Deck 1: A Brief History of Risk and Return

Question 1

The risk-free rate is:

A)another term for the dividend yield.
B)defined as the increase in the value of a share of stock over time.
C)the rate of return earned on an investment in a firm that you personally own.
D)defined as the total of the capital gains yield plus the dividend yield.
E)the rate of return on a riskless investment.

Answer 1

E

Question 2

When we refer to the rate of return on an investment, we are generally referring to the:

A)capital gains yield.
B)effective annual rate of return.
C)total percentage return.
D)dividend yield.
E)annualized dividend yield.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

If you multiply the number of shares outstanding for a stock by the price per share, you are computing the firm's:

A)equity ratio.
B)total book value.
C)market share.
D)market capitalization.
E)time value.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Which one of the following statements is correct concerning the dividend yield and the total return?

A)The dividend yield can be zero while the total return must be a positive value.
B)The total return can be negative but the dividend yield cannot be negative.
C)The total return must be greater than the dividend yield.
D)The total return plus the capital gains yield is equal to the dividend yield.
E)The dividend yield exceeds the total return when a stock increases in value.

Question 5

The average compound return earned per year over a multi-year period is called the:

A)total return.
B)average capital gains yield.
C)variance.
D)arithmetic average return.
E)geometric average return.

Question 6

The standard deviation is a measure of:

A)volatility.
B)total return.
C)capital gains.
D)changes in dividend yields.
E)changes in the capital gains rate.

Question 7

The additional return earned for accepting risk is called the:

A)inflated return.
B)capital gains yield.
C)real return.
D)riskless rate.
E)risk premium.

Question 8

The arithmetic average return is the:

A)summation of the returns for a number of years, t, divided by (t − 1).
B)compound total return for a period of years, t, divided by t.
C)average compound return earned per year over a multi-year period.
D)average squared return earned in a single year.
E)return earned in an average year over a multi-year period.

Question 9

A frequency distribution, which is completely defined by its average (mean)and variance or standard deviation, is referred to as a(n):

A)normal distribution.
B)variance distribution.
C)expected rate of return.
D)average geometric return.
E)average arithmetic return.

Question 10

An annualized return:

A)is less than a holding period return when the holding period is less than one year.
B)is expressed as the summation of the capital gains yield and the dividend yield on an investment.
C)is expressed as the capital gains yield that would have been realized if an investment had been held for a twelve-month period.
D)is computed as (1 + holding period percentage return)^m, where "m" is the number of holding periods in a year.
E)is computed as (1 + holding period percentage return)^m, where "m" is the number of months in the holding period.

Question 11

Which one of the following is considered the best method of comparing the returns on various-sized investments?

A)total dollar return
B)real dollar return
C)absolute dollar return
D)percentage return
E)variance return

Question 12

The capital gains yield is equal to:

A)(P_t − P_{t + 1} + D_{t + 1})/ P_{t + 1}.
B)(P_{t + 1} − P_t + D_t)/P_t.
C)D_{t + 1}/P_t.
D)(P_{t + 1} − P_t)/P_t.
E)(P_{t + 1} − P_t)/P_{t + 1}.

Question 13

The risk premium is defined as the rate of return on:

A)a risky asset minus the risk-free rate.
B)the overall market.
C)a U.S. Treasury bill.
D)a risky asset minus the inflation rate.
E)a riskless investment.

Question 14

Which one of the following should be used to compare the overall performance of three different investments?

A)holding period dollar return
B)capital gains yield
C)dividend yield
D)holding period percentage return
E)effective annual return

Question 15

When the total return on an investment is expressed on a per-year basis it is called the:

A)capital gains yield.
B)dividend yield.
C)holding period return.
D)effective annual return.
E)initial return.

Question 16

Capital gains are included in the return on an investment:

A)when either the investment is sold or the investment has been owned for at least one year.
B)only if the investment is sold and the capital gain is realized.
C)whenever dividends are paid.
D)whether or not the investment is sold.
E)only if the investment incurs a loss in value or is sold.

Question 17

The dividend yield is defined as the annual dividend expressed as a percentage of the:

A)average stock price.
B)initial stock price.
C)ending stock price.
D)total annual return.
E)capital gain.

Question 18

Stacey purchased 300 shares of Coulter Industries stock and held it for 3 months before reselling it. What is the value of "m" when computing the annualized return on this investment?

