question 238  CFFA, leverage, interest tax shield

A company increases the proportion of debt funding it uses to finance its assets by issuing bonds and using the cash to repurchase stock, leaving assets unchanged.

Ignoring the costs of financial distress, which of the following statements is NOT correct:



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 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 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 176  CFFA

Why is Capital Expenditure (CapEx) subtracted in the Cash Flow From Assets (CFFA) formula?

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



Question 301  leverage, capital structure, real estate

Your friend just bought a house for $1,000,000. He financed it using a $900,000 mortgage loan and a deposit of $100,000.

In the context of residential housing and mortgages, the 'equity' or 'net wealth' tied up in a house is the value of the house less the value of the mortgage loan. Assuming that your friend's only asset is his house, his net wealth is $100,000.

If house prices suddenly fall by 15%, what would be your friend's percentage change in net wealth?

Assume that:

  • No income (rent) was received from the house during the short time over which house prices fell.
  • Your friend will not declare bankruptcy, he will always pay off his debts.



Question 99  capital structure, interest tax shield, Miller and Modigliani, trade off theory of capital structure

A firm changes its capital structure by issuing a large amount of debt and using the funds to repurchase shares. Its assets are unchanged.

Assume that:

  • The firm and individual investors can borrow at the same rate and have the same tax rates.
  • The firm's debt and shares are fairly priced and the shares are repurchased at the market price, not at a premium.
  • There are no market frictions relating to debt such as asymmetric information or transaction costs.
  • Shareholders wealth is measured in terms of utiliity. Shareholders are wealth-maximising and risk-averse. They have a preferred level of overall leverage. Before the firm's capital restructure all shareholders were optimally levered.

According to Miller and Modigliani's theory, which statement is correct?



Question 302  WACC, CAPM

Which of the following statements about the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) 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 70  payout policy

Due to floods overseas, there is a cut in the supply of the mineral iron ore and its price increases dramatically. An Australian iron ore mining company therefore expects a large but temporary increase in its profit and cash flows. The mining company does not have any positive NPV projects to begin, so what should it do? Select the most correct answer.



Question 100  market efficiency, technical analysis, joint hypothesis problem

A company selling charting and technical analysis software claims that independent academic studies have shown that its software makes significantly positive abnormal returns. Assuming the claim is true, which statement(s) are correct?

(I) Weak form market efficiency is broken.

(II) Semi-strong form market efficiency is broken.

(III) Strong form market efficiency is broken.

(IV) The asset pricing model used to measure the abnormal returns (such as the CAPM) had mis-specification error so the returns may not be abnormal but rather fair for the level of risk.

Select the most correct response:



Question 242  technical analysis, market efficiency

Select the most correct statement from the following.

'Chartists', also known as 'technical traders', believe that:



Question 243  fundamental analysis, market efficiency

Fundamentalists who analyse company financial reports and news announcements (but who don't have inside information) will make positive abnormal returns if:



Question 103  option

Below are 4 option graphs. Note that the y-axis is payoff at maturity (T). What options do they depict? List them in the order that they are numbered.

Image of option graphs



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 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 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 198  NPV, DDM, no explanation

A stock is expected to pay the following dividends:

Cash Flows of a Stock
Time (yrs) 0 1 2 3 4 ...
Dividend ($) 0 6 12 18 20 ...
 

After year 4, the dividend will grow in perpetuity at 5% pa. The required return of the stock is 10% pa. Both the growth rate and required return are given as effective annual rates.

What is the current price of the stock?