Answer Choices:
a. True
b. False
Answer: a. True
Question: Assume that interest rates on 20-year Treasury and corporate bonds with different ratings, all of which are noncallable, are as follows:
T-bond = 7.72%
AAA = 8.72%
BBB = 10.18%
The differences in rates among these issues were most probably caused primarily by:
a. Real risk-free rate differences.
b. Tax effects.
c. Default and liquidity risk differences.
d. Maturity risk differences.
e. Inflation differences.
Answer Choices:
a. False
b. False
c. True
d. False
e. False
Answer: c. True
Question: Bond X has an 8% annual coupon, Bond Y has a 10% annual coupon, and Bond Z has a 12% annual coupon. Each of the bonds is noncallable, has a maturity of 10 years, and has a yield to maturity of 10%. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?
a. If the bonds’ market interest rate remains at 10%, Bond Z’s price will be lower one year from now than it is today.
b. Bond X has the greatest reinvestment risk.
c. If market interest rates decline, the prices of all three bonds will increase, but Z’s price will have the largest percentage increase.
d. If market interest rates remain at 10%, Bond Z’s price will be 10% higher one year from today.
e. If market interest rates increase, Bond X’s price will increase, Bond Z’s price will decline, and Bond Y’s price will remain the same.
Answer Choices:
a. True
b. False
c. False
d. False
e. False
Answer: a. True
Question: Which of the following statements is CORRECT?
a. If a coupon bond is selling at par, its current yield equals its yield to maturity.
b. If a coupon bond is selling at a discount, its price will continue to decline until it reaches its par value at maturity.
c. If interest rates increase, the price of a 10-year coupon bond will decline by a greater percentage than the price of a 10-year zero coupon bond.
d. If a bond’s yield to maturity exceeds its annual coupon, then the bond will trade at a premium.
e. If a coupon bond is selling at a premium, its current yield equals its yield to maturity.
Answer Choices:
a. True
b. False
c. False
d. False
e. False
Answer: a. True
Question: Which of the following statements is CORRECT?
a. One advantage of a zero coupon Treasury bond is that no one who owns the bond has to pay any taxes on it until it matures or is sold.
b. Long-term bonds have less price risk but more reinvestment risk than short-term bonds.
c. If interest rates increase, all bond prices will increase, but the increase will be greater for bonds that have less price risk.
d. Relative to a coupon-bearing bond with the same maturity, a zero coupon bond has more price risk but less reinvestment risk.
e. Long-term bonds have less price risk and also less reinvestment risk than short-term bonds.
Answer Choices:
a. False
b. False
c. False
d. True
e. False
Answer: d. True
Question: If its yield to maturity declined by 1%, which of the following bonds would have the largest percentage increase in value?
a. A 1-year zero coupon bond.
b. A 1-year bond with an 8% coupon.
c. A 10-year bond with an 8% coupon.
d. A 10-year bond with a 12% coupon.
e. A 10-year zero coupon bond.
Answer Choices:
a. False
b. False
c. False
d. False
e. True
Answer: e. True
Question: Three $1,000 face value, 10-year, noncallable, bonds have the same amount of risk, hence their YTMs are equal. Bond 8 has an 8% annual coupon, Bond 10 has a 10% annual coupon, and Bond 12 has a 12% annual coupon. Bond 10 sells at par. Assuming that interest rates remain constant for the next 10 years, which of the following statements is CORRECT?
a. Bond 8’s current yield will increase each year.
b. Since the bonds have the same YTM, they should all have the same price, and since interest rates are not expected to change, their prices should all remain at their current levels until maturity.
c. Bond 12 sells at a premium (its price is greater than par), and its price is expected to increase over the next year.
d. Bond 8 sells at a discount (its price is less than par), and its price is expected to increase over the next year.
e. Over the next year, Bond 8’s price is expected to decrease, Bond 10’s price is expected to stay the same, and Bond 12’s price is expected to increase.
