Investments Flashcards
What is the formula for Margin Call?
Margin Call = Loan / (1 - Maintenance Margin)
What does Value Line rank?
Value Line ranks stocks, using a scale of 1 to 5
What are the Value Line rankings and are they a buy/sell signal?
Ranking 1 - highest ranking - signal to BUY!
Ranking 5 - lowest ranking - signal to SELL!
What does Morningstar rank?
Morningstar ranks mutual funds, stocks, ETFs, and Bonds using 1-5 stars
What are the Morningstar rankings and are they a buy/sell signal?
1 star - lowest ranking - low performing
5 stars - highest ranking - high performing
What is the relationship (in number of days) between the “ex-dividend date” and the “date of record”?
- An investor must purchase the stock before the ex-dividend date or 2 business days prior to the date of record.
- The ex-dividend date is one business day prior to the date of record.
- Remember: An investor must buy the stock prior to the ex-dividend date to receive the dividend.
Characteristics of the Securities Act of 1933
- Regulates the issuance of new securities (Primary Market)
* Requires new issues are accompanies with a prospectus before being offered.
Characteristics of the Securities Act of 1934
- Regulates the secondary market and trading of securities.
* Created the SEC to enforce compliance with security regulations and laws.
Characteristics of the Investment Company Act of 1940
- Authorized the SEC to regulate investment companies.
* Three types of investment companies: Open, Closed, and Unit Investment Trusts.
Characteristics of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940
- This act required investment advisors to register with the SEC or state.
- To register with the SEC, an advisor must file Form ADV.
- Less than $100 million in assets, register with the state.
- Greater than $110 million, register with the SEC.
- Between $100 million and $110 million in AUM, have the choice to register with the state or SEC.
Characteristics of the Securities Investors Protection Act of 1970
- Established the SIPC to protect investors for losses resulting from brokerage firm failures, but not from investment losses.
- This act does not protect investors from incompetence or bad investment decisions.
Characteristics of the Insider Trading and Securities Fraud Enforcement Act of 1988
- Defines an insider as anyone with information that is not available to the public.
- Insiders cannot trade on that information.
Treasury Bills: Maturities and Denominations
- Maturities of varying lengths, 52 weeks or less
- Denominations of $100
- Sold at a discount to par value
Characteristics of Commercial Paper
- Short term loans between corporations.
- Maturities of 270 days or less.
- Not registered with the SEC.
- Commercial paper has denominations of $100,000 and are sold at a discount.
Characteristics of Bankers Acceptance
- Facilitates imports/exports.
- Maturities of 9 months or less.
- Can be held until maturity or traded.
Eurodollars
Deposits in foreign banks that are denominated in US dollars.
What are the 2 objectives and 5 constraints covered in an Investment Policy Statement?
Objectives: Risk and Return
Constraints: Taxes, Timeline, Liquidity, Legal, and Unique circumstances
Price-Weighted Average
Only takes stock price into consideration when considering the average
e.g. Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA)
Value-Weighted Index
Takes market capitalization (shares outstanding * price) into account.
e.g. S&P 500 Index, Russell 2000, and EAFE
Characteristics of Monte Carlo Simulation
- A spreadsheet simulation that gives a probabilistic distribution of events occurring.
- Then adjusts assumptions and returns the probability of an event occurring depending upon the assumption.
- Allows for “what if” scenarios and sensitivity analysis if variables such as inflation or savings rate change.
Systematic Risks
Non-diversifiable risks as measured by Beta
PRIME P = Purchasing Power Risk R = Reinvestment Rate Risk I = Interest Rate Risk M = Market Risk E = Exchange Rate Risk
Unsystematic Risks
Diversifiable risks
A = Accounting Risk* B = Business Risk C = Country Risk D = Default Risk E = Executive Risk F = Financial Risk G = Government/Regulation Risk
*not on exam but useful for mnemonic
What measure of risk does the CML use?
