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Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives, 9th Edition Solution Manual

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    CHAPTER 1 Introduction Practice Questions Problem 1.8. Suppose you own 5,000 shares that are worth $25 each. How can put options be used to provide you with insurance against a decline in the value of your holding over the next four months? You should buy 50 put option contracts (each on 100 shares) with a strike price of $25 and an expiration date in four months. If at the end of four months the stock price proves to be less than $25, you can exercise the options and sell the shares for $25 each. Problem 1.9. A stock when it is first issued provides funds for a company. Is the same true of an exchange - traded stock option? Discuss. An exchange - traded stock option provides no funds for the company. It is a security sold by one investor to another. The company is not involved. By contrast, a stock when it is first issued is sold by the company to investors and does provide funds for the company. Problem 1.10. Explain why a futures contract can be used for either speculation or hedging. If an investor has an exposure to the price of an asset, he or she can hedge with futures contracts. If the investor will gain when the price decreases and lose when the price increases, a long futures position will hedge the risk. If the investor will lose when the price decreases and gain when the price increases, a short futures position will hedge the risk. Thus either a long or a short futures position can be entered into for hedging purposes. If the investor has no exposure to the price of the underlying asset, entering into a futures contract is speculation. If the investor takes a long position, he or she gains when the asset’s price increases and loses when it decreases. If the investor takes a short position, he or she loses when the asset’s price increases and gains when it decreases. Problem 1.11. A cattle farmer expects to have 120,000 pounds of live cattle to sell in three months. The live - cattle futures contract on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange is for the delivery of 40,000 pounds of cattle. How can the farmer use the contract for hedging? From the farmer’s viewpoint, what are the pros and cons of hedging? The farmer can short 3 contracts that have 3 months to maturity. If the price of cattle falls, the gain on the futures contract will offset the loss on the sale of the cattle. If the price o f cattle rises, the gain on the sale of the cattle will be offset by the loss on the futures contract. Using futures contracts to hedge has the advantage that it can at no cost reduce risk to almost zero.

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    Its disadvantage is that the farmer no longer gains from favorable movements in cattle prices. Problem 1.12 . It is July 2010. A mining company has just discovered a small deposit of gold. It will take six months to construct the mine. The gold will then be extracted on a more or less continuous basis for one year. Futures contracts on gold are available on the New York Mercantile Exchange. There are delivery months every two months from August 2010 to December 2011. Each contract is for the delivery of 100 ounces. Discuss how the mining company might use futures markets for hedging. The mining company can estimate its production on a month by month basis. It can then short futures contracts to lock in the price received for the gold. For example, if a total of 3,000 ounces are expected to be produced in September 2010 and October 2010, the price received for this production can be hedged by shorting a total of 30 October 2010 contracts. Problem 1.13. Suppose that a March call option on a stock with a strike price of $50 costs $2.50 and is held until March. Under what circumstances will the holder of the option make a gain? Under what circumstances will the option be exercised? Draw a diagram showing how the profit on a long position in the option depends on the stock price at the maturity of the option. The holder of the option will gain if the price of the stock is above $52.50 in March. (This ignores the time value of money.) The option will be exercised if the price of the stock is above $50.00 in March. The profit as a function of the stock price is shown in Figure S1.1. Figure S1.1 Profit from long position in Problem 1.13 Problem 1.14. Suppose that a June put option on a stock with a strike price of $60 costs $4 and is held until June. Under what circumstances will the holder of the option make a gain? Under what circumstances will the option be exercised? Draw a diagram showing how the profit on a short position in the option depends on the stock price at the maturity of the option.

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    The seller of the option will lose if the price of the stock is below $56.00 in June. (This ignores the time value of money.) The option will be exercised if the price of the stock is below $60.00 in June. The profit as a function of the stock price is shown in Figure S1.2. Figure S1.2 Profit from short position In Problem 1.1 Problem 1.15. It is May and a trader writes a September call option with a strike price of $20. The stock price is $18, and the option price is $2. Describe the investor’s cash flows if the option is held until September and the stock price is $25 at this time. The trader has an inflow of $2 in May and an outflow of $5 in September. The $2 is the cash received from the sale of the option. The $5 is the result of the option being exercised. The investor has to buy the stock for $25 in September and sell it to the purchaser of the option for $20. Problem 1.16. An investor writes a December put option with a strike price of $30. The price of the option is $4. Under what circumstances does the investor make a gain? The investor makes a gain if the price of the stock is above $26 at the time of exercise. (This ignores the time value of money.) Problem 1.17. The Chicago Board of Trade offers a futures contract on long - term Treasury bonds. Characterize the investors likely to use this contract. Most investors will use the contract because they want to do one of the following: a) Hedge an exposure to long - term interest rates.

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    b) Speculate on the future direction of long - term interest rates. c) Arbitrage between the spot and futures markets for Treasury bonds. Problem 1.18. An airline executive has argued: “There is no point in our using oil futures. There is just as much chance that the price of oil in the future will be less than the futures price as there is that it will be greater than this price.” Discuss the executive’s viewpoint. It may well be true that there is just as much chance that the price of oil in the future will be above the futures price as that it will be below the futures price. This means that the use of a futures contract for speculation would be like betting on whether a coin comes up heads or tails. But it might make sense for the airline to use futures for hedging rather than speculation. The futures contract then has the effect of reducing risks. It can be argued that an airline should not expose its shareholders to risks associated with the future price of oil when there are contracts available to hedge the risks. Problem 1.19. “Options and futures are zero - sum games.” What do you think is meant by this statement? The statement means that the gain (loss) to the party with the short position is equal to the loss (gain) to the party with the long position. In total, the gain to all parties is zero. Problem 1.20. A trader enters into a short forward contract on 100 million yen. The forward exchange rate is $0.0080 per yen. How much does the trader gain or lose if the exchange rate at the end of the contract is (a) $0.0074 per yen; (b) $0.0091 per yen? a) The trader sells 100 million yen for $0.0080 per yen when the exchange rate is $0.0074 per yen. The gain is 100 0 0006   millions of dollars or $60,000. b) The trader sells 100 million yen for $0.0080 per yen when the exchange rate is $0.0091 per yen. The loss is 100 0 0011   mil lions of dollars or $110,000. Problem 1.21. A trader enters into a short cotton futures contract when the futures price is 50 cents per pound. The contract is for the delivery of 50,000 pounds. How much does the trader gain or lose if the cotton price at the end of the contract is (a) 48.20 cents per pound; (b) 51.30 cents per pound? a) The trader sells for 50 cents per pound something that is worth 48.20 cents per pound. Gain ( 0 5000 0 4820) 50 000 900 $ $ $ =  −    = . b) The trader sells for 50 cents per pound something that is worth 51.30 cents per pound. Loss ( 0 5130 0 5000) 50 000 650 $ $ $ =  −    = . Problem 1.22. A company knows that it is due to receive a certain amount of a foreign currency in four months. What type of option contract is appropriate for hedging?

