UNIVERSITY OF AGDER EXAM. Faculty of Economicsand Social Sciences. Exam code: Exam name: Date: Time: Number of pages: Number of problems: Enclosure:

Transcription

1 UNIVERSITY OF AGDER Faculty of Economicsand Social Sciences Exam code: Exam name: Date: Time: Number of pages: Number of problems: Enclosure: Exam aids: Comments: EXAM BE-411, ORDINARY EXAM Derivatives and Risk Management 29 of May :00-13:00 9 (including the title page) 20 multiple-choice questions and 3 problems one page with formulas and one page with a table of cumulative standard normal distribution any calculator (with empty memory), an English dictionary The exam can be answered either in Norwegian or English 1

2 Multiple-Choice Questions (40%) While answering these multiple-choice questions, fill in a table where the left column contains the question numbers and the right column contains the answers (letters A, B, C, and D). If answering a question requires computations, it is a good idea to present these computations below the table. Question 1 A long futures contract requires that the investor a. sells the underlying asset in the future b. buys the underlying asset in the future c. closes out his position in the future d. hedges his position in the future Question 2 The advantage of forward contracts over future contracts is that they Question 3 a. are standardized b. have lower default risk c. are more liquid d. none of the above The price of a futures contract at the expiration date of the contract Question 4 equals the average price over the life of the contract cannot be determined equals the price of the underlying asset equals the purchase price of the contract If a firm must pay for goods it has ordered with foreign currency, it can hedge its foreign exchange rate risk by a. selling foreign exchange futures b. buying foreign exchange futures c. buying put options on foreign exchange d. staying out of the foreign exchange markets Question 5 A call option gives the seller (i.e., writer) a. the right to sell the underlying security b. the obligation to sell the underlying security c. the right to buy the underlying security d. the obligation to buy the underlying security 2

3 Quest ion 6 The main disadvantage of hedging with futures contracts as compared to option contracts is that futures Question 7 a. increase the transactions cost b. are not effective in hedging c. do not remove the possibility of losses d. remove the possibility of gains An increase in the volatility of the underlying asset, all other things held constant, will the option premium. Quest ion 8 a. increase b. decrease c. increase or decrease d. not enough information is given Suppose you buy an asset at $50 and sell a forward contract at $53. What is your profit at expiration if the asset price goes to $49? (Ignore the time value of money) Quest ion 9 a. -$1 b. $3 c. -$4 d. $4 Find the forward rate of foreign currency if the spot exchange rate is $4.50, the domestic simple interest rate is 6%, the foreign simple interest rate is 7%, and the forward contract is for nine months. Question 10 a. $4.532 b. $4.458 c. $4.468 d. $5.104 Suppose you sell a three-month forward contract at $35. One month later, new forward contracts are selling for $30. The simple risk-free rate is 10%. What is the value of your contract? Quest ion 11 a. $4.55 b. $4.92 c. $4.96 d. $5.00 A put option has a strike price of $35. The price of the underlying stock is currently $42. The put is a. near the money b. at the money c. in the money d. out of the money 3

4 Question 12 Which of the following investment strategies has unlimited profit potential? Question 13 a. writing a call b. bull spread c. covered call d. protective put Suppose you sell a call (with strike K) and buy one share of stock. What is the payoff to your portfolio when the option expires? Question 14 Receive S(T) if S(T) < K and receive K if S(T)> K Receive S(T) if S(T) < K and receive (S(T) K) if S(T) > K Receive K if S(T) < K and receive S(T) if S(T)> K Receive (S(T) K) if S(T) < K and receive K if S(T) > K Which of the following does not generate a higher premium on call options? a. A longer time to maturity b. A higher expected return on the underlying asset c. A lower strike price d. A more volatile price of the underlying asset Question 15 A trader is likely to prefer an options contract to a futures contract on an asset if He thinks the price of the asset will certainly rise He thinks the price of the asset will certainly fall He is uncertain but thinks it is more likely that the price of the asset will rise than fall He thinks the price of the asset will remain unchanged Question 16 A call option with several months until expiration has a strike price of $55 when the stock price is $50. The option has intrinsic value and time value. Question 17 a. negative; positive b. positive; negative c. zero; zero d. zero; positive Consider a put option with strike price $27. The price of the underlying stock is currently $35. Without any further information, you would expect the delta of this option to be a. negative and near 0 b. negative and near -1 c. positive and near 0 d. positive and near 1 4

