Valuing Bonds and Stocks Flashcards
What is an asset from a finance perspective?
An asset is a sequence of cash flows.
What is the formula for an asset?
Asset = {CF1, CF2, …, CFt}
The value of an asset is the value of all its future cash flows
What is a bond?
A bond is a security that obligates the issuer to make specified payments to the holder of it, a “debt instrument”
What are bonds a form of ?
IOUs
How are bonds paid back?
Borrower pays a fixed amount of interest periodically to the bond holder.
Borrower repays a fixed amount of principal at the date of maturity
What are coupons?
The fixed amount of interest the borrower pays to the bond holder periodically.
Alternative definition: The nominal rate of interest on a fixed-interest security.
How often do coupons tend to be paid?
Normally every six months (semi-annually)
What are zero-coupon bonds?
A debt security that does not pay interest but instead trades at a deep discount, rendering a profit at maturity, when the bond is redeemed for its full face value.
What are debt instruments categorised by?
Their maturity
What are the three categories for the maturity of debt instruments, and explain each?
Money Market - short-term issues that mature within one year
Notes - intermediate-term issues that mature between one and ten years
Bonds - long-term obligations with maturity greater than ten years
What does face (par) value, or principal mean?
The stated value that will be required payment at the maturity of the bond
What is the coupon rate (usually quoted as annual rate)?
Annual interest payment as a percentage of face value.
What is a the name of a bond with a coupon rate of zero?
A zero-coupon bond
What is the maturity date of a bond?
Date when all coupon payments are made and principal repaid: bond’s official termination date
Who tend to be the investors of bonds? (2)
Individual investors
Institutional investors
- Life Insurance Companies
- Commercial Banks
- Property and Liability Insurance Companies
- Pension Funds
- Mutual Funds
Who are the participating issuers of bonds? (4)
Government and government agencies
State and local political subdivisions (municipalities)
Corporations
International issues
- Foreign bonds
- Eurobonds
What is a Eurobond?
A Eurobond is an international bond that is denominated in a currency not native to the country where it is issued
What are the types of commonly traded government bonds? (4)
Treasury securities
TIPS
Treasury STRIPS
Securities issued by government agencies
What are treasury securities?
Bonds issued by the US treasury.
Considered to be free from credit risk (though they’re still subject to interest rate/price risk)
What forms can treasury securities come in? (3)
Treasury bills (T-bills)
Notes
Bonds
What are T-bills?
T-bills have maturities of less than one year and do not make explicit interest payments, paying only the face (par) value at the maturity date.
How often do treasury notes and treasury bonds pay coupons?
Treasury notes and Treasury bonds pay semiannual coupon interest at a rate that is fixed at issuance
What are TIPS?
Treasury Inflation-protected Securities:
- Semiannual coupon interest payments
- Par value begins at $1000 and is adjusted semiannually for changes in the CPI
- Fixed coupon rate is paid semiannually as a % of the inflation adjusted par value
What types of corporate bonds are there? (4)
Carries default possibilities (credit risk)
Secured (senior) bonds
- Secured against assets
Unsecured bonds (debentures)
- Not backed by collaterals
Subordinated (junior) debentures
- Lower priority in the event of bankruptcy
What is a bond yield?
Yield is a figure that shows the return you get on a bond
How do you calculate a bonds current yield?
The current yield is the bond’s coupon rate divided by its market price
What is the relationship between price and bond yield?
Price and yield are inversely related and as the price of a bond goes up, its yield goes down
What are bonds quoted on the basis of? (2)
Yield or price
What are price quotes presented as a percentage of, and how are these percentages written?
Presented as a percentage of par.
98½ is not $98.50 but 98.5% of par
A municipal $5,000 bond quoted at 98½ would be $4,925
What is accrued interest on a bond?
The accrued interest of a bond is the amount of interest earned on the bond but awaiting payment.
What is the distinction between clean (flat) and dirty bond prices?
Quoted price is clean price
Actual price is dirty price = clean price + accrued interest
As a bond holder, what are you entitled to?
You are entitled to all the cash flows of the bond, i.e. coupon payments (interest) if any, plus the principal when the bond matures
How much money are you willing to give up in exchange for these future cash flows?
The present value of the future cash flows
What is the Yield to Maturity? (YTM)
The opportunity cost of capital, or discount rate, for a bond (the rate of return).
The total rate of return that will have been earned by a bond when it makes all interest payments and repays the original principal.
What is YTM usually quoted in the form of?
Annual percentage rate (APR)
What are zero-coupon bonds also called?
Pure discount bonds
What is the only payment in zero-coupon bonds?
The principal at maturity