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    A long position in a four - month put option can provide insurance against the exchange rate falling below the strike price. It ensures that the foreign currency can be sold fo r at least the strike price. Problem 1.23. A United States company expects to have to pay 1 million Canadian dollars in six months. Explain how the exchange rate risk can be hedged using (a) a forward contract; (b) an option. The company could enter into a long forward contract to buy 1 million Canadian dollars in six months. This would have the effect of locking in an exchange rate equal to the current forward exchange rate. Alternatively the company could buy a call option giving it the right (but not the obligation) to purchase 1 million Canadian dollar at a certain exchange rate in six months. This would provide insurance against a strong Canadian dollar in six months while still allowing the company to benefit from a weak Canadian dollar at that time. Further Questions Problem 1.24 (Excel file) Trader A enters into a forward contract to buy gold for $1000 an ounce in one year. Trader B buys a call option to buy gold for $1000 an ounce in one year. The cost of the option is $100 an ounce. What is the difference between the positions of the traders? Show the profit per ounce as a function of the price of gold in one year for the two traders. Trader A makes a profit of S T ̶ 1000 and Trader B makes a profit of max( S T ̶ 1000, 0) – 100 where S T is the price of gold in one month. Trader A does better if S T is above $900 as indicated in Figure S1.3. Figure S1.3: Profit to Trader A and Trader B i n Problem 1.24

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    Problem 1.25 In March, a US investor instructs a broker to sell one July put option contract on a stock. The stock price is $42 and the strike price is $40. The option price is $3. Explain what the investor has agreed to. Under what circumstances will the trade prove to be profitable? What are the risks? The investor has agreed to buy 100 shares of the stock for $40 in July (or earlier) if the party on the other side of the transaction chooses to sell. The trade will prove profitable if the option is not exercised or if the stock price is above $37 at the time of exercise. The risk to the investor is that the stock price plunges to a low level. For example, if the stock price drops to $1 by July (unlikely but possible), the investor loses $3,600. This is because the put options are exercised and $40 is paid for 100 shares when the value per share is $1. This leads to a loss of $3,900 which is offset by the premium of $300 received for the options. Problem 1.26 A US company knows it will have to pay 3 million euros in three months. The current exchange rate is 1.4500 dollars per eur o. Discuss how forward and options contracts can be used by the company to hedge its exposure. The company could enter into a forward contract obligating it to buy 3 million euros in three months for a fixed price (the forward price). The forward price will be close to but not exactly the same as the current spot price of 1.4500. An alternative would be to buy a call option giving the company the right but not the obligation to buy 3 million euros for a a particular exchange rate (the strike price) in three months. The use of a forward contract locks in, at no cost, the exchange rate that will apply in three months. The use of a call option provides, at a cost, insurance against the exchange rate being higher than the strike price. Problem 1.27 (Excel file) A stock price is $29. An investor buys one call option contract on the stock with a strike price of $30 and sells a call option contract on the stock with a strike price of $32.50. The market prices of the options are $2.75 and $1.50, respectively. The options have the same maturity date. Describe the investor's position. This is known as a bull spread and will be discussed in Chapter 11. The profit is shown in Figure S1.4.

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    Figure S1.4: Profit in Problem 1.27 Problem 1.28 The price of gold is currently $600 per ounce. Forward contracts are available to buy or sell gold at $800 for delivery in one year. An arbitrageur can borrow money at 10% per annum. What should the arbitrageur do? Assume that the cost of storing gold is zero and that gold provides no income. The arbitrageur should borrow money to buy a certain number of ounces of gold today and short forward contracts on the same number of ounces of gold for delivery in one year. This means that gold is purchased for $600 per ounce and sold for $800 per ounce. Assuming the cost of borrowed funds is less than 33% per annum this generates a riskless profit. Problem 1.29. Discuss how foreign currency options can be used for hedging in the situation described in Example 1.1 so that (a) ImportCo is guaranteed that its exc hange rate will be less than 1.6 600, and (b) ExportCo is guaranteed that its exchange rate w ill be at least 1.6 200. ImportCo can buy call options on £ 10,00 0,000 with a strike price of 1.6 600. This will ensure that it never pays more than $16 ,600,000 for the sterling it requires. ExportCo can buy put options on £ 30,000,000 with a strike price of 1.6 200. This will ensure that the price received for the sterling will be above 00 , 600 , 48 $ 000 , 000 , 30 62 . 1 =  . Problem 1.30. The current price of a stock is $94, and three - month call options with a strike price of $95 currently sell for $4.70. An investor who feels that the price of the stock will increase is trying to decide between buying 100 shares and buying 2,000 call options (20 contracts). Both strategies involve an investment of $9,400. What advice would you give? How high does the stock price have to rise for the option strategy to be more profitable?

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    The investment in call options entails higher risks but can lead to higher returns. If the stock price stays at $94, an investor who buys call options loses $9,400 whereas an investor who buys shares neither gains nor loses anything. If the stock price rises to $120, the investor who buys call options gains 2000 (120 95) 9400 40 600 $  − − =  An investor who buys shares gains 100 (120 94) 2 600 $  − =  The strategies are equally profitable if the stock price rises to a level, S , where 100 ( 94) 2000( 95) 9400 S S  − = − − or 100 S = The option strategy is therefore more profitable if the stock price rises above $100. Problem 1.31. On July 17, 2009, an investor owns 100 Google shares. As indicated in Table 1.2 , the share price is $430.25 and a December put o ption with a strike price $400 costs $21.15 . The investor is comparing two alternatives to limit downside risk. The f irst involves buying one Dec e mber put option contra ct with a strike price of $400 . The second involves instructing a broker to sel l the 100 shares as soon as Google’s price reaches $400 . Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the two strategies. The second alternative involves what is known as a stop or stop - loss order. It costs nothing and ensures that $40,000, or close to $40,000 , is realized for the holding in the event the stock price ever falls to $40. The put option costs $2,115 and guarantees that th e holding can be sold for $4,000 any tim e up to December . If the stock pri ce falls marginally below $400 and then rises the option will not be exercised, but the stop - loss order will lead to the holding being liquidated. There are some circumstances where the put option alternative leads to a better outcome and some circumstances where the stop - loss order leads to a better outcome. If the stock price ends up below $400 , the stop - loss order alternative leads to a better outcome because the cost of the option is avoided. If the stock price falls to $380 i n November and then rises to $450 by December , the put option alternative leads to a better outcom e. The investor is paying $2,115 for the chance to benefit from this second type of outcome. Problem 1.32. A trader buys a European call option and sells a European put option. The options have the same underlying asset, strike price and maturity. Describe the trader’s position. Under what circumstances does the price of the call equal the price of the put? The trader has a long European call option with strike price K and a short European put option with strike price K . Suppose the price of the underlying asset at the maturity of the option is T S . If T S K  , the call option is exercised by the investor and the put option expires worthless. The payoff from the portfolio is T S K − . If T S K  , the call option expires worthless and the put option is exercised against the investor. The cost to the investor is T K S − . Alternatively we can say that the payoff to the investor is T S K − (a negative

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    amount). In all cases, the payoff is T S K − , the same as the payoff from the forward contract. The trader’s position is equivalent to a forward contract with delivery price K . Suppose that F is the forward price. If K F = , the forward contract that is created has zero value. Because the forward contract is equivalent to a long call and a short put, this shows that the price of a call equals the price of a put when the strike price is F .