5 Question 18 Suppose you purchase a call and write a put on the same stock with the same exercise price (K) and expiration (T). If prices are at equilibrium the value of this portfolio is Quest ion 19 a. S(0) K b. S(0) K c. S(0) + Ke rt d. 8(0) + K You own a stock and you are worried the price may fall. You are considering either using puts or calls to hedge this position. Given this, which of the following statements is/are correct? One way to hedge your position would be to buy puts One way to hedge your position would be to write calls If major stock price moves are likely the hedging with puts is probably better than hedging with calls. Quest ion 20 a. I only b. II only c. I and III only d. I, II and III A speculator will often prefer to buy a futures contract rather than the underlying asset because I gains in futures contracts can be larger due to leverage transaction costs in futures are typically lower than in spot markets futures markets are often more liquid than the markets of the underlying commodities a. I only b. II only c. I and III only d. I, II and III 5

6 Problem 1 (22%) Consider a 3-year equity-linked note on one unit of some index. The investor in this note pays the value of the index today, So = At maturity, the investor is guaranteed 100% principal protection. That is, the investor gets at least So. In addition, the investor gets -y= 1.2 times the simple depreciation in the index (note that this note is designed for investors with a bearish view on the market). That is, at maturity the investor receives the following value VT = So So X x max [SO ST 0 So " where T denotes the maturity time of the note. We assume that the index value process satisfies the assumptions in the Black-Scholes model. The annual index volatility is 25%. The index does not pay dividends. The continuously compounded annual risk-free interest rate is 5%. Decompose the note in terms of a bond and an option. Show that the embedded option in this note is a European put option on the index. Derive the formula for the price of a European put option and show that it is given by Compute the "fair" value of this note. P = Ke-rT N(-d2) - Soe-6TN(-di). Compute the index value at which the investor's profit (accounted for the time value of money) will be zero. Find the value of -y such that the note is "fairly" priced. What happens with the value of if the index volatility increases? Explain why. Problem 2 (16%) The theoretical (no-arbitrage) forward exchange rate is given by the following formula F(t,T) = S(t) -I- T)T)' where F(t,T) is the forward exchange rate at time t for delivery at time T, S(t) is the spot exchange rate, r(t,t) is the effective domestic risk-free rate between (t,t), and r*(t,t) is the effective foreign risk-free rate. Present the derivation of this formula using the standard absence of arbitrage arguments (the first and second conditions for the absence of arbitrage, etc.). You observe the following market data: spot rate NOK/USD 5.80, forward rate with delivery one year from now NOK/USD 5.90, annual effective interest rates in NOK and in USD are 2% and 1% respectively. Find out whether or not there are arbitrage opportunities in the market and if your answer is yes, describe the arbitrage strategy. 6

7 Problem 3 (22%) A stock price is currently $50. Over each of the next 3-months periods it is expected to go up by 6% or down by 5%. The annual risk-free interest rate is 5% with continuous compounding. The stock does not pay any dividends. What is the value of a 6-months European call option with a strike price of $51? Using the call-put parity compute the price of a 6-months European put option with the same strike price. Present a proof that it is never optimal to exercise an American call option on a non-dividend paying stock before maturity. 7

8 List of formulas Continuous time Black-Scholes model for option pricing The price of a European call option C = Se-åT N(di) - Ke'T N(d2), where ln (1) (r - +.c)-2)t d1 = K d2 = d1 CFV7' and N(.) is the cumulative probability distribution function of a standard normal variable. Underlying Interpretation of parameter Stock Continuous dividend yield Commodity "Convenience yield" or an adjustment parameter Foreign currency Continuously compounded foreign risk-free rate 8

9 Table of cumulative standard normal distribution The table shows values of N(x) for x > 0. When x < 0 use the following property: N(-x) = 1 - N (x)