(Download PDF) M Finance 4th Edition Cornett Test Bank Full Chapter
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M: Finance, 4e (Cornett)
Chapter 6 Understanding Financial Markets and Institutions
1) Which of these provide a forum in which demanders of funds raise funds by issuing new
financial instruments, such as stocks and bonds?
A) investment banks
B) money markets
C) primary markets
D) secondary markets
Answer: C
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Primary and secondary markets
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-01 Differentiate between primary and secondary markets and between
money and capital markets.
2) In the United States, which of these financial institutions arrange most primary market
transactions for businesses?
A) investment banks
B) asset transformer
C) direct transfer agents
D) over-the-counter agents
Answer: A
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Primary and secondary markets
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-01 Differentiate between primary and secondary markets and between
money and capital markets.
1
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
3) Primary market financial instruments include stock issues from firms allowing their equity
shares to be publicly traded on the stock market for the first time. We usually refer to these first-
time issues as which of the following?
A) initial public offerings
B) direct transfers
C) money market transfers
D) over-the-counter stocks
Answer: A
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Initial public offerings
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-01 Differentiate between primary and secondary markets and between
money and capital markets.
4) Once firms issue financial instruments in primary markets, these same stocks and bonds are
then traded in which of these?
A) initial public offerings
B) direct transfers
C) secondary markets
D) over-the-counter stocks
Answer: C
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Primary and secondary markets
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-01 Differentiate between primary and secondary markets and between
money and capital markets.
5) Which of these feature debt securities or instruments with maturities of one year or less?
A) money markets
B) primary markets
C) secondary markets
D) over-the-counter stocks
Answer: A
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Money and capital markets
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-01 Differentiate between primary and secondary markets and between
money and capital markets.
2
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
6) Which of the following is NOT a money market instrument?
A) treasury bills
B) commercial paper
C) corporate bonds
D) bankers' acceptances
Answer: C
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Money market securities
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-02 List the types of securities traded in money and capital markets.
7) Which of these money market instruments are short-term funds transferred between financial
institutions, usually for no more than one day?
A) treasury bills
B) federal funds
C) commercial paper
D) banker acceptances
Answer: B
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Money market securities
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-02 List the types of securities traded in money and capital markets.
Answer: B
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Money market securities
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-02 List the types of securities traded in money and capital markets.
3
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
9) Which of these capital market instruments are long-term loans to individuals or businesses to
purchase homes, pieces of land, or other real property?
A) treasury notes and bonds
B) mortgages
C) mortgage-backed securities
D) corporate bonds
Answer: B
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Types of loans
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-02 List the types of securities traded in money and capital markets.
10) Which of these markets trade currencies for immediate or for some future stated delivery?
A) money markets
B) primary markets
C) foreign exchange markets
D) over-the-counter stocks
Answer: C
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Foreign exchange markets
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-02 List the types of securities traded in money and capital markets.
11) Which of these formalizes an agreement between two parties to exchange a standard quantity
of an asset at a predetermined price on a specified date in the future?
A) derivative security
B) initial public offering
C) liquidity asset
D) trading volume
Answer: A
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Derivatives and other securities
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-02 List the types of securities traded in money and capital markets.
4
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
12) Which of these does NOT perform vital functions to securities markets of all sorts by
channelling funds from those with surplus funds to those with shortages of funds?
A) commercial banks
B) secondary markets
C) insurance companies
D) mutual funds
Answer: B
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Primary and secondary markets
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-02 List the types of securities traded in money and capital markets.
13) Which of these refer to the ease with which an asset can be converted into cash?
A) direct transfer
B) liquidity
C) primary market
D) secondary market
Answer: B
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Money and capital markets
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-02 List the types of securities traded in money and capital markets.
14) Which of the following is the risk that an asset's sale price will be lower than its purchase
price?
A) default risk
B) liquidity risk
C) price risk
D) trading risk
Answer: C
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Nominal interest rate factors
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-02 List the types of securities traded in money and capital markets.
5
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
15) Which of these is the interest rate that is actually observed in financial markets?
A) nominal interest rates
B) real interest rates
C) real risk-free rate
D) market premium
Answer: A
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Nominal and real rates
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
16) Which of these is the interest rate that would exist on a default-free security if no inflation
were expected?
A) nominal interest rate
B) real interest rate
C) default premium
D) market premium
Answer: B
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Nominal and real rates
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
17) Which of the following is the risk that a security issuer will miss an interest or principal
payment or continue to miss such payments?
A) default risk
B) liquidity risk
C) maturity risk
D) price risk
Answer: A
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Nominal interest rate factors
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
6
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
18) Which of these is NOT a participant in the shadow banking system?
A) structured investment vehicles (SIVs)
B) special purpose vehicles (SPVs)
C) limited-purpose finance companies
D) credit unions
Answer: D
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Types of financial institutions
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-03 Identify different types of financial institutions and the services that each
provides.
19) How is the shadow banking system the same as the traditional banking system?
A) It intermediates the flow of funds between net savers and net borrowers.
B) It serves as a middle man.
C) The complete credit intermediation is performed through a series of steps involving many
nonbank financial service firms.
D) The complete credit intermediation is performed by a single bank.
Answer: A
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Financial institution functions
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-03 Identify different types of financial institutions and the services that each
provides.
20) Which of the following is the continual increase in the price level of a basket of goods and
services?
A) deflation
B) inflation
C) recession
D) stagflation
Answer: B
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Nominal interest rate factors
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
7
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
21) Which of these statements is true?