Standard deviation
What is the CAPM formula?
r = r_f + B*(r_m - r_f)
where:
r = The required or expected rate of return.
r_f = The risk-free rate of return
B = Beta, which is a measure of the systematic risk associated with a particular portfolio.
r_m = The return of the market
r_m - r_f = The market risk premium
What is the Holding Period Return formula (HPR)?
(Selling Price - Purchase Price +/- Cash flows - Margin Interest Paid) / (Purchase Price or equity)
This formula is easier to use than the one provided on the exam formula sheet.
Taxes are subtracted within the numerator. For margin purchases, only the initial equity is in the denominator.
Describe time-weighted returns
Based upon the security’s cash flow. Mutual funds report on a time-weighted basis. Ignores any purchases of extra shares.
Describe dollar-weighted returns
Take an investor’s cash flows into consideration. Investors report returns on a dollar-weighted basis.
Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT)
- a multi-factor model that attempts to explain return based on factors. Any time a factor has a value of zero, then that factor has no impact on the return.
- APT attempts to take advantage of pricing imbalances.
- Inputs are factors (f) such as inflation, risk premium, and expected returns and their sensitivity (b) to those factors.
- KEYWORDS - multi factor model, sensitivity to those factors, and standard deviation & Beta are not inputs
r_i = a_1 + b_1F_1 + b_2F_2 + b_3*F_3 + e
What is the Constant Growth Dividend formula?
Be sure to use next year’s dividend when determining the value of stock using the constant growth dividend formula.
V = D_1 / (r - g)
where:
r = The required rate of return
g = the dividend growth rate
D_1 = next period’s dividend
If D_1 is not provided, you can use D_0, which is this year’s dividend multiplied by the growth rate provided: D x (1 + g).
What is the Dividend Payout Ratio?
Common Stock Dividend / Earnings Per Share
Determines the percentage of earnings paid out in dividends to shareholders.
What is the Return on Equity formula?
ROE = Earnings Per Share / Stockholders Equity per share
What do technicians consider in their analysis?
- Charting (use movements, not prices)
- Market Volume (Volume Indicator - the number of shares traded)
- Short Interest
- Odd Lot Trading
- The Dow Theory
- Breadth of the Market (Advance Decline Line) - Price Indicator
e.g. a 39 week moving average of a company’s stock prices
What does Fundamental Analysis consider?
- Financial statement analysis through ratio analysis
- Economic data such as GDP, inflation and interest rates.
- Provides a method for determining a securities price based upon future cash flows.
- Considers (i) debt as a percent of total capital, (iii) interest rate trends, and (iv) the growth rate of the industry of which a company is a part.
What are the three forms of the Efficient Market Hypothesis?
- Weak Form
- Semi-Strong Form
- Strong Form
Weak Form
- Asserts that historical will not help an investor achieve above average market returns.
- Rejects technical analysis
- States that prices reflect historical information.
Semi-Strong Form
- Asserts that both historical and public information will not help investors achieve above average market returns.
- Rejects both technical and fundamental analysis
- “Stock prices adjust rapidly to the release of all new public information.”
Strong Form
- Asserts historical, public and private information will not help investors achieve above average market returns.
- Suggests stock prices reflect all available information and react immediately to any new information.
Series EE Bonds
- NOT marketable securities.
- Interest is paid when the bond is redeemed.
- Sold at face value.
- Tax-exempt interest on federal return if proceeds are used for college education (with some requirements, including AGI)
Agency Bonds
- not backed by the full faith and credit of the US government
- they are a moral obligation of the US government
- Exception: GNMA bonds are backed by the full faith and credit of the US government (but not guaranteed against investment losses)
Three Types of Municipal Bonds
- General Obligation Bonds
- Revenue Bonds
- Private Activity Bonds
General Obligation Bonds
Municipal bonds that are backed by the taxing authority that issued the bond
Revenue Bonds
Municipal bonds that are backed by the revenues to be generated by the project for which the bond was issues, e.g. toll roads
Private Activity Bonds
Municipal bonds used to fund private activities such as stadiums.
What companies insure municipal bonds?
- American Municipal Bond Assurance Corp. (AMBAC)
* Municipal Bond Insurance Association Corp. (MBIA)