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    CHAPTER 2 Mechanics of Futures Markets Practice Questions Problem 2.8. The party with a short position in a futures contract sometimes has options as to the precise asset that will be delivered, where delivery will take place, when delivery will take place, and so on. Do these options increase or decrease the futures price? Explain your reasoning. These options make the contract less attractive to the party with the long position and more attractive to the party with the short position. They therefore tend to reduce the futures price. Problem 2.9. What are the most important aspects of the design of a new futures contract? The most important aspects of the design of a new futures contract are the specification of the underlying asset, the size of the contract, the delivery arrangements, and the delivery months. Problem 2.10. Explain how margins protect investors against the possibility of default. A margin is a sum of money deposited by an investor with his or her broker. It acts as a guarantee that the investor can cover any losses on the futures contract. The balance in the margin account is adjusted daily to reflect gains and losses on the futures contract. If losses are above a certain level, the investor is required to deposit a further margin. This system makes it unlikely that the investor will default. A similar system of margins makes it unlikely that the investor’s broker will default on the contract it has with the clearinghouse member and unlikely that the clearinghouse member will default with the clearinghouse. Problem 2.11. A trader buys two July futures contracts on frozen orange juice. Each contract is for the delivery of 15,000 pounds. The current futures price is 160 cents per pound, the initial margin is $6,000 per contract, and the maintenance margin is $4,500 per contract. What price change would lead to a margin call? Under what circumstances could $2,000 be withdrawn from the margin account? There is a margin call if more than $1,500 is lost on one contract. This happens if the futures price of frozen orange juice falls by more than 10 cents to below 150 cents per lb. $2,000 can be withdrawn from the margin account if there is a gain on one contract of $1,000. This will happen if the futures price rises by 6.67 cents to 166.67 cents per lb. Problem 2.12. Show that, if the futures price of a commodity is greater than the spot price during the delivery period, then there is an arbitrage opportunity. Does an arbitrage opportunity exist if the futures price is less than the spot price? Explain your answer. If the futures price is greater than the spot price during the delivery period, an arbitrageur

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    buys the asset, shorts a futures contract, and makes delivery for an immediate profit. If the futures price is less than the spot price during the delivery period, there is no similar perfect arbitrage strategy. An arbitrageur can take a long futures position but cannot force immediate delivery of the asset. The decision on when delivery will be made is made by the party with the short position. Nevertheless companies interested in acquiring the asset will find it attractive to enter into a long futures contract and wait for delivery to be made. Problem 2.13. Explain the difference between a market - if - touched order and a stop order. A market - if - touched order is executed at the best available price after a trade occurs at a specified price or at a price more favorable than the specified price. A stop order is executed at the best available price after there is a bid or offer at the specified price or at a price less favorable than the specified price. Problem 2.14. Explain what a stop - limit order to sell at 20.30 with a limit of 20.10 means. A stop - limit order to sell at 20.30 with a limit of 20.10 means that as soon as there is a bid at 20.30 the contract should be sold providing this can be done at 20.10 or a higher price. Problem 2.15. At the end of one day a clearinghouse member is long 100 contracts, and the settlement price is $50,000 per contract. The original margin is $2,000 per contract. On the following day the member becomes responsible for clearing an additional 20 long contracts, entered into at a price of $51,000 per contract. The settlement price at the end of this day is $50,200. How much does the member have to add to its margin account with the exchange clearinghouse? The clearinghouse member is required to provide 20 2 000 40 000 $ $   =  as initial margin for the new contracts. There is a gain of (50,200 − 50,000)  100 = $20,000 on the existing contracts. There is also a loss of (51 000 50 200) 20 16 000 $  −   =  on the new contracts. The member must therefore add 40 000 20 000 16 000 36 000 $  −  +  =  to the margin account. Problem 2.16. On July 1, 2010, a Japanese company enters into a forward contract to buy $1 million with yen on January 1, 2011. On September 1, 2010, it enters into a forward contract to sell $1 million on January 1, 2011. Describe the profit or loss the company will make in dollars as a function of the forward exchange rates on July 1, 2010 and September 1, 2010. Suppose 1 F and 2 F are the forward exchange rates for the contracts entered into July 1, 2010 and September 1, 2010, and S is the spot rate on January 1, 2011. (All exchange rates are measured as yen per dollar). The payoff from the first contract is 1 ( ) S F − million yen and the payoff from the second contract is 2 ( ) F S − million yen. The total payoff is therefore 1 2 2 1 ( ) ( ) ( ) S F F S F F − + − = − million yen.

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    Problem 2.17. The forward price on the Swiss franc for delivery in 45 days is quoted as 1.1000. The futures price for a contract that will be delivered in 45 days is 0.9000. Explain these two quotes. Which is more favorable for an investor wanting to sell Swiss francs? The 1.1000 forward quote is the number of Swiss francs per dollar. The 0.9000 futures quote is the number of dollars per Swiss franc. When quoted in the same way as the futures price the forward price is 1 1 1000 0 9091   =  . The Swiss franc is therefore more valuable in the forward market than in the futures market. The forward market is therefore more attractive for an investor wanting to sell Swiss francs. Problem 2.18. Suppose you call your broker and issue instructions to sell one July hogs contract. Describe what happens. Hog futures are traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. (See Table 2.2). The broker will request some initial margin. The order will be relayed by telephone to your broker’s trading desk on the floor of the exchange (or to the trading desk of another broker). It will be sent by messenger to a commission broker who will execute the trade according to your instructions. Confirmation of the trade eventually reaches you. If there are adverse movements in the futures price your broker may contact you to request additional margin. Problem 2.19. “Speculation in futures markets is pure gambling. It is not in the public interest to allow speculators to trade on a futures exchange.” Discuss this viewpoint. Speculators are important market participants because they add liquidity to the market. However, contracts must be useful for hedging as well as speculation. This is because regulators generally only approve contracts when they are likely to be of interest to hedgers as well as speculators. Problem 2.20. Identify the three commodities whose futures contracts in Table 2.2 have the highest open interest. Based on the contract months listed, the answer is crude oil, corn, and sugar (world). Problem 2.21. What do you think would happen if an exchange started trading a contract in which the quality of the underlying asset was incompletely specified? The contract would not be a success. Parties with short positions would hold their contracts until delivery and then deliver the cheapest form of the asset. This might well be viewed by the party with the long position as garbage! Once news of the quality problem became widely known no one would be prepared to buy the contract. This shows that futures contracts are feasible only when there are rigorous standards within an industry for defining the quality of the asset. Many futures contracts have in practice failed because of the problem of defining quality.

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    Problem 2.22. “When a futures contract is traded on the floor of the exchange, it may be the case that the open interest increases by one, stays the same, or decreases by one.” Explain this statement. If both sides of the transaction are entering into a new contract, the open interest increases by one. If both sides of the transaction are closing out existing positions, the open interest decreases by one. If one party is entering into a new contract while the other party is closing out an existing position, the open interest stays the same. Problem 2.23. Suppose that on October 24, 2010, you take a short position in an April 2011 live - cattle futures contract. You close out your position on January 21, 2011. The futures price (per pound) is 91.20 cents when you enter into the contract, 88.30 cents when you close out your position, and 88.80 cents at the end of December 2010. One contract is for the delivery of 40,000 pounds of cattle. What is your total profit? How is it taxed if you are (a) a hedger and (b) a speculator? Assume that you have a December 31 year end. The total profit is 40 000 (0 9120 0 8830) 1 160 $    −  =  If you are a hedger this is all taxed in 2011. If you are a speculator 40 000 (0 9120 0 8880) 960 $    −  = is taxed in 2010 and 40 000 (0 8880 0 8830) 200 $    −  = is taxed in 2011. Further Questions Problem 2.24 Trader A enters into futures contract s to buy 1 million euros for 1.4 million dollars in three months. Trader B enters in a forward contract to do the same thing. The exchange (dollars per euro) declines sharply during the first two month s and then increase s for the third month to close at 1.4 300. Ignoring daily settlement, what is the total profit of each trader? When the impact of daily settlement is taken into account, which trader does better? The total profit of each trader in dollars is 0.03×1,000,000 = 30,000. Trader B’s profit is realized at the end of the three months. Trader A’s profit is realized day - by - day during the three months. Substantial losses are made during the first two months and profits are made during the final month. It is likely that Trader B has done better because Trader A had to finance its losses during the first two months. Problem 2.25 Explain what is meant by open interest. Why does the open interest usually decline during the month preceding the delivery month ? On a particular day there are 2,000 trades in a particular futures contract. Of the 2,000 traders on the long side of the market, 1,400 were closing out position and 600 were entering into new positions. Of the 2,000 traders on the short side of the market, 1,200 were closing out position and 800 were entering into new positions. What is the impact of the day's trading on open interest?

