Exam 8: Risk and Rates of Return

Managers should under no conditions take actions that increase their firm's risk relative to the market, regardless of how much those actions would increase the firm's expected rate of return.

Portfolio A has but one security, while Portfolio B has 100 securities. Because of diversification effects, we would expect Portfolio B to have the lower risk. However, it is possible for Portfolio A to be less risky.

Dothan Inc.'s stock has a 25% chance of producing a 30% return, a 50% chance of producing a 12% return, and a 25% chance of producing a -18% return. What is the firm's expected rate of return?

Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

Assume that in recent years both expected inflation and the market risk premium (rM − rRF) have declined. Assume also that all stocks have positive betas. Which of the following would be most likely to have occurred as a result of these changes?

You have the following data on three stocks: If you are a strict risk minimizer, you would choose Stock ____ if it is to be held in isolation and Stock ____ if it is to be held as part of a well-diversified portfolio.

Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

Assume that the risk-free rate, rRF, increases but the market risk premium, (rM − rRF), declines with the net effect being that the overall required return on the market, rM, remains constant. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

If investors are risk averse and hold only one stock, we can conclude that the required rate of return on a stock whose standard deviation is 0.21 will be greater than the required return on a stock whose standard deviation is 0.10. However, if stocks are held in portfolios, it is possible that the required return could be higher on the stock with the low standard deviation.

Assume that the risk-free rate remains constant, but the market risk premium declines. Which of the following is most likely to occur?

Which of the following statements is CORRECT? (Assume that the risk-free rate is a constant.)

Nagel Equipment has a beta of 0.88 and an expected dividend growth rate of 4.00% per year. The T-bill rate is 4.00%, and the T-bond rate is 5.25%. The annual return on the stock market during the past 4 years was 10.25%. Investors expect the average annual future return on the market to be 12.50%. Using the SML, what is the firm's required rate of return?

Stocks A, B, and C all have an expected return of 10% and a standard deviation of 25%. Stocks A and B have returns that are independent of one another, i.e., their correlation coefficient, r, equals zero. Stocks A and C have returns that are negatively correlated with one another, i.e., r is less than 0. Portfolio AB is a portfolio with half of its money invested in Stock A and half in Stock B. Portfolio AC is a portfolio with half of its money invested in Stock A and half invested in Stock C. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

Consider the following information and then calculate the required rate of return for the Global Investment Fund, which holds 4 stocks. The market's required rate of return is 13.25%, the risk-free rate is 7.00%, and the Fund's assets are as follows:

Bill Dukes has $100,000 invested in a 2-stock portfolio. $35,000 is invested in Stock X and the remainder is invested in Stock Y. X's beta is 1.50 and Y's beta is 0.70. What is the portfolio's beta?

Stock A has a beta of 0.8 and Stock B has a beta of 1.2. 50% of Portfolio P is invested in Stock A and 50% is invested in Stock B. If the market risk premium (rM − rRF) were to increase but the risk-free rate (rRF) remained constant, which of the following would occur?

We would almost always find that the beta of a diversified portfolio is less stable over time than the beta of a single security.

For a portfolio of 40 randomly selected stocks, which of the following is most likely to be true?

If you plotted the returns of a company against those of the market and found that the slope of your line was negative, the CAPM would indicate that the required rate of return on the stock should be less than the risk-free rate for a well-diversified investor, assuming that the observed relationship is expected to continue in the future.