Answer Choices:
a. False
b. False
c. False
d. True
e. False
Answer: d. True
Question: Which of the following statements is CORRECT?
a. Sinking fund provisions sometimes turn out to adversely affect bondholders, and this is most likely to occur if interest rates decline after the bond was issued.
b. Most sinking funds require the issuer to provide funds to a trustee, who holds the money so that it will be available to pay off bondholders when the bonds mature.
c. A sinking fund provision makes a bond more risky to investors at the time of issuance.
d. Sinking fund provisions never require companies to retire their debt; they only establish “targets” for the company to reduce its debt over time.
e. If interest rates increase after a company has issued bonds with a sinking fund, the company will be less likely to buy bonds on the open market to meet its sinking fund obligation and more likely to call them in at the sinking fund call price.
Answer Choices:
a. True
b. False
c. False
d. False
e. False
Answer: a. True
Question: Which of the following statements is CORRECT?
a. If a coupon bond is selling at a premium, then the bond’s current yield is zero.
b. If a coupon bond is selling at a discount, then the bond’s expected capital gains yield is negative.
c. If a bond is selling at a discount, the yield to call is a better measure of the expected return than the yield to maturity.
d. The current yield on Bond A exceeds the current yield on Bond B. Therefore, Bond A must have a higher yield to maturity than Bond B.
e. If a coupon bond is selling at par, its current yield equals its yield to maturity.
Answer Choices:
a. False
b. False
c. False
d. False
e. True
Answer: e. True
Question: An investor is considering buying one of two 10-year, $1,000 face value, noncallable bonds: Bond A has a 7% annual coupon, while Bond B has a 9% annual coupon. Both bonds have a yield to maturity of 8%, and the YTM is expected to remain constant for the next 10 years. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?
a. Bond B has a higher price than Bond A today, but one year from now the bonds will have the same price.
b. One year from now, Bond A’s price will be higher than it is today.
Answer Choices:
a. False
b. True
Answer: b. True
Question: Which of the following statements is CORRECT?
a. The yield to maturity for a coupon bond that sells at a premium consists entirely of a positive capital gains yield; it has a zero current interest yield.
b. The market value of a bond will always approach its par value as its maturity date approaches. This holds true even if the firm has filed for bankruptcy.
c. Rising inflation makes the actual yield to maturity on a bond greater than a quoted yield to maturity that is based on market prices.
d. The yield to maturity on a coupon bond that sells at its par value consists entirely of a current interest yield; it has a zero expected capital gains yield.
e. The expected capital gains yield on a bond will always be zero or positive because no investor would purchase a bond with an expected capital loss.
Answer Choices:
a. False
b. False
c. False
d. True
e. False
Answer: d. True
Question: Tucker Corporation is planning to issue new 20-year bonds. The current plan is to make the bonds non-callable, but may be changed. If the bonds are made callable after 5 years at a 5% call premium, how would this affect their required rate of return?
a. Because of the call premium, the required rate of return would decline.
b. There is no reason to expect a change in the required rate of return.
c. The required rate of return would decline because the bond would then be less risky to a bondholder.
d. The required rate of return would increase because the bond would then be more risky to a bondholder.
e. It is impossible to say without more information.
Answer Choices:
a. False
b. False
c. False
d. True
e. False
Answer: d. True
Question: Bond A has a 9% annual coupon, while Bond B has a 7% annual coupon. Both bonds have the same maturity, a face value of $1,000, an 8% yield to maturity, and are noncallable. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?
a. Bond A’s capital gains yield is greater than Bond B’s capital gains yield.
b. Bond A trades at a discount, whereas Bond B trades at a premium.
c. If the yield to maturity for both bonds remains at 8%, Bond A’s price one year from now will be higher than it is today, but Bond B’s price one year from now will be lower than it is today.
d. If the yield to maturity for both bonds immediately decreases to 6%, Bond A’s bond will have a larger percentage increase in value.
e. Bond A’s current yield is greater than that of Bond B.
Answer Choices:
a. False
b. False
c. False
d. True
e. False
Answer: d. True
Question: Other things equal, a firm will have to pay a higher coupon rate on its subordinated debentures than on its second mortgage bonds.
Answer Choices:
a. True
b. False
Answer: a. True