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    Open interest is the number of contract outstanding. Many traders close out their positions just before the delivery month is reached. This is why the open interest declines during the month preceding the delivery month. The open interest went down by 600. We can see this in two ways. First, 1,400 shorts closed out and there were 800 new shorts. Second, 1,200 longs closed out and there were 600 new longs. Problem 2.26 One orange juice future contract is on 15,000 pounds of frozen concentrate. Suppose that in September 2009 a company sells a March 2011 orange juice futures contract for 120 cents per pound. In December 2009 the futures price is 140 cents. In December 2010 the futu res price is 110 cents. In February 2011 the futures price is 125 cents. The company has a December year end. What is the company's profit or loss on the contract? How is it realized? What is the accounting and tax tr eatment of t h e transaction is the company is classified as a) a hedger and b) a speculator? The price goes up during the time the company holds the contract from 120 to 125 cents per pound. Overall the company therefore takes a loss of 15,000×0.05 = $750. If the company is classified as a hedger this loss is realized in 2011, If it is classified as a speculator it realizes a loss of 15,000×0.20 = $3000 in 2009, a gain of 15,000×0.30 = $4,500 in 2010 and a loss of 15,000×0.15 = $2,250 in 2011. Problem 2.27 . A company enters into a short futures contract to sell 5,000 bushels of wheat for 250 cents per bushel. The initial margin is $3,000 and the maintenance margin is $2,000. What price change would lead to a margin call? Under what circumstances could $1,500 be withdrawn from the margin account? There is a margin call if $1000 is lost on the contract. This will happen if the price of wheat futures rises by 20 cents from 250 cents to 270 cents per bushel. $1500 can be withdrawn if the futures price falls by 30 cents to 220 cents per bushel. Problem 2.28 . Suppose that there are no storage costs for crude oil and the interest rate for borrowing or lending is 5% per annum. How c ould you make money on August 4, 2009 by trading December 2009 and June 2010 contracts on crude oil? Use Table 2.2. The December 2009 se ttlement price for oil is $75.62 per barrel. The June 2010 se ttlement price for oil is $79.41 per barrel. You could go long one December 2009 oil contract and short one June 2010 contract. In December 200 9 you take deli very of the oil borrowing $75.62 per barrel at 5% to meet cash outflows. The interest accumulated in six months is about 75.62×0.05×0.5 or $1.89 . In Dec ember the oil is sold for $79.41 per barrel which is more than the amount that has to be repaid on the loan. The strategy therefore leads to a p rofit . Note that this profit is independent of the actual price of oil in June 2010 or December 2009 . It will be slightly affected by the daily settlement procedures. Problem 2.29 . What position is equivalent to a long forward contract to buy an asset at K on a certain date and a put option to sell it for K on that date?

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    The equivalent position is a long position in a call with strike price K . Problem 2.30 . (Excel file ) The author’s Web page (www.rotman.utoronto.ca/ ~ hull/data) contains daily closing prices for the December 2001 crude oil futures contract and the December 2001 gold futures contract. (Both contracts are traded on NYMEX.) You are required to download the data and answer the following: a) How high do the maintenance margin levels for oil and gold have to be set so that there is a 1% chance that an investor with a balance slightly above the maintenance margin level on a particular day has a negative balance two days later (i.e. one day after a margin call). How high do they have to be for a 0.1% chance. Assume daily price changes are normally distributed with mean zero. b) Imagine an investor who starts with a long position in the oil contract at the beginning of the period covered by the data and keeps the contract for the whole of the period of time covered by the data. Margin balances in excess of the initial margin are withdrawn. Use the maintenance margin you calculated in part (a) for a 1% risk level and assume that the maintenance margin is 75% of the initial margin. Calculate the number of margin calls and the number of times the investor has a negative margin balance and therefore an incentive to walk away. Assume that all margin calls are met in your calculations. Repeat the calculations for an investor who starts with a short position in the gold contract. The data for this problem in the 7 th edition is different from that in the 6 th edition. a) For gold the standard dev iation of daily changes is $15.184 per ounce or $1518.4 per contract. For a 1% risk this means that the maintenance margin should be set at 3263 . 2 2 4 . 1518   or 4996 when rounded . For a 0.1% risk the maintenance margin should be set at 0902 . 3 2 4 . 1518   or 6636 when rounded. For crude oil the standard dev iation of daily changes is $1.5777 per barrel or $1577.7 per contract. For a 1% risk, this means that the maintenance margin should be set at 3263 . 2 2 7 . 1577   or 5191 when rounded. For a 0.1% chance the maintenance margin should be set at 0902 . 3 2 7 . 1577   or 6895 when rounded . NYMEX might be interested in these calculations because they indicate the chance of a trader who is just above the maintenance margin level at the beginning of the period having a negative margin level before funds have to be submitted to the broker. b) For a 1% risk t h e initial margin is set at 6,921 for on crude oil. (This is the maintenance margi n of 5 , 191 divided by 0.75.) As the spreadsheet shows, for a long investor in oil there are 157 margin calls and 9 ti mes (out of 1039 days) where the investor is tempted to walk away. For a 1% risk the ini tial margin is set at 6,661 for gold. (This is 4,996 divided by 0.75.) As the spreadsheet shows, for a shor t investor in gold there are 81 margin calls and 4 times (out of 459 days) when the investor is tempted to walk away. When the 0.1 % risk level is used there is 1 time when the oi l investor might walk away and 2 times when the gold investor might do so.

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    CHAPTER 3 Hedging Strategies Using Futures Practice Questions Problem 3.8. In the Chicago Board of Trade’s corn futures contract, the following delivery months are available: March, May, July, September, and December. State the contract that should be used for hedging when the expiration of the hedge is in a) June b) July c) January A good rule of thumb is to choose a futures contract that has a delivery month as close as possible to, but later than, the month containing the expiration of the hedge. The contracts that should be used are therefore (a) July (b) September (c) March Problem 3.9. Does a perfect hedge always succeed in locking in the current spot price of an asset for a future transaction? Explain your answer. No. Consider, for example, the use of a forward contract to hedge a known cash inflow in a foreign currency. The forward contract locks in the forward exchange rate — which is in general different from the spot exchange rate. Problem 3.10. Explain why a short hedger’s position improves when the basis strengthens unexpectedly and worsens when the basis weakens unexpectedly. The basis is the amount by which the spot price exceeds the futures price. A short hedger is long the asset and short futures contracts. The value of his or her position therefore improves as the basis increases. Similarly it worsens as the basis decreases. Problem 3.11. Imagine you are the treasurer of a Japanese company exporting electronic equipment to the United States. Discuss how you would design a foreign exchange hedging strategy and the arguments you would use to sell the strategy to your fellow executives. The simple answer to this question is that the treasurer should 1. Estimate the company’s future cash flows in Japanese yen and U.S. dollars 2. Enter into forward and futures contracts to lock in the exchange rate for the U.S. dollar cash flows. However, this is not the whole story. As the gold jewelry example in Table 3.1 shows, the company should examine whether the magnitudes of the foreign cash flows depend on the exchange rate. For example, will the company be able to raise the price of its product in U.S.

