Financial Management, Mid-term review, Chapter 5

Bond, treasury bond, corporate bond, municipal bond, foreign bond

A bond is a promissory note issued by a business or a governmental unit. Treasury bonds, sometimes referred to as government bonds, are issued by the Federal government and are not exposed to default risk. Corporate bonds are issued by corporations and are exposed to default risk. Different corporate bonds have different levels of default risk, depending on the issuing company's characteristics and on the terms of the specific bond. Municipal bonds are issued by state and local governments. The interest earned on most municipal bonds is exempt from federal taxes, and also from state taxes if the holder is a resident of the issuing state. Foreign bonds are issued by foreign governments or foreign corporations. These bonds are not only exposed to default risk, but are also exposed to an additional risk if the bonds are denominated in a currency other than that of the investor's home currency.

Development bond, municipal bond insurance

A development bond is a tax-exempt bond sold by state and local governments whose proceeds are made available to corporations for specific uses deemed (by Congress) to be in the public interest. Municipalities can insure their bonds, in which an insurance company guarantees to pay the coupon and principal payments should the issuer default. This reduces the risk to investors who are willing to accept a lower coupon rate for an insured bond issue vis-a-vis an uninsured issue.

Investment-grade bonds, junk bonds

Bond issues are normally assigned quality ratings by major rating agencies, such as Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's Corporation. These ratings reflect the probability that a bond will go into default. Aaa (Moody's) and AAA (S&P) are the highest ratings. Rating assignments are based on qualitative and quantitative factors including the firm's debt/assets ratio, current ratio, and coverage ratios. Because a bond's rating is an indicator of its default risk, the rating has a direct, measurable influence on the bond's interest rate and the firm's cost of debt capital. Junk bonds are high-risk, high yield bonds issued to finance leveraged buyouts, mergers, or troubled companies. Most bonds are purchased by institutional investors rather than individuals, and many institutions are restricted to investment grade bonds, securities with ratings of Baa/BBB or above.

Premium bond; discount bond

Bond prices and interest rates are inversely related; that is, they tend to move in the opposite direction from one another. A fixed-rate bond will sell at par when its coupon interest rate is equal to the going rate of interest, rd. When the going rate of interest is above the coupon rate, a fixed-rate bond will sell at a "discount" below its par value. If current interest rates are below the coupon rate, a fixed-rate bond will sell at a "premium" above its par value.

Convertible bond, warrant, income bond, indexed bond (purchasing power bond)

Convertible bonds are securities that are convertible into shares of common stock, at a fixed price, at the option of the bondholder. Bonds issued with warrants are similar to convertibles. Warrants are options which permit the holder to buy stock for a stated price, thereby providing a capital gain if the stock price rises. Income bonds pay interest only if the interest is earned. These securities cannot bankrupt a company, but from an investor's standpoint they are riskier than "regular" bonds. The interest rate of an indexed, or purchasing power, bond is based on an inflation index such as the consumer price index (CPI), so the interest paid rises automatically when the inflation rate rises, thus protecting the bondholders against inflation.

Indentures, mortgage bond, debenture, subordinated debenture

Corporations can influence the default risk of their bonds by changing the type of bonds they issue. Under a mortgage bond, the corporation pledges certain assets as security for the bond. All such bonds are written subject to an indenture, which is a legal document that spells out in detail the rights of both the bondholders and the corporation. A debenture is an unsecured bond, and as such, it provides no lien against specific property as security for the obligation. Debenture holders are, therefore, general creditors whose claims are protected by property not otherwise pledged. Subordinated debentures have claims on assets, in the event of bankruptcy, only after senior debt as named in the subordinated debt's indenture has been paid off. Subordinated debentures may be subordinated to designated notes payable or to all other debt.

"Short-term interest rates are more volatile than long-term interest rates, so short-term bond prices are more sensitive to interest rate changes than are long-term bond prices." True or false?

False. Short-term bond prices are less sensitive than long-term bond prices to interest rate changes because funds invested in short-term bonds can be reinvested at the new interest rate sooner than funds tied up in long-term bonds.

A sinking fund can be set up in one of two ways. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each procedure from the viewpoint of both the firm and its bondholders.

From the corporation's viewpoint, one important factor in establishing a sinking fund is that its own bonds (1) generally have a higher yield than do government bonds (2); hence, the company saves more interest by retiring its own bonds (1) than it could earn by buying government bonds (2). This factor causes firms to favor the second procedure. Investors also would prefer the annual retirement procedure if they thought that interest rates were more likely to rise than to fall, but they would prefer the government bond purchases program if they thought rates were likely to fall. In addition, bondholders recognize that, under the government bond purchase scheme, each bondholder would be entitled to a given amount of cash from the liquidation of the sinking fund if the firm should go into default, whereas under the annual retirement plan, some of the holders would receive a cash benefit while others would benefit only indirectly from the fact that there would be fewer bonds outstanding. On balance, investors seem to have little reason for choosing one method over the other, while the annual retirement method is clearly more beneficial to the firm. The consequence has been a pronounced trend toward annual retirement and away from the accumulation scheme.

If you buy a callable bond and interest rates decline, will the value of your bond rise by as much as it would have risen if the bond have not been callable? Explain.

If interest rates decline significantly, the values of callable bonds will not rise by as much as those of bonds without the call provision. It is likely that the bonds would be called by the issuer before maturity, so that the issuer can take advantage of the new, lower rates.

