1. Consider the following four debt securities, which are identical in every characteristic except as noted:
W: A corporate bond rated AAA
X: A corporate bond rate BBB
Y: A corporate bond rated AAA with a shorter time to maturity than bonds W and X
Z: A corporate bond rated AAA with the same time to maturity as bond Y that trades in a more liquid market than bonds W, X, or Y.
List the bonds in the most likely order of the interest rates (yields to maturity) of the bonds from highest to lowest. Explain your work.
2. Explain how an economist could use the slope of the yield curve to analyze the probability that a recession will occur and why the spread may matter.
3. One year ago, you bought a bond for $10,000. You received interest of $400 at the end of the year, as well as your $10,000 principal. If the inflation rate over the last year was five percent, calculate the real return.
4. Suppose that the price of a stock is $50 at the beginning of a year and $53 at the end of the year, and it pays a dividend of $2 during the year. Calculate the stock's current yield, capital-gains yield, and the return.
5. Use the capital-asset pricing model to predict the returns next year of the following stocks, if you expect the return to holding stocks to be 12 percent on average, and the interest rate on three-month T-bills will be two percent. Calculate a stock with a beta of -0.3, 0.7, and 1.6.