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    dollars if the yen appreciates? If the company can do so, its foreign exchange exposure may be quite low. The key estimates required are those showing the overall effect on the company’s profitability of changes in the exchange rate at various times in the future. Once these estimates have been produced the company can choose between using futures and options to hedge its risk. The results of the analysis should be presented carefully to other executives. It should be explained that a hedge does not ensure that profits will be higher. It means that profit will be more certain. When futures/forwards are used both the downside and upside are eliminated. With options a premium is paid to eliminate only the downside. Problem 3.12. Suppose that in Example 3.4 the company decides to use a hedge ratio of 0.8. How does the decision affect the way in which the hedge is implemented and the result? If the hedge ratio is 0.8, the company takes a long position in 16 NYM December oil futures contracts on June 8 when the futures price is $68.00. It closes out its position on November 10. The spot price and futures price at this time are $75.00 and $72. The gain on the futures position is (72 68 00) 16 000 64 000 −    =  The effective cost of the oil is therefore 20 000 75 64 000 1 436 000   −  =   or $71.80 per barrel. (This compares with $71.00 per barrel when t he company is fully hedged.) Problem 3.13. “If the minimum - variance hedge ratio is calculated as 1.0, the hedge must be perfect." Is this statement true? Explain your answer. The statement is not true. The minimum variance hedge ratio is S F    It is 1.0 when 0 5 =   and 2 S F =   . Since 1 0    the h edge is clearly not perfect. Problem 3.14. “If there is no basis risk, the minimum variance hedge ratio is always 1.0." Is this statement true? Explain your answer. The statement is true. Using the notation in the text, if the hedge ratio is 1.0, the hedger locks in a price of 1 2 F b + . Since both 1 F and 2 b are known this has a variance of zero and must be the best hedge. Problem 3.15 “For an asset where futures prices are usually less than spot prices, long hedges are likely to be particularly attractive." Explain this statement. A company that knows it will purchase a commodity in the future is able to lock in a price close to the futures price. This is likely to be particularly attractive when the futures price is less than the spot price. An illustration is provided by Example 3.2.

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    Problem 3.16. The standard deviation of monthly changes in the spot price of live cattle is (in cents per pound) 1.2. The standard deviation of monthly changes in the futures price of live cattle for the closest contract is 1.4. The correlation between the futures price changes and the spot price changes is 0.7. It is now October 15. A beef producer is committed to purchasing 200,000 pounds of live cattle on November 15. The producer wants to use the December live - cattle futures contracts to hedge its risk. Each contract is for the delivery of 40,000 pounds of cattle. What strategy should the beef producer follow? The optimal hedge ratio is 1 2 0 7 0 6 1 4    =   The beef producer requires a long position in 200000 0 6 120 000   =  lbs of cattle. The beef producer should therefore take a long position in 3 December contracts closing out the position on November 15. Problem 3.17. A corn farmer argues “I do not use futures contracts for hedging. My real risk is not the price of corn. It is that my whole crop gets wiped out by the weather.”Discuss this viewpoint. Should the farmer estimate his or her expected production of corn and hedge to try to lock in a price for expected production? If weather creates a significant uncertainty about the volume of corn that will be harvested, the farmer should not enter into short forward contracts to hedge the price risk on his or her expected production. The reason is as follows. Suppose that the weather is bad and the farmer’s production is lower than expected. Other farmers are likely to have been affected similarly. Corn production overall will be low and as a consequence the price of corn will be relatively high. The farmer’s problems arising from the bad harvest will be made worse by losses on the short futures position. This problem emphasizes the importance of looking at the big picture when hedging. The farmer is correct to question whether hedging price risk while ignoring other risks is a good strategy. Problem 3.18. On July 1, an investor holds 50,000 shares of a certain stock. The market price is $30 per share. The investor is interested in hedging against movements in the market over the next month and decides to use the September Mini S&P 500 futures contract. The index is currently 1,500 and one contract is for delivery of $50 times the index. The beta of the stock is 1.3. What strategy should the investor follow? Under what circumstances will it be profitable? A short position in 50 000 30 1 3 26 50 1 500     =   contracts is required. It will be profitable if the stock outperforms the market in the sense that its return is greater than that predicted by the capital asset pricing model. Problem 3.19. Suppose that in Table 3.5 the company decides to use a hedge ratio of 1.5. How does the

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    decision affect the way the hedge is implemented and the result? If the company uses a hedge ratio of 1.5 in Table 3.5 it would at each stage short 150 contracts. The gain from the futures contracts would be 55 . 2 $ 70 . 1 50 . 1 =  per barrel and the company would be $0.85 per barrel better off. Problem 3.20. A futures contract is used for hedging. Explain why the daily settlement of the contract can give rise to cash flow problems. Suppose that you enter into a short futures contract to hedge the sale of a asset in six months. If the price of the asset rises sharply during the six months, the futures price will also rise and you may get margin calls. The margin calls will lead to cash outflows. Eventually the cash outflows will be offset by the extra amount you get when you sell the asset, but there is a mismatch in the timing of the cash outflows and inflows. Your cash outflows occur earlier than your cash inflows. A similar situation could arise if you used a long position in a futures contract to hedge the purchase of an asset and the asset’s price fell sharply. An extreme example of what we are talking about here is provided by Metallgesellschaft (see Business Snapshot 3.2). Problem 3.21. The expected return on the S&P 500 is 12% and the risk - free rate is 5%. What is the expected return on the investment with a beta of (a) 0.2, (b) 0.5, and (c) 1.4? a) 0 05 0 2 (0 12 0 05) 0 064  +    −  =  or 6.4% b) 0 05 0 5 (0 12 0 05) 0 085  +    −  =  or 8.5% c) 0 05 1 4 (0 12 0 05) 0 148  +    −  =  or 14.8% Further Questions Problem 3.22 A company wishes to hedge its exposure to a new fuel whose price changes have a 0.6 correlation with gasoline futures price changes. The company will lose $1 million for each 1 cent increase in the price per gallon of the new fuel over the next three months. The new fuel's price change has a standard deviation that is 50 % greater than price changes in gasoline futures prices. If gasoline futures are used to hedge the exposure what should the hedge ratio be? What is the company's exposure measure d in gallons of the new fuel? What position measured in gallons should the company take in gasoline futures? How many gasoline futures contracts should be traded? The hedge ratio should be 0.6 × 1.5 = 0.9. The company has an exposure to the price of 100 million gallons of the new fuel. If should therefore take a position of 90 million gallons in gasoline futures. Each futures contract is on 42,000 gallons. The number of contracts required is therefore 9 . 2142 000 , 42 000 , 000 , 90 =

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    or, rounding to the nearest whole number, 2143. Problem 3.23 A portfolio manager has maintained an actively managed portfolio with a beta of 0.2. During the las t year the risk - free rate was 5% and equities performed very b adly providing a return of −30 %. The portfoli o manage produced a return of −10 % and claims that in the circumstances it was good. D iscuss this claim. When the expected return on the market is −30% the expected return on a portfolio with a beta of 0.2 is 0.05 + 0.2 × (−0.3 0 − 0.05) = −0.02 or – 2%. The actual return of – 10% is worse than the expected return. The portfolio manager has achieved an alpha of – 8%! Problem 3.24 . It is July 16. A company has a portfolio of stocks worth $100 million. The beta of the portfolio is 1.2. The company would like to use the CME December futures contract on the S&P 500 to change the beta of the portfolio to 0.5 during the period July 16 to November 16. The index is currently 1,000, and each contract is on $250 times the index. a) What position should the company take? b) Suppose that the company changes its mind and decides to increase the beta of the portfolio from 1.2 to 1.5. What position in futures contracts should it take? a) The company should short (1 2 0 5) 100 000 000 1000 250  −      or 280 contracts. b) The company should take a long position in (1 5 1 2) 100 000 000 1000 250  −      or 120 contracts. Problem 3.25 . (Excel file) The following table gives data on monthly changes in the spot price and the futures price for a certain commodity. Use the data to calculate a minimum variance hedge ratio. Spot Price Change 0 50 +  0 61 +  0 22 −  0 35 −  0 79 +  Futures Price Change 0 56 +  0 63 +  0 12 −  0 44 −  0 60 +  Spot Price Change 0 04 +  0 15 +  0 70 +  0 51 −  0 41 −  Futures Price Change 0 06 −  0 01 +  0 80 +  0 56 −  0 46 −  Denote i x and i y by the i - th observation on the change in the futures price and the change in the spot price respectively.

