Chapter 6: Q.1 (page 187)
If junk bonds are “junk,” then why do investors buy them?
As a result, investors who enjoy taking on market risk typically purchase junk bonds in order to get a larger return.
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The amount of additional interest investors receive due to various risk premiums changes over time. Sometimes risk premiums are much larger than at other times. For example, the default risk premium was very small in the late 1990s when the economy was so healthy that business failures were rare. This risk premium increases during recessions
Go to http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h15 (historical data), and find the following three interest rate listings for AAA- and Baa-rated bonds: the most current listing; the listing for January 5, 2018; and the listings for June 1, 2008, and June 1, 2007. Prepare a http://www.federalreserve.gov/Releases/h15/update/ The Federal Reserve reports the yields on different-maturity U.S. Treasury bonds. graph that shows the interest rate information for these bonds over these three time periods (see Figure 1 for an example). Are the risk premiums stable, or do they change over time?
Which should have the higher risk premium on its interest rates, a corporate bond with a Moody’s Baa rating or a corporate bond with a C rating? Why?
Go to the St. Louis Federal Reserve FRED database, and find daily yield data on the following U.S. treasuries securities: one-month (DGS1MO), three-month (DGS3MO), six-month (DGS6MO), one-year (DGS1), two-year (DGS2), three-year (DGS3), five-year (DGS5), seven-year (DGS7), 10-year (DGS10), 20-year (DGS20), and 30-year (DGS30). Download the last full year of data available into a spreadsheet.
a. Construct a yield curve by creating a line graph for the most recent day of data available, and for the same day (or as close to the same day as possible) one year prior, across all the maturities. How do the yield curves compare? What does the changing slope say about potential changes in economic conditions?
b. Determine the date of the most recent Federal Open Market Committee policy statement. Construct yield curves for both the day before the policy statement was released and the day on which the policy statement was released. Was there any significant change in the yield curve as a result of the policy statement? How might this be explained?
If the income tax exemption on municipal bonds were abolished, what would happen to the interest rates on these bonds? What effect would the change have on interest rates on U.S. Treasury securities?
Predict what will happen to interest rates on a corporation’s bonds if the federal government guarantees today that it will pay creditors if the corporation goes bankrupt in the future. What will happen to the interest rates on Treasury securities?
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