A).25
B).33
C).40
D)3.00
E)4.00

Question 19

The rate of return earned on a U.S. Treasury bill is frequently used as a proxy for the:

A)risk premium.
B)deflated rate of return.
C)risk-free rate.
D)expected rate of return.
E)market rate of return.

Question 20

The average compound return earned per year over a multi-year period when investment inflows and outflows are considered is called the:

A)total return.
B)average capital gains yield.
C)dollar-weighted average return.
D)arithmetic average return.
E)geometric average return.

Question 21

Based on the period 1926-2018, the risk premium for U.S. Treasury bills was:

A)0%
B)1.2%
C)2.0%
D)2.4%
E)2.7%

Question 22

You have owned a stock for seven years. The geometric average return on this investment for those seven years is positive even though the annual rates of return have varied significantly. Given this, you know the arithmetic average return for the period is:

A)positive but less than the geometric average return.
B)less than the geometric return and could be negative, zero, or positive.
C)equal to the geometric average return.
D)either equal to or greater than the geometric average return.
E)greater than the geometric average return.

Question 23

For the period 1926-2018, the annual return on large-company stocks:

A)was negative following every three-year period of positive returns.
B)was only negative for two or more consecutive years during the Great Depression.
C)remained negative for at least two consecutive years anytime that it was negative.
D)never exceeded a positive 30 percent nor lost more than 20 percent.
E)was unpredictable based on the prior year's performance.

Question 24

The average risk premium on long-term corporate bonds for the period 1926-2018 was:

A)2.4%
B)2.9%
C)3.3%
D)3.7%
E)3.9%

Question 25

Which one of the following should be used as the mean return when you are defining the normal distribution of an investment's annual rates of return?

A)arithmetic average return for the period
B)geometric average return for the period
C)total return for the period divided by N − 1
D)arithmetic average return for the period divided by N − 1
E)geometric average return for the period divided by N − 1

Question 26

Which one of the following had the narrowest bell curve for the period 1926-2018?

A)large-company stocks
B)long-term corporate bonds
C)long-term government bonds
D)small-company stocks
E)U.S. Treasury bills

Question 27

The geometric mean return on large-company stocks for the 1926-2018 period:

A)is approximately equal to the arithmetic mean return plus one-half of the standard deviation.
B)exceeds the arithmetic mean return.
C)is approximately equal to the arithmetic mean return minus one-half of the standard deviation.
D)is approximately equal to the arithmetic mean return plus one-half of the variance.
E)is less than the arithmetic mean return.

Question 28

The average risk premium on large-company stocks for the period 1926-2018 was:

A)6.7%
B)8.3%
C)8.5%
D)12.3%
E)13.6%

Question 29

Which one of the following statements is correct based on the historical returns for the period 1926-2018?

A)Treasury bills yielded a higher rate of return than long-term government bonds.
B)The inflation rate exceeded the rate of return on Treasury bills during some years.
C)Small-company stocks outperformed large-company stocks every year during the period.
D)Bond prices, in general, were more volatile than stock prices.
E)Large-company stocks outperformed small-company stocks.

Question 30

Which one of the following statements is correct?

A)The standard deviation of the returns on Treasury bills is zero.
B)Large-company stocks are historically riskier than small-company stocks.
C)The standard deviation is a means of measuring the volatility of returns on an investment.
D)A risky asset will always have a higher annual rate of return than a riskless asset.
E)There is an indirect relationship between risk and return.

Question 31

Which one of the following had the highest average return for the period 1926-2018?

A)large-company stocks
B)U.S. Treasury bills
C)long-term government bonds
D)small-company stocks
E)long-term corporate bonds

Question 32

Based on the period of 1926-2018, the risk premium for small-company stocks averaged:

A)12.3%
B)12.8%
C)15.0%
D)16.8%
E)17.4%

Question 33

For the period 1926-2018, long-term government bonds had an average return that ________ the average return on long-term corporate bonds while having a standard deviation that ________ the standard deviation of the long-term corporate bonds.

A)exceeded; was less than
B)exceeded; equaled
C)exceeded; exceeded
D)was less than; exceeded
E)was less than; was less than

Question 34

Assume you own a portfolio that is invested 50 percent in large-company stocks and 50 percent in corporate bonds. If you want to increase the potential annual return on this portfolio, you could:

A)decrease the investment in stocks and increase the investment in bonds.
B)replace the corporate bonds with intermediate-term government bonds.
C)replace the corporate bonds with Treasury bills.
D)increase the standard deviation of the portfolio.
E)reduce the expected volatility of the portfolio.