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    0 96 1 30 i i x y =  =    2 2 2 4474 2 3594 i i x y =  =    2 352 i i x y =   An estimate of F  is 2 2 4474 0 96 0 5116 9 10 9   − =   An estimate of S  is 2 2 3594 1 30 0 4933 9 10 9   − =   An estimate of  is 2 2 10 2 352 0 96 1 30 0 981 (10 2 4474 0 96 )(10 2 3594 1 30 )   −    =    −    −  The minimum variance hedge ratio is 0 4933 0 981 0 946 0 5116 S F  =   =      Problem 3.26 . It is now October 2010 . A company anticipates that it will purchase 1 million pounds of copper in each of February 2011, August 2011, February 2012, and August 2012 . The company has decided to use the futures contracts traded in the COMEX division of the CME Group to hedge its risk. One contract is for the delivery of 25,000 pounds of copper. The initial margin is $2,000 per contract and the maintenance margin is $1,500 per contract. The company’s policy is to hedge 80% of its exposure. Contracts with maturities up to 13 months into the future are considered to have sufficient liquidity to meet the company’s needs. Devise a hedging strategy for the company. Assume the market prices (in cents per pound) today and at future dates are as follows. What is the impact of the strategy you propose on the price the company pays for copper? What is the initial ma rgin requirement in October 2010 ? Is the company subject to any margin calls? Date Oct 20 10 Feb 20 11 Aug 20 11 Feb 20 12 Aug 20 12 Spot Price 372.00 369.00 365.00 377.00 388.00 Mar 2011 Futures Price 372.30 369.10 Sep 2011 Futures Price 372.80 370.20 364.80 Mar 2012 Futures Price 370.70 364.30 376.70 Sep 2012 Futures Price 364.20 376.50 388.20 To hedge the February 2011 purchase the company should ta ke a long position in March 2011 contracts for the delivery of 800,000 pounds of copper. The total number of contracts required is 800 000 25 000 32    = . Similarly a long position in 32 Septembe r 2011 contracts is r equired to hedge the August 2011 purchase. For the February 2012 purchase the company could take a lo ng position in 32 September 2011 contrac ts and roll them into March 2012 contracts during August 2011 . (As an alternative, the company could hedge the February 2012 purchase by taking a long position in 32 March 2011 contracts and rolling them into

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    March 2012 contracts.) For the August 2012 purchase the company could take a lo ng position in 32 September 2011 and roll them into September 2 012 contracts during August 2011 . The strategy is therefore as follows Oct. 2010 : Enter into long position in 96 Sept. 2008 contracts Enter into a long position in 32 Mar. 2008 contracts Feb 2011 : Close out 32 Mar. 2008 contracts Aug 2011 : Close out 96 Sept. 2008 contracts Enter into long position in 32 Mar. 2009 contracts Enter into long position in 32 Sept. 2009 contracts Feb 2012 : Close out 32 Mar. 2009 contracts Aug 2012 : Close out 32 Sept. 2009 contracts With the market prices shown the company pays 369 00 0 8 (372 30 369 10) 371 56  +    −  =  for copper in February, 2011 . It pays 365 00 0 8 (372 80 364 80) 371 40  +    −  =  for copper in August 2011. As far as the February 2012 purchase is concerned, it loses 372 80 364 80 8 00  −  =  on the September 2011 futures and gains 376 70 364 30 12 40  −  =  on the February 2012 futures. The net price paid is therefore 377 00 0 8 8 00 0 8 12 40 373 48  +    −    =  As far as the August 2012 purchase is concerned, it loses 372 80 364 80 8 00  −  =  on the Septem ber 2011 futures and gains 388 20 364 20 24 00  −  =  on the September 2012 futures. The net price paid is therefore 388 00 0 8 8 00 0 8 24 00 375 20  +    −    =  The hedging strategy succeeds in keeping the price paid in the range 371.40 to 375.20. In October 2010 the initial margin requirement on the 128 contracts is 128 2 000 $   or $256,000. There is a margin call when the futures price drops by more than 2 cents . This happens to the March 2011 contract between October 2010 and Februa ry 2011 , to the September 2011 contract between October 2010 and February 2011, and to the September 2011 contract between February 2011 and August 2011 . Problem 3.27 . (Excel file) A fund manager has a portfolio worth $50 million with a beta of 0.87. The manager is concerned about the performance of the market over the next two months and plans to use three - month futures contracts on the S&P 500 to hedge the risk. The current level of the index is 1250, one contract is on 250 times the index, the risk - free rate is 6% per annum, and the dividend yield on the index is 3% per annum. The current 3 month futures price is 1259. a) What position should the fund manager take to eliminate all exposure to the market over the next two months? b) Calculate the effect of your strategy on the fund manager’s returns if the level of the market in two months is 1,000, 1,100, 1,200, 1,300, and 1,400. Assume that the one - month futures price is 0.25% higher than the index level at this time. a) The number of contracts the fund manager should short is 50 000 000 0 87 138 20 1259 250     =   Rounding to the nearest whole number, 138 contracts should be shorted.

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    b) The following table sho ws that the impact of the strategy . To illustrate the calculations in the table consider the first column. If the index in two months is 1,000, the futures price is 1000×1.0025. The gain on the short futures position is therefore (1259 1002 50) 250 138 8 849 250 $ −    =   The return on the index is 3 2 12   =0.5% in the form of dividend and 250 1250 20 % −  = − in the form of capital gains. The total return on the index is therefore 19 5 % −  . The risk - free rate is 1% per two months. The return is therefore 20 5 % −  in excess of the risk - free rate. From the capital asset pricing model we expect the return on the portfolio to be 0 87 20 5 17 835 % %  −  = −  in excess of the risk - free rate. The portfolio return is therefore 16 835 % −  . The loss on the portfolio is 0 16835 50 000 000     or $8,417,500. When this is combined with the gain on the futures the total gain is $431,750. Index now 1250 1250 1250 1250 1250 Index Level in Two Months 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 Return on Index in Two Months -0.20 -0.12 -0.04 0.04 0.12 Return on Index incl divs -0.195 -0.115 -0.035 0.045 0.125 Excess Return on Index -0.205 -0.125 -0.045 0.035 0.115 Excess Return on Portfolio -0.178 -0.109 -0.039 0.030 0.100 Return on Portfolio -0.168 -0.099 -0.029 0.040 0.110 Portfolio Gain -8,417,500 -4,937,500 -1,457,500 2,022,500 5,502,500 Futures Now 1259 1259 1259 1259 1259 Futures in Two Months 1002.50 1102.75 1203.00 1303.25 1403.50 Gain on Futures 8,849,250 5,390,625 1,932,000 -1,526,625 -4,985,250 Net Gain on Portfolio 431,750 453,125 474,500 495,875 517,250

