Exercise
Answer the Following Questions
- 1. Order the reported interest rates from highest to lowest:
- A. Federal funds rate, discount rate, broker call rate, prime rate
- B. Prime rate, broker call rate, discount rate, federal funds rate
- C. Prime rate, broker call rate, federal funds rate, discount rate
- D. Broker call rate, prime rate, federal funds rate, discount rate
- 2. When interest rates rise, all of the following typically occur except:
- A. Bond prices rise because investors can purchase new bonds at higher interest rates.
- B. Stock prices fall as investors pull out of the stock market in favor of the bond market.
- C. Many investors move from stocks into bonds.
- D. The economy may slowdown.
- 3. Regarding bond yields, which of the following is not true?
- A. A yield curve illustrates a liquidity spread.
- B. Liquidity spread is the concept that bonds with longer maturities tend to pay higher yields than bonds with shorter maturities.
- C. Spreads widen during expansionary periods of the business cycle and narrow during periods of contraction.
- D. A bond’s credit spread increases, relative to a benchmark, such as Treasury bills, when its credit rating declines
- 4. Which of the following statements are true regarding yield curves?
- I. A steep yield curve means investors see the future as particularly uncertain or volatile.
- II. An inverted yield curve means investors think interes