Floating-rate bond, zero coupon bond, original issue discount bond (OID)

In some cases, a bond's coupon payment may vary over time. These bonds are called floating rate bonds. Floating rate debt is popular with investors because the market value of the debt is stabilized. It is advantageous to corporations because firms can issue long-term debt without committing themselves to paying a historically high interest rate for the entire life of the loan. Zero coupon bonds pay no coupons at all, but are offered at a substantial discount below their par values and hence provide capital appreciation rather than interest income. In general, any bond originally offered at a price significantly below its par value is called an original issue discount bond (OID).

Interest rate risk; maturity risk premium (MRP); reinvestment rate risk

Interest rate risk arises from the fact that bond prices decline when interest rates rise. Under these circumstances, selling a bond prior to maturity will result in a capital loss, and the longer the term to maturity, the larger the loss. Thus, a maturity risk premium must be added to the real risk-free rate of interest to compensate for interest rate risk. Reinvestment rate risk occurs when a short-term debt security must be "rolled over." If interest rates have fallen, the reinvestment of principal will be at a lower rate, with correspondingly lower interest payments and ending value. Note that long-term debt securities also have some reinvestment rate risk because their interest payments have to be reinvested at prevailing rates.

Liquidity; liquidity premium (LP)

Liquidity refers to a firm's cash and marketable securities position, and to its ability to meet maturing obligations. A liquid asset is any asset that can be quickly sold and converted to cash at its "fair" value. Active markets provide liquidity. A liquidity premium is added to the real risk-free rate of interest, in addition to other premiums, if a security is not liquid.

Call provision; redeemable bond; sinking fund

Most bonds contain a call provision, which gives the issuing corporation the right to call the bonds for redemption. The call provision generally states that if the bonds are called, the company must pay the bondholders an amount greater than the par value, a call premium. Redeemable bonds give investors the right to sell the bonds back to the corporation at a price that is usually close to the par value. If interest rates rise, investors can redeem the bonds and reinvest at the higher rates. A sinking fund provision facilitates the orderly retirement of a bond issue. This can be achieved in one of two ways: The company can call in for redemption (at par value) a certain percentage of bonds each year. The company may buy the required amount of bonds on the open market.

Current yield (on a bond), yield to maturity (YTM), yield to call (YTC)

The current yield on a bond is the annual coupon payment divided by the current market price. YTM, or yield to maturity, is the rate of interest earned on a bond if it is held to maturity. Yield to call (YTC) is the rate of interest earned on a bond if it is called. If current interest rates are well below an outstanding callable bond's coupon rate, the YTC may be a more relevant estimate of expected return than the YTM, since the bond is likely to be called.

Inflation premium (IP); default risk premium (DRP)

The inflation premium is the premium added to the real risk-free rate of interest to compensate for the expected loss of purchasing power. The inflation premium is the average rate of inflation expected over the life of the security. Default risk is the risk that a borrower will not pay the interest and/or principal on a loan as they become due. Thus, a default risk premium (DRP) is added to the real risk-free rate to compensate investors for bearing default risk.

Nominal risk-free rate of interest rrf

The nominal risk-free rate of interest, denoted by rRF, is the real risk-free rate plus a premium for expected inflation. The short-term nominal risk-free rate is usually approximated by the U.S. Treasury bill rate, while the long-term nominal risk-free rate is approximated by the rate on U.S. Treasury bonds. Note that while T-bonds are free of default and liquidity risks, they are subject to risks due to changes in the general level of interest rates.

Par value, maturity date, coupon payment, coupon interest rate

The par value is the nominal or face value of a stock or bond. The par value of a bond generally represents the amount of money that the firm borrows and promises to repay at some future date. The par value of a bond is often $1,000, but can be $5,000 or more. The maturity date is the date when the bond's par value is repaid to the bondholder. Maturity dates generally range from 10 to 40 years from the time of issue. A call provision may be written into a bond contract, giving the issuer the right to redeem the bonds under specific conditions prior to the normal maturity date. A bond's coupon, or coupon payment, is the dollar amount of interest paid to each bondholder on the interest payment dates. The coupon is so named because bonds used to have dated coupons attached to them which investors could tear off and redeem on the interest payment dates. The coupon interest rate is the stated rate of interest on a bond.

The rate of return on a bond held to maturity date is called the bond's yield to maturity. If interest rates in the economy rise after a bond has been issued, what will happen to the bond's price and to its YTM? Does the length of time to maturity affect the extent to which a given change in interest rates will affect the bond's price? Why or why not?

The price of the bond will fall and its YTM will rise if interest rates rise. If the bond still has a long term to maturity, its YTM will reflect long-term rates. Of course, the bond's price will be less affected by a change in interest rates if it has been outstanding a long time and matures shortly. While this is true, it should be noted that the YTM will increase only for buyers who purchase the bond after the change in interest rates and not for buyers who purchased previous to the change. If the bond is purchased and held to maturity, the bondholder's YTM will not change, regardless of what happens to interest rates.

Real risk-free rate of interest, r*

The real risk-free rate is that interest rate which equalizes the aggregate supply of, and demand for, riskless securities in an economy with zero inflation. The real risk-free rate could also be called the pure rate of interest since it is the rate of interest that would exist on very short-term, default-free U.S. Treasury securities if the expected rate of inflation were zero. It has been estimated that this rate of interest, denoted by r*, has fluctuated in recent years in the United States in the range of 2 to 4 percent.

Term structure of interest rates; yield curve

The term structure of interest rates is the relationship between yield to maturity and term to maturity for bonds of a single risk class. The yield curve is the curve that results when yield to maturity is plotted on the Y-axis with term to maturity on the X-axis.

"Normal" yield curve; inverted "abnormal" yield curve

When the yield curve slopes upward, it is said to be "normal," because it is like this most of the time. Conversely, a downward-sloping yield curve is termed "abnormal" or "inverted."