Question 35

The mean plus or minus one standard deviation defines the ________ percent probability range of a normal distribution.

A)50
B)68
C)82
D)90
E)95

Question 36

Which one of the following had the smallest standard deviation of returns for the period 1926-2018?

A)large-company stocks
B)small-company stocks
C)long-term government bonds
D)intermediate-term government bonds
E)long-term corporate bonds

Question 37

Which one of the following had the greatest volatility of returns for the period 1926-2018?

A)large-company stocks
B)U.S. Treasury bills
C)long-term government bonds
D)small-company stocks
E)long-term corporate bonds

Question 38

Which one of the following had the highest risk premium for the period 1926-2018?

A)U.S. Treasury bills
B)long-term government bonds
C)large-company stocks
D)small-company stocks
E)intermediate-term government bonds

Question 39

The geometric return on an investment is approximately equal to the arithmetic return:

A)plus half the standard deviation.
B)plus half the variance.
C)minus half the standard deviation.
D)minus half the variance.
E)divided by two.

Question 40

The wider the distribution of an investment's returns over time, the ________ the expected average rate of return and the ________ the expected volatility of those returns.

A)higher; higher
B)higher; lower
C)lower; higher
D)lower; lower
E)The distribution of returns does not affect the expected average rate of return.

Question 41

You purchased a stock eight months ago for $36 a share. Today, you sold that stock for $41.50 a share. The stock pays no dividends. What was your annualized rate of return?

A)23.32%
B)23.77%
C)25.70%
D)26.03%
E)27.67%

Question 42

You have been researching a company and have estimated that the firm's stock will sell for $44 a share one year from now. You also estimate the stock will have a dividend yield of 2.18 percent. How much are you willing to pay per share today to purchase this stock if you desire a total return of 15 percent on your investment?

A)$37.55
B)$38.00
C)$38.24
D)$39.00
E)$40.20

Question 43

Last year, ABC stock returned 12.6 percent, the risk-free rate was 4.0 percent, and the inflation rate was 2.5 percent. What was the risk premium on ABC stock?

A)8.20%
B)8.43%
C)8.60%
D)8.88%
E)8.97%

Question 44

Blume's formula is used to:

A)predict future rates of return.
B)convert an arithmetic average return into a geometric average return.
C)convert a geometric average return into an arithmetic average return.
D)measure past performance in a consistent manner.
E)compute the historical mean return over a multi-year period.

Question 45

Jack owned a stock for five months and earned an annualized rate of return of 6 percent. What was the holding period return?

A)2.37%
B)2.42%
C)2.46%
D)2.64%
E)2.72%

Question 46

One year ago, you purchased 500 shares of stock at a cost of $10,500. The stock paid an annual dividend of $1.10 per share. Today, you sold those shares for $23.90 each. What is the capital gains yield on this investment?

A)9.96%
B)10.52%
C)12.49%
D)13.81%
E)14.75%

Question 47

You purchased a stock for $50.00 a share and resold it one year later. Your total return for the year was 11.5 percent and the dividend yield was 2.8 percent. At what price did you resell the stock?

A)$42.78
B)$50.62
C)$51.93
D)$52.08
E)$54.35

Question 48

You purchased a stock for $30.43 a share, received a dividend of $.70 per share, and sold the stock after one year for $30.22 a share. What was your dividend yield on this investment?

A)2.30%
B)2.38%
C)2.45%
D)2.67%
E)2.75%

Question 49

Over the past four years, Jellystone Quarry stock produced returns of 12.5, 15.1, 8.7, and 2.6 percent, respectively. For the same time period, the risk-free rate 4.7, 5.3, 3.9, and 3.4 percent each year, respectively. What is the arithmetic average risk premium on this stock during these four years?

A)5.13%
B)5.25%
C)5.40%
D)5.83%
E)5.97%

Question 50

A stock has an average historical risk premium of 6.1 percent. The expected risk-free rate for next year is 2.2 percent. What is the expected rate of return on this stock for next year?