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    CHAPTER 4 Interest R ates Practice Questions Problem 4.8. The cash prices of six - month and one - year Treasury bills are 94.0 and 89.0. A 1.5 - year bond that will pay coupons of $4 every six months currently sells for $94.84. A two - year bond that will pay coupons of $5 every six months currently sells for $97.12. Calculate the six - month, one - year, 1.5 - year, and two - year zero rates. The 6 - month Treasury bill provides a return of 6 94 6 383 %  =  in six months. This is 2 6 383 12 766 %   =  per annum with semiannual compounding or 2 ln(1 06383) 12 38 %  =  per annum with continuous compounding. The 12 - month rate is 11 89 12 360 %  =  with annual compounding or ln(1 1236) 11 65 %  =  with continuous compounding. For the 1 1 2 year bond we must have 0 1238 0 5 0 1165 1 1 5 4 4 104 94 84 R e e e −    −   −  + + =  where R is the 1 1 2 year zero rate. It follows that 1 5 1 5 3 76 3 56 104 94 84 0 8415 0 115 R R e e R −  −   +  + =  =  =  or 11.5%. For the 2 - year bond we must have 0 1238 0 5 0 1165 1 0 115 1 5 2 5 5 5 105 97 12 R e e e e −    −   −    − + + + =  where R is the 2 - year zero rate. It follows that 2 0 7977 0 113 R e R − =  =  or 11.3%. Problem 4.9. What rate of interest with continuous compounding is equivalent to 15% per annum with monthly compounding? The rate of interest is R where: 12 0 15 1 12 R e    = +     i.e., 0 15 12 ln 1 12 R    = +     0 1491 =  The rate of interest is therefore 14.91% per annum.

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    Problem 4.10. A deposit account pays 12% per annum with continuous compounding, but interest is actually paid quarterly. How much interest will be paid each quarter on a $10,000 deposit? The equivalent rate of interest with quarterly compounding is R where 4 0 12 1 4 R e    = +     or 0 03 4( 1) 0 1218 R e  = − =  The amount of interest paid each quarter is therefore: 0 1218 10 000 304 55 4    =  or $304.55. Problem 4.11. Suppose that 6 - month, 12 - month, 18 - month, 24 - month, and 30 - month zero rates are 4%, 4.2%, 4.4%, 4.6%, and 4.8% per annum with continuous compounding respectively. Estimate the cash price of a bond with a face value of 100 that will mature in 30 months and pays a coupon of 4% per annum semiannually. The bond pays $2 in 6, 12, 18, and 24 months, and $102 in 30 months. The cash price is 0 04 0 5 0 042 1 0 0 044 1 5 0 046 2 0 048 2 5 2 2 2 2 102 98 04 e e e e e −    −    −    −   −    + + + + =  Problem 4.12. A three - year bond provides a coupon of 8% semiannually and has a cash price of 104. What is the bond’s yield? The bond pays $4 in 6, 12, 18, 24, and 30 months, and $104 in 36 months. The bond yield is the value of y that solves 0 5 1 0 1 5 2 0 2 5 3 0 4 4 4 4 4 104 104 y y y y y y e e e e e e −  −  −  −  −  −  + + + + + = Using the Goal Seek tool in Excel 0 06407 y =  or 6.407%. Problem 4.13. Suppose that the 6 - month, 12 - month, 18 - month, and 24 - month zero rates are 5%, 6%, 6.5%, and 7% respectively. What is the two - year par yield? Using the notation in the text, 2 m = , 0 07 2 0 8694 d e −   = =  . Also 0 05 0 5 0 06 1 0 0 065 1 5 0 07 2 0 3 6935 A e e e e −    −    −    −    = + + + =  The formula in the text gives the par yield as (100 100 0 8694) 2 7 072 3 6935 −    =   To verify that this is correct we calculate the value of a bond that pays a coupon of 7.072% per year (that is 3.5365 every six months). The value is 0 05 0 5 0 06 1 0 0 065 1 5 0 07 2 0 3 536 3 5365 3 536 103 536 100 e e e e −    −    −    −     +  +  +  =

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    verifying that 7.072% is the par yield. Problem 4.14. Suppose that zero interest rates with continuous compounding are as follows: Maturity( years) Rate (% per annum) 1 2.0 2 3.0 3 3.7 4 4.2 5 4.5 Calculate forward interest rates for the second, third, fourth, and fifth years. The forward rates with continuous compounding are as follows: to Year 2: 4.0% Year 3: 5.1% Year 4: 5.7% Year 5: 5.7% Problem 4.15. Use the rates in Problem 4.14 to value an FRA where you will pay 5% for the third year on $1 million. The forward rate is 5.1% with continuous compounding or 0 051 1 1 5 232 e %   − =  with annual compounding. The 3 - year interest rate is 3.7% with continuous compounding. From equation (4.10), the value of the FRA is therefore 0 037 3 [1 000 000 (0 05232 0 05) 1] 2 078 85 e −       −   =   or $1,964.67. Problem 4.16. A 10 - year, 8% coupon bond currently sells for $90. A 10 - year, 4% coupon bond currently sells for $80. What is the 10 - year zero rate? (Hint: Consider taking a long position in two of the 4% coupon bonds and a short position in one of the 8% coupon bonds.) Taking a long position in two of the 4% coupon bonds and a short position in one of the 8% coupon bonds leads to the following cash flows Year0 90 2 80 70 Year10 200 100 100  −  = −  − = because the coupons cancel out. $100 in 10 years time is equivalent to $70 today. The 10 - year rate, R , (continuously compounded) is therefore given by 10 100 70 R e = The rate is 1 100 ln 0 0357 10 70 =  or 3.57% per annum. Problem 4.17. Explain carefully why liquidity preference theory is consistent with the observation that the

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    term structure of interest rates tends to be upward sloping more often than it is downward sloping. If long - term rates were simply a reflection of expected future short - term rates, we would expect the term structure to be downward sloping as often as it is upward sloping. (This is based on the assumption that half of the time investors expect rates to increase and half of the time investors expect rates to decrease). Liquidity preference theory argues that long term rates are high relative to expected future short - term rates. This means that the term structure should be upward sloping more often than it is downward sloping. Problem 4.18. “When the zero curve is upward sloping, the zero rate for a particular maturity is greater than the par yield for that maturity. When the zero curve is downward sloping the reverse is true.” Explain why this is so. The par yield is the yield on a coupon - bearing bond. The zero rate is the yield on a zero - coupon bond. When the yield curve is upward sloping, the yield on an N - year coupon - bearing bond is less than the yield on an N - year zero - coupon bond. This is because the coupons are discounted at a lower rate than the N - year rate and drag the yield down below this rate. Similarly, when the yield curve is downward sloping, the yield on an N - year coupon bearing bond is higher than the yield on an N - year zero - coupon bond. Problem 4.19. Why are U.S. Treasury rates significantly lower than other rates that are close to risk free? There are three reasons (see Business Snapshot 4.1). 1. Treasury bills and Treasury bonds must be purchased by financial institutions to fulfill a variety of regulatory requirements. This increases demand for these Treasury instruments driving the price up and the yield down. 2. The amount of capital a bank is required to hold to support an investment in Treasury bills and bonds is substantially smaller than the capital required to support a similar investment in other very - low - risk instruments. 3. In the United States, Treasury instruments are given a favorable tax treatment compared with most other fixed - income investments because they are not taxed at the state level. Problem 4.20. Why does a loan in the repo market involve very little credit risk? A repo is a contract where an investment dealer who owns securities agrees to sell them to another company now and buy them back later at a slightly higher price. The other company is providing a loan to the investment dealer. This loan involves very little credit risk. If the borrower does not honor the agreement, the lending company simply keeps the securities. If the lending company does not keep to its side of the agreement, the original owner of the securities keeps the cash. Problem 4.21. Explain why an FRA is equivalent to the exchange of a floating rate of interest for a fixed rate of interest? A FRA is an agreement that a certain specified interest rate, K R , will apply to a certain

