FIN 4243 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Federal Open Market Committee, Interest Rate Risk, United States Treasury Security

QUESTION 1 The largest investors in corporate bonds are life insurance companies and pension funds. True False 5 points QUESTION 2 Most secondary market transactions for corporate bonds take place through dealers in the over-the-counter (OTC) market. True False 5 points QUESTION 3 The value (or price) of a bond is the present value of its expected future cash flows. True False 5 points QUESTION 4 Bond prices decline when the interest rate decreases. True False 5 points QUESTION 5 The face or par value for bonds is the amount paid to bondholders at maturity and is usually equal to $1,000. True False 5 points QUESTION 6 The yield to maturity of a bond is the discount rate that makes the present value of the coupon and principal payments equal to the price of the bond. True False 5 points QUESTION 7 Zero coupon bonds have no coupon payments so they sell for more than their par value. True False 5 points QUESTION 8 Interest rate risk is the risk that bond prices will fluctuate when the interest rate changes. True False 5 points QUESTION 9 US Treasury securities are considered risky investments because the coupon payments are unpredictable. True False 5 points QUESTION 10 Bonds are very difficult to value because their future cash flows are very difficult to predict. True False 5 points QUESTION 11 If the bond's coupon rate is equal to the market rate then the bond will sell at a price equal to its face value greater than its face value less than its face value equal to its foreign currency value, e.g., its price in British pounds 5 points QUESTION 12 When calculating the price of a bond that pays a semiannual coupon one needs to use double the number of years until maturity for the number of payments use half the annual coupon payment use half the annual rate of return as the discount rate all of the above 5 points QUESTION 13 The yield to maturity of a bond is the discount rate that makes the present value of the coupon and principal payments more than the price of the bond equal to zero equal to the price of the bond less than the price of the bond 5 points QUESTION 14 Which one of the following statements is true? All else equal long-term bonds have lower price volatility than short-term bonds. There is an inverse relation between bond prices and market interest rates. All else equal short-term bonds are more risky than long-term bonds. All else equal US government bonds are more risky than corporate bonds. 5 points QUESTION 15 An investor owns a 10-year US government bond with a 9 percent coupon rate. If the yield-to-maturity on the bond is 8 percent then this bond is selling for its par value. a discount. a premium. its face value. 5 points QUESTION 16 BA Corp is issuing a 10-year bond with a coupon rate of 8 percent and a par value of $1,000. The market interest rate on similar bonds is currently 6 percent. If the coupon payments are made annually, what is the value of this bond? 5 points QUESTION 17 Knight, Inc. has issued a 3-year bond with a $1,000 par value and an annual coupon rate of 6 percent. The current market rate of interest is 5 percent. What is the value of this bond if the coupon payments are made semiannually? 5 points QUESTION 18 Diane Carter is interested in buying a 5-year zero coupon bond with a face value of $5,000. If the market interest rate on these types of bonds is currently 9 percent, what is the current price of this bond? 5 points QUESTION 19 Rudy Sandberg wants to invest in 4-year bonds that are currently priced at $933.76. The bonds have a coupon rate of 6 percent and annual coupon payments. If the par value of the bonds is $1,000, what is the bond's yield-to-maturity? 5 points QUESTION 20 You own a 5-year bond with a face value of $1,000 and a coupon rate of 5 percent with annual payments. The bond is currently worth $810.46. If market interest rates remain unchanged, what will be the value of the bond next year when there are 4 years left until maturity?

2. Decision to Hedge with Interest Rate Swaps

Explain the types of cash flow characteristics that would cause a firm to hedge interest rate risk by

swapping floating-rate payments for fixed payments. Why would some firms avoid the use of interest rate swaps even when they are highly exposed to interest rate risk?

7. Fixed-for-Floating Swaps North Pier Company entered into a two-year swap agreement, which would provide fixed-rate payments for floating-rate payments. Over the next two years, interest rates declined. Based on these conditions, did North Pier Company benefit from the swap?

8. Equity Swap Explain how an equity swap could allow Marathon Insurance Company to capitalize on expectations of a strong stock market performance over the next year without altering its existing portfolio mix of stocks and bonds.

13. Use of Interest Rate Swaps Explain why some companies that issue bonds engage in interest rate swaps in financial markets. Why do they not simply issue bonds that require the type of payments (fixed or variable) that they prefer to make?

15. Rate-Capped Swaps Bull and Finch Company wants a fixed-for-floating swap. It expects interest rates to rise far above the fixed rate that it would pay and to remain very high until the swap maturity date. Should it consider negotiating for a rate-capped swap with the cap set at 2 percentage points above the fixed rate? Explain.

16. Forward Swaps Rider Company negotiates a forward swap, to begin two years from now, in which it will swap fixed payments for floating-rate payments. What will be the effect on Rider if interest rates

rise substantially over the next two years? That is, would Rider be better off using this forward swap than if it had simply waited two years before negotiating the swap? Explain.

19. Credit Default Swaps Credit default swaps were once viewed as a great innovation for making mortgage markets more stable. Recently, however, the swaps have been criticized for making the credit crisis worse. Why?

The payment made each period on an amortized loan is constant, and it consists of some interest and some principal. The closer we are to the end of the loan's life, the smaller the percentage of the payment that will be a repayment of principal.

2. The market value of any real or financial asset, including stocks, bonds, or art work purchased in hope of selling it at a profit, may be estimated by determining future cash flows and then discounting them back to the present.

3. A bond has a $1,000 par value, makes annual interest payments of $100, has 5 years to maturity, cannot be called, and is not expected to default. The bond should sell at a premium if interest rates are below 10% and at a discount if interest rates are greater than 10%.

4.Which of the following events would make it more likely that a company would choose to call its outstanding callable bonds?

5. A 15-year bond has an annual coupon rate of 8%. The coupon rate will remain fixed until the bond matures. The bond has a yield to maturity of 6%. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

6. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

7. Your investment account pays 6.8%, compounded annually. If you invest $5,000 today, how many years will it take for your investment to grow to $9,140.20?

Select the correct answer.

8. You want to purchase a motorcycle 4 years from now, and you plan to save $3,500 per year, beginning immediately. You will make 4 deposits in an account that pays 5.7% interest. Under these assumptions, how much will you have 4 years from today?

9. Suppose you earned a $135,000 bonus this year and invested it at 8.25% per year. How much could you withdraw at the end of each of the next 20 years?

Select the correct answer.

10.Your older brother turned 35 today, and he is planning to save $30,000 per year for retirement, with the first deposit to be made one year from today. He will invest in a mutual fund that's expected to provide a return of 7.5% per year. He plans to retire 30 years from today, when he turns 65, and he expects to live for 25 years after retirement, to age 90. Under these assumptions, how much can he spend each year after he retires? His first withdrawal will be made at theend of his first retirement year.

Select the correct answer.

11. Rogoff Co.'s 15-year bonds have an annual coupon rate of 9.5%. Each bond has face value of $1,000 and makes semiannual interest payments. If you require an 11% nominal yield to maturity on this investment, what is the maximum price you should be willing to pay for the bond?

Select the correct answer.

12. Haswell Enterprises' bonds have a 10-year maturity, a 6.25% semiannual coupon, and a par value of $1,000 . The going interest rate (r_d) is 9.75%, based on semiannual compounding. What is the bond's price?

Select the correct answer.