A)6.50%
B)7.53%
C)8.00%
D)8.30%
E)9.34%

Question 51

Todd purchased 600 shares of stock at a price of $68.20 a share and received a dividend of $1.42 per share. After six months, he resold the stock for $71.30 a share. What was his total dollar return?

A)$1,008
B)$1,860
C)$2,712
D)$3,211
E)$3,400

Question 52

Christine owns a stock that dropped in price from $43.57 per share to $39.49 per share over the past year. The dividend yield on that stock is 1.6 percent. What is her total return on this investment for the year?

A)−11.31%
B)−10.49%
C)−9.11%
D)−8.73%
E)−8.04%

Question 53

Ellen just sold a stock and realized a 7.5 percent return for a 7-month holding period. What was her annualized rate of return?

A)13.20%
B)14.49%
C)15.78%
D)16.29%
E)27.20%

Question 54

Scott purchased 200 shares of Frozen Foods stock for $48 a share. Four months later, he received a dividend of $.22 a share and also sold the shares for $42 each. What was his annualized rate of return on this investment?

A)−44.69%
B)−40.14%
C)−33.00%
D)−31.95%
E)−28.07%

Question 55

One year ago, you purchased 400 shares of Southern Cotton at $36.20 a share. During the past year, you received a total of $250 in dividends. Today, you sold your shares for $38.50 a share. What is your total return on this investment?

A)7.60%
B)8.08%
C)9.69%
D)11.64%
E)12.68%

Question 56

One year ago, you purchased 200 shares of Southern Foods common stock for $39.50 a share. Today, you sold your shares for $35.40 a share. During this past year, the stock paid $1.36 in dividends per share. What is your dividend yield on this investment?

A)3.165%
B)3.375%
C)3.443%
D)3.533%
E)3.610%

Question 57

Shane purchased a stock this morning at a cost of $13 a share. He expects to receive an annual dividend of $.27 a share next year. What will the price of the stock have to be one year from today if Shane is to earn an 8 percent rate of return on this investment?

A)$12.38
B)$12.60
C)$12.88
D)$13.77
E)$14.28

Question 58

Eight months ago, you purchased 300 shares of a non-dividend paying stock for $27 a share. Today, you sold those shares for $31.59 a share. What was your annualized rate of return on this investment?

A)17.00%
B)21.45%
C)25.50%
D)26.55%
E)28.00%

Question 59

A stock sold for $25 at the beginning of the year. The end of year stock price was $25.50. What is the amount of the annual dividend if the total return for the year was 8.5 percent?

A)$1.23
B)$1.50
C)$1.63
D)$1.81
E)$2.12

Question 60

Today, you sold 800 shares of DeSoto, Inc., for $55.50 a share. You bought the shares one year ago at a price of $60.02 a share. Over the year, you received a total of $500 in dividends. What is your capital gains yield on this investment?

A)−7.53%
B)−8.14%
C)−4.86%
D)8.14%
E)7.53%

Question 61

Over the past four years, the common stock of Jess Electronics Co. produced annual returns of 7.2, 5.8, 11.2, and 13.6 percent, respectively. Treasury bills produced returns of 3.4, 3.3, 4.1, and 4.0 percent, respectively over the same period. What is the standard deviation of the risk premium on Jess Electronics Co. stock for this time period?

A)2.23%
B)2.86%
C)3.22%
D)4.46%
E)4.61%

Question 62

Celsius stock had year-end prices of $42, $37, $44, and $46 over the past four years, respectively. What is the arithmetic average rate of return?

A)3.17%
B)3.85%
C)4.28%
D)10.63%
E)11.79%

Question 63

A stock has an average historical return of 10.7 percent and a standard deviation of 19.3 percent. Which range of returns would you expect to see approximately two-thirds of the time?

A)8.6% to + 30.0%
B)+4.6% to + 33.8%
C)−8.6% to + 30.0%
D)−3.9% to + 32.5%
E)−8.9% to + 31.5%

Question 64

Downtown Industries common stock had returns of 7.2, 11.5, 10.5, and 7.5 percent, respectively, over the past four years. What is the standard deviation of these returns?

A)2.15%
B)2.38%
C)2.41%
D)2.59%
E)2.82%

Question 65

You own a stock that has produced an arithmetic average return of 8.6 percent over the past five years. The annual returns for the first four years were 16, 11, −19, and 3 percent, respectively. What was the rate of return on the stock in year five?