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    principal, L , for a certain specified future time period. Suppose that the rate observed in the market for the future time period at the beginning of the time period proves to be M R . If the FRA is an agreement that K R will apply when the principal is invested, the holder of the FRA can borrow the principal at M R and then invest it at K R . The net cash flow at the end of the period is then an inflow of K R L and an outflow of M R L . If the FRA is an agreement that K R will apply when the principal is borrowed, the holder of the FRA can invest the borrowed principal at M R . The net cash flow at the end of the period is then an inflow of M R L and an outflow of K R L . In either case we see that the FRA involves the exchange of a fixed rate of interest on the principal of L for a floating rate of interest on the principal. Problem 4.22. “An interest rate swap where six - month LIBOR is exchanged for a fixed rate 5% on a principal of $100 million is a portfolio of FRAs.” Explain. Each exchange of payments is an FRA where interest at 5% is exchanged for interest at LIBOR on a principal of $100 million. Interest rate swaps are discussed further in Chapter 7. Further Questions Problem 4.23 (Excel file) A five - y ear bond provides a coupon of 5 % per annum payable semiannually. Its price is 104. What is the bond's yield? You may find Excel's Solver useful. The answer (with continuous compounding is 4.07% Problem 4.24 (Excel file) Suppose that LI BOR rates for maturities of one month, two months, three months, four months, five months and six months are 2.6%, 2.9%, 3.1%, 3.2%, 3.25 % , and 3.3 % with continuous compounding. What are the forward rates for future one month periods? The forward rates for the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth months are (see spreadsheet) 3.2%, 3.5%, 3.5%, 3.45%, 3.55%, respectively with continuous compounding. Problem 4.25 A bank can borrow or lend at LIBOR. The two - month LIBOR rate is 0.28% per annum with continuous compounding. Assuming that interest rates cannot be negative, what is the arbitrage opportunity if the three - month LIBOR ra te is 0.1 % per year with continuous compounding. How low can the three - month LIBOR rate become without an arbit rage opportunity being created? The forward rate for the third month is 0.001×3 − 0.0028×2 = − 0.0026 or − 0.26%. If we assume that the rate for the third month will not be negative we can borrow for three months, lend for two months and lend at the market rate for the third month. Th e lowest level for the three - month rate that does not permit this arbitrage is 0.0028×2/3 = 0.001867 or 0.1867%. Problem 4.26 A bank can borrow or lend at LIBOR. Suppo se that the six - month rate is 5 % and the nine -

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    month rate is 6%. The rate that can be locked in for the period between six months an d nine months using an FRA is 7 %. What arbitrage opportunities are open to the bank? All rates are continuously compounded. The forward rate is 08 . 0 25 . 0 50 . 0 05 . 0 75 . 0 06 . 0 =  −  or 8%. The FRA rate is 7%. A profit can therefore be made by borrowing for six months at 5%, entering into an FRA to borrow for the period between 6 and 9 months for 7% and lending for nine months at 6%. Problem 4.27. An interest rate is quoted as 5% per annum with semiannual compounding. What is the equivalent rate with (a) annual compounding, (b) monthly compounding, and (c) continuous compounding. a) With annual compounding the rate is 2 1 025 1 0 050625  − =  or 5.0625% b) With monthly compounding the rate is 1 6 12 (1 025 1) 0 04949    − =  or 4.949%. c) With continuous compounding the rate is 2 ln1 025 0 04939   =  or 4.939%. Problem 4.28. The 6 - month, 12 - month. 18 - month,and 24 - month zero rates are 4%, 4.5%, 4.75%, and 5% with semiannual compounding. a) What are the rates with continuous compounding? b) What is the forward rate for the six - month period beginning in 18 months c) What is the value of an FRA that promises to pay you 6% (compounded semiannually) on a principal of $1 million for the six - month period starting in 18 months? a) With continuous compounding the 6 - month rate is 2ln1 02 0 039605  =  or 3.961%. The 12 - month rate is 2ln1 0225 0 044501  =  or 4.4501%. The 18 - month rate is 2ln1 02375 0 046945  =  or 4.6945%. The 24 - month rate is 2ln1 025 0 049385  =  or 4.9385%. b) The forward rate (expressed with continuous compounding) is from equation (4.5) 4 9385 2 4 6945 1 5 0 5   −     or 5.6707%. When expressed with semiannual compounding this is 0 056707 0 5 2( 1) 0 057518 e    − =  or 5.7518%. c) The value of an FRA that promises to pay 6% for the six month period starting in 18 months is from equation (4.9) 0 049385 2 1 000 000 (0 06 0 057518) 0 5 1 124 e −       −    =  or $1,124. Problem 4.29 . What is the two - year par yield when the z ero rates are as in Problem 4.28 ? What is the yield on a two - year bond that pays a coupon equal to the par yield? The value, A of an annuity paying off $1 every six months is 0 039605 0 5 0 044501 1 0 046945 1 5 0 049385 2 3 7748 e e e e −    −   −    −   + + + = 

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    The present value of $1 received in two years, d , is 0 049385 2 0 90595 e −   =  . From the formula in Section 4.4 the par yield is (100 100 0 90595) 2 4 983 3 7748 −    =   or 4.983%. Problem 4.30. The following table gives the prices of bonds Bond Principal ($) Time to Maturity (yrs) Annual Coupon ($)* Bond Price ($) 100 0.5 0.0 98 100 1.0 0.0 95 100 1.5 6.2 101 100 2.0 8.0 104 *Half the stated coupon is paid every six months a) Calculate zero rates for maturities of 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, and 24 months. b) What are the forward rates for the periods: 6 months to 12 months, 12 months to 18 months, 18 months to 24 months? c) What are the 6 - month, 12 - month, 18 - month, and 24 - month par yields for bonds that provide semiannual coupon payments? d) Estimate the price and yield of a two - year bond providing a semiannual coupon of 7% per annum. a) The zero rate for a maturity of six months, expressed with continuous compounding is 2ln(1 2 98) 4 0405 % +  =  . The zero rate for a maturity of one year, expressed with continuous compounding is ln(1 5 95) 5 1293 +  =  . The 1.5 - year rate is R where 0 040405 0 5 0 051293 1 1 5 3 1 3 1 103 1 101 R e e e −    −   −    +  +  = T he solution to this equation is 0 054429 R =  . The 2.0 - year rate is R where 0 040405 0 5 0 051293 1 0 054429 1 5 2 4 4 4 104 104 R e e e e −    −   −    −  + + + = Th e solution to this equation is 0 058085 R =  . These results are shown in the table below Maturity (yrs) Zero Rate (%) Forward Rate (%) Par Yield (s.a.%) Par yield (c.c %) 0.5 4.0405 4.0405 4.0816 4.0405 1.0 5.1293 6.2181 5.1813 5.1154 1.5 5.4429 6.0700 5.4986 5.4244 2.0 5.8085 6.9054 5.8620 5.7778 b) The continuously compounded forward rates calculated using equation (4.5) are shown in the third column of the table c) The par yield, expressed with semiannual compounding, can be calculated from the formula in Section 4.4. It is shown in the fourth column of the table. In the fifth column of the table it is converted to continuous compounding

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