Investments Flashcards
What is the maturity of a Treasury Bill
One year or less
What is the duration and minimum denomination of commercial paper?
$100,000 and 270 days or less
What is a banker’s acceptance?
An instrument used to finance imports and exports.
They are bearer securities.
Maturity is nine months or less.
What is a Yankee Bond?
A dollar denominated bond issued in the U.S. by foreign banks and corporations. They are registered with the SEC.
Who pays the accrued interest when a bond is sold?
The buyer of the bond. The accrued interest is added to the price of the bond. Buyer then receives the next full interest payment.
Is there a difference between an Original Issue Discount Bond and a Zero Coupon Bond?
With an OID tax exempt obligation, the bond’s interest can be either accreted or paid. An OID coupon bond is not a pure zero.
What is the maturity of a Treasury Note?
1 - 10 years
What is the maturity of a Treasury Bond?
10 - 30 years
What is a STRIP?
Zero coupon Treasury bond
What is the tax treatment of a STRIP?
The discount is treated as taxable income, earned annually.
What are CATS and TIGRS?
Securities created by large broker/dealers that buy a block of Treasury bonds, removing all coupons and then offering investors either the interest to be received in a specific year or the principal at the bond’s maturity.
What is a TIP?
A Treasury inflation-protected security. The face value of a TIP is adjusted semi-annually to keep up with inflation. They are sold in $1,000 denominations. (Face value is adjusted. Interest rate stays the same, but interest payment goes up as face value goes up.)
What is the tax treatment of a TIP?
TIPS, like conventional Treasuries, are exempt from state and local taxes. The increase in face value is phantom income that is not collected until bond is sold or matures, but is recognized and increases basis. If there is a decrease in face value, the decrease will reduce the interest income and then will be an ordinary deduction. (Interest payment does not affect basis.)
What is the minimum denomination of a TIP?
$1,000
What are the general principles applicable to EE/I/HH savings bonds?
1) Minimum denomination is $50.
2) They must be held a minimum of one year.
3) There is a three month penalty applied to bonds held less than five years from the issue date.
4) Treasury agrees that that a bond’s value will double after 20 years and will continue to earn a fixed rate set at the time of issue unless a new rate structure is announced.
5) They are nonmarketable, nontransferrable and nonnegotiable.
6) Issued at face value
7) Have a fixed rate of interst.
Tax treatment of EE bonds?
1) Taxed as ordinary income at redemption, but the owner has the option of having interest taxed each year.
2) Interest earned not subject to ordinary income tax if used for education and parents’ AGI is less than phase-out.
Difference between EE and HH bonds?
1) Not available after August 2004 (EEs used to be exchanged to HHs.)
2) They pay interest semi-annually by check.
Difference between EE and I bonds?
They are inflation-indexed (but like EEs, they are issued at face value). Unlike EEs, they have no guaranteed interest rate. The interest rate is composed of two parts: a fixed base rate and an inflation adjustment.
Tax treatment of I bonds?
If certain requirements are met, interest on I bonds redeemed for education expense is tax-exempt. The owner can choose to defer tax. Must be held by a person 24 years old to qualify for interest exclusion.
What is GNMA?
Government National Mortgage Association. That pools insured mortgages and sells interests in the pool. They are a direct guarantee of the U.S. government, but because they are not issued by the Treasury, they are taxed at federal state and local levels. Minimum certificate is $25k.
What is a CMO?
A Collateralized Mortgage Obligation. Based on expected cash flow (mortgage payments received) separate classes called “tranches” are created.
What is a debenture?
A general corporate debt obligation backed only by the integrity of the borrower.
What is an indenture?
A formal agreement, also called a deed of trust, between an issuer of bonds and the trustee.
What risks are bonds subject to?
Corporate and Municipal are DRIP
Federal are RIP (except zeros)
By definition, what is a high yield corporate bond?
A bond that has a rating of BB or lower.
What is the intrinsic value of a security (including a bond)?
The present value of its expected cash flows. To calculate, use the FV ($1,000 if a bond), the calculated payments that will be received, the term and the interest rate given for comparable debt. This will allow you to calculate the PV, which is the intrinsic value. Intrinsic value can also be referred to as investment value.
What is the Floor Value?
The amount that a convertible security will not sell for less than. It is the larger of 1) its value as a bond or 2) its conversion value. IF a bond’s conversion value is less than its intrinsic value, you would not convert.
When is an issuer likely to call a bond?
When interest rates have dropped in the market since the bond was issued. The cost to the issuer for early redemption is the call premium.
What is a Samurai?
Yen denominated bonds sold in Japan by non-Japanese issuers.
What are Bulldogs?
British-pound denominated foreign bonds sold in the United Kingdom.
Who is the typical purchaser of preferred shares and why?
Corporate treasurer - 50% of dividends received are typically excluded from taxation (where as interest from a bond is taxable).
For preferred stock that pays annual dividends, the stock holder must own the stock for how long for those dividends to be “qualified?”
90 days in a 181 day period that begins 90 days before the ex-dividend date.
What are ADRs?
American Depository Receipts - for shares of foreign-based corporations held in vault of U.S. bank. Prices are quoted in U.S. dollars, and dividends are paid in dollars, but declared in the foreign currency.
What are GICs?
Guaranteed Investment Contracts (GICs) - Similar to CDs, but instead of being issued by commercial banks, they are issued by insurance companies.
How do you calculate the intrinsic value of a real estate property?
Intrinsic Value =
Net Operating Income / Capitalization Rate
What is NOI (Net Operating Income)?
It represents the property’s cash flow (not the investor’s cash flow). Do not include depreciation, amortization or debt service.
What are the REIT rules?
75% of the REIT’s income must come from real estate investments.
15% can come from securities like GNMAs.
If it distributes 90% or more of net investment income, it only pays tax on the undistributed portion.
If it fails to distribute 90%, then all the net investment income is taxable to the REIT.
Shareholders can deduct 20% of pass-through income from REITS.
REITS cannot invest in limited partnerships.
What are the differences between REITs and Real Estate Limited Partnerships?
REITS are portfolio investments, subject to taxation like a stock (ordinary income/capital gains).
Limited partnerships are subject to passive loss rules.
What is a REMIC?
Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduit - a limited-life, self-liquidating entity that invests exclusively in real estate mortgages or in securities backed by real mortgages. They represent a range of risk levels (unlike CMOs, which are typically AAA bond ratings). They are pass through entities.
What is intrinsic value with respect to an option?
It is the minimum price an option will command. It is the difference between the market price of the underlying asset and the exercise price of the option.
INTRINSIC VALUE CANNOT BE NEGATIVE!
What happens to the market price of an option (the premium) as it approaches its expiration date?
It approaches its intrinsic value.
What is the time premium of an option?
It is the amount the market price of an option exceeds its intrinsic value.
How does time to expiration affect options?
If there is a long time to expiration, a premium is probably due to time value; if it has a short time to expiration; a premium is probably due to volatility.
What is the taxation of call options?
The writer:
due to lapse - premium received is short-term gain;
due to exercise - premium received is added to the sale price (which can be LTCG or STCG).
To the holder:
If the option is not exercised, then it is considered sold (it expires) and produces a short-term loss.
What is the taxation of put options?
The writer:
due to lapse - premium received is short-term gain.
What is the “spot price” of a future?
the current market price of a commodity in the cash market.
What are the three main types of futures contracts?
commodity futures
financial futures
foreign currency futures
Futures “long position”
Wants to buy the commodity/financial (bullish)
Futures “short position”
Wants to sell the commodity/financial (bearish)