A)−5.00%
B)2.75%
C)6.25%
D)28.00%
E)32.00%

Question 66

Jefferson Mills stock produced returns of 14.8, 22.6, 5.9, and 9.7 percent, respectively, over the past four years. During those same years, U.S. Treasury bills returned 3.8, 4.6, 4.8, and 4.0 percent, respectively. What is the variance of the risk premiums on Jefferson Mills stock for these four years?

A).00298
B).00196
C).00396
D).00478
E).00528

Question 67

An asset has an average annual historical return of 11.6 percent and a standard deviation of 17.8 percent. What range of returns would you expect to see 95 percent of the time?

A)−41.8% to + 65.0%
B)−34.4% to + 53.6%
C)−24.0% to + 47.2%
D)−6.2% to + 29.4%
E)−5.4% to + 41.0%

Question 68

Over the past ten years, large-company stocks have returned an average of 8.7 percent annually, long-term corporate bonds have earned 4.1 percent annually, and U.S. Treasury bills have returned 2.5 percent annually. How much additional risk premium would you have earned if you had invested in large-company stocks rather than long-term corporate bonds over those ten years?

A)1.7%
B)3.7%
C)4.2%
D)4.6%
E)6.4%

Question 69

Blackstone Mines stock returned 10.5, 17.2, −9.0, and 14.5 percent over the past four years, respectively. What is the geometric average return?

A)5.84%
B)6.36%
C)7.78%
D)9.94%
E)10.33%

Question 70

An asset had annual returns of 17, −35, −18, 24, and 6 percent, respectively, over the past five years. What is the arithmetic average return?

A)−1.2%
B).8%
C)1.2%
D)1.6%
E)2.3%

Question 71

Over the past five years, Teen Clothing stock produced returns of 18.7, 5.8, 7.9, 10.8, and 11.6 percent, respectively. For the same five years, the risk-free rate was 5.2, 3.4, 2.8, 3.4, and 3.9 percent, respectively. What is the arithmetic average risk premium on Teen Clothing stock for this time period?

A)6.89%
B)7.01%
C)7.22%
D)7.34%
E)7.57%

Question 72

An asset had annual returns of 13, 10, −14, 3, and 36 percent, respectively, for the past five years. What is the standard deviation of these returns?

A)8.96%
B)16.05%
C)17.92%
D)18.09%
E)20.03%

Question 73

An asset has an average historical rate of return of 13 percent and a variance of .0106. What range of returns would you expect to see approximately two-thirds of the time?

A)−2.28% to + 24.48%
B)−6.52% to + 32.92%
C)−9.58% to + 38.8%
D)+2.70% to + 23.30%
E)+13.1% to + 13.3%

Question 74

Over the past four years, a stock produced returns of 13, 6, −5, and 18 percent, respectively. What is the standard deviation of these returns?

A)8.63%
B)9.93%
C)9.97%
D)10.11%
E)10.15%

Question 75

An asset had annual returns of 12, 18, 6, −9, and 5 percent, respectively, for the last five years. What is the variance of these returns?

A).00810
B).01013
C).01065
D).02038
E).04052

Question 76

Big Town Markets common stock returned 14.3, 12.5, 9.9, 6.5, and 11.1 percent, respectively, over the past five years. What is the arithmetic average return?

A)10.86%
B)11.04%
C)11.66%
D)12.20%
E)13.80%

Question 77

Jeremy owns a stock that has historically returned 7.5 percent annually with a standard deviation of 10.2 percent. There is only a .5 percent chance that the stock will produce a return greater than ________ percent in any one year.

A)20.9
B)22.9
C)32.2
D)38.1
E)54.8

Question 78

An asset had returns of 7.7, 5.4, 3.6, −4.2, and −1.3 percent, respectively, over the past five years. What is the variance of these returns?

A).00173
B).00184
C).00216
D).00239
E).00259

Question 79

Over the past five years, Southwest Railway stock had annual returns of 10, 14, −6, 7.5, and 16 percent, respectively. What is the variance of these returns?

A).00548
B).00685
C).00750
D).01370
E).02740

Question 80

Over the past four years, Hi-Tech Development stock returned 35.2, 38.8, 18.4, and −32.2 percent annually. What is the arithmetic average return?

A)15.05%
B)17.67%
C)20.53%
D)24.20%
E)32.25%