Exam 6: Interest Rates

One of the four most fundamental factors that affect the cost of money as discussed in the text is the time preference for consumption. The higher the time preference, the lower the cost of money, other things held constant.

Suppose the real risk-free rate is 3.00%, the average expected future inflation rate is 2.25%, and a maturity risk premium of 0.10% per year to maturity applies, i.e., MRP = 0.10%(t), where t is the years to maturity. What rate of return would you expect on a 1-year Treasury security, assuming the pure expectations theory is NOT valid? Include the cross-product term, i.e., if averaging is required, use the geometric average.

Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

Kay Corporation's 5-year bonds yield 6.20% and 5-year T-bonds yield 4.40%. The real risk-free rate is r* = 2.5%, the inflation premium for 5-year bonds is IP = 1.50%, the default risk premium for Kay's bonds is DRP = 1.30% versus zero for T-bonds, and the maturity risk premium for all bonds is found with the formula MRP = (t - 1) × 0.1%, where t = number of years to maturity. What is the liquidity premium (LP) on Kay's bonds?

Suppose 1-year T-bills currently yield 7.00% and the future inflation rate is expected to be constant at 3.20% per year. What is the real risk-free rate of return, r*? Disregard any cross-product terms, i.e., if averaging is required, use the arithmetic average.

The real risk-free rate is expected to remain constant at 3% in the future, a 2% rate of inflation is expected for the next 2 years, after which inflation is expected to increase to 4%, and there is a positive maturity risk premium that increases with years to maturity. Given these conditions, which of the following statements is CORRECT?

Suppose 1-year Treasury bonds yield 4.00% while 2-year T-bonds yield 5.10%. Assuming the pure expectations theory is correct, and thus the maturity risk premium for T-bonds is zero, what is the yield on a 1-year T-bond expected to be one year from now?

5-year Treasury bonds yield 5.5%. The inflation premium (IP) is 1.9%, and the maturity risk premium (MRP) on 5-year T-bonds is 0.4%. There is no liquidity premium on these bonds. What is the real risk-free rate, r*?

Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

If the pure expectations theory is correct (that is, the maturity risk premium is zero), which of the following is CORRECT?

The risk that interest rates will increase, and that increase will lead to a decline in the prices of outstanding bonds, is called "interest rate risk," or "price risk."

Suppose the rate of return on a 10-year T-bond is 6.55%, the expected average rate of inflation over the next 10 years is 2.0%, the MRP on a 10-year T-bond is 0.9%, no MRP is required on a TIPS, and no liquidity premium is required on any Treasury security. Given this information, what should the yield be on a 10-year TIPS? Disregard cross-product terms, i.e., if averaging is required, use the arithmetic average.

Assuming that the term structure of interest rates is determined as posited by the pure expectations theory, which of the following statements is CORRECT?

Suppose the interest rate on a 1-year T-bond is 5.00% and that on a 2 year T-bond is 6.00%. Assume that the pure expectations theory is NOT valid, and the MRP is zero for a 1-year T-bond but 0.40% for a 2-year bond. What is the yield on a 1-year T-bond expected to be one year from now?

The real risk-free rate is 3.55%, inflation is expected to be 3.15% this year, and the maturity risk premium is zero. Taking account of the cross-product term, i.e., not ignoring it, what is the equilibrium rate of return on a 1-year Treasury bond?

Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

Assume that the current corporate bond yield curve is upward sloping, or normal. Under this condition, we could be sure that

Inflation is expected to increase steadily over the next 10 years, there is a positive maturity risk premium on both Treasury and corporate bonds, and the real risk-free rate of interest is expected to remain constant. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

Which of the following statements is CORRECT, other things held constant?

In the foreseeable future, the real risk-free rate of interest, r*, is expected to remain at 3%, inflation is expected to steadily increase, and the maturity risk premium is expected to be 0.1(t − 1)%, where t is the number of years until the bond matures. Given this information, which of the following statements is CORRECT?