A) The higher the default risk, the higher the interest rate that securities buyers will demand.
B) The lower the default risk, the higher the interest rate that securities buyers will demand.
C) The higher the default risk, the lower the interest rate that securities buyers will demand.
D) The default risk does not impact the interest rate that securities buyers will demand.
Answer: A
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Nominal interest rate factors
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
22) Which of these is a comparison of market yields on securities, assuming all characteristics
except maturity are the same?
A) liquidity risk
B) market risk
C) maturity risk
D) term structure of interest rates
Answer: D
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Nominal interest rate factors
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
23) According to this theory of term structure of interest rates, at any given point in time, the
yield curve reflects the market's current expectations of future short-term rates.
A) expectations theory
B) future short-term rates theory
C) term structure of interest rates theory
D) unbiased expectations theory
Answer: D
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-07 Offer different theories that explain the shape of the term structure of
interest rates.
8
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
24) Which of the following theories argues that individual investors and financial institutions
have specific maturity preferences, and to encourage buyers to hold securities with maturities
other than their most preferred requires a higher interest rate?
A) liquidity premium hypothesis
B) market segmentation theory
C) supply and demand theory
D) unbiased expectations theory
Answer: B
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-07 Offer different theories that explain the shape of the term structure of
interest rates.
25) Which of these is the expected or "implied" rate on a short-term security that will originate at
some point in the future?
A) current yield
B) forward rate
C) spot rate
D) yield to maturity
Answer: B
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Term structure of interest rates
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-08 Demonstrate how forward interest rates derive from the term structure of
interest rates.
26) Which of these is NOT a theory that explains the shape of the term structure of interest rates?
A) liquidity theory
B) market segmentation theory
C) short-term structure of interest rates theory
D) unbiased expectations theory
Answer: C
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-07 Offer different theories that explain the shape of the term structure of
interest rates.
9
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
27) A particular security's default risk premium is 3 percent. For all securities, the inflation risk
premium is 2 percent and the real interest rate is 2.25 percent. The security's liquidity risk
premium is 0.75 percent and maturity risk premium is 0.90 percent. The security has no special
covenants. What is the security's equilibrium rate of return?
A) 1.78 percent
B) 3.95 percent
C) 8.90 percent
D) 17.8 percent
Answer: C
Explanation: ij* = 2.00% + 2.25% + 3.00% + 0.75% + 0.90% = 8.90%.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Nominal interest rate factors
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
28) You are considering an investment in 30-year bonds issued by a corporation. The bonds have
no special covenants. The Wall Street Journal reports that one-year T-bills are currently earning
3.50 percent. Your broker has determined the following information about economic activity and
the corporation bonds:
What is the inflation premium? What is the fair interest rate on the corporation's 30-year bonds?
A) 1 percent and 1.49 percent, respectively
B) 1 percent and 6.45 percent, respectively
C) 1 percent and 7.45 percent, respectively
D) 3.50 percent and 9.95 percent, respectively
Answer: C
Explanation: Expected (IP) = i − RIR = 3.50% − 2.50% = 1.00%.
ij* = 1.00% + 2.50% + 1.75% + 0.70% + 1.50% = 7.45%.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Nominal interest rate factors
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
10
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
29) A corporation's 10-year bonds have an equilibrium rate of return of 7 percent. For all
securities, the inflation risk premium is 1.50 percent and the real interest rate is 3.0 percent. The
security's liquidity risk premium is 0.15 percent and maturity risk premium is 0.70 percent. The
security has no special covenants. What is the bond's default risk premium?
A) 1.40 percent
B) 1.65 percent
C) 5.35 percent
D) 9.35 percent
Answer: B
Explanation: 7.00% = 1.5% + 3% + DRP + 0.15% + 0.70%
=> DRP = 7.00% − (1.5% + 3% + 0.15% + 0.70%) = 1.65%.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Nominal interest rate factors
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
30) A two-year Treasury security currently earns 5.25 percent. Over the next two years, the real
interest rate is expected to be 3.00 percent per year and the inflation premium is expected to be
2.00 percent per year. What is the maturity risk premium on the two-year Treasury security?
A) 0.25 percent
B) 1.00 percent
C) 1.05 percent
D) 5.00 percent
Answer: A
Explanation: 5.25% = 2.00% + 3.00% + 0.00% + 0.00% + MP
=> MP = 5.25% − (2.00% + 3.00% + 0.00% + 0.00%) = 0.25%.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Nominal interest rate factors
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
11
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
31) Suppose that the current one-year rate (one-year spot rate) and expected one-year T-bill rates
over the following three years (i.e., years 2, 3, and 4, respectively) are as follows:
Using the unbiased expectations theory, what is the current (long-term) rate for four-year-
maturity Treasury securities?
A) 6.00 percent
B) 6.33 percent
C) 6.75 percent
D) 7.00 percent
Answer: A
Explanation: 1R4 = [(1 + 0.05)(1 + 0.055)(1 + 0.065)(1 + 0.07)]1/4 − 1 = 6%.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-07 Offer different theories that explain the shape of the term structure of
interest rates.
32) One-year Treasury bills currently earn 5.50 percent. You expect that one year from now,
one-year Treasury bill rates will increase to 5.75 percent. If the unbiased expectations theory is
correct, what should the current rate be on two-year Treasury securities?
A) 5.50 percent
B) 5.625 percent
C) 5.75 percent
D) 11.25 percent
Answer: B
Explanation: 1R2 = [(1 + 0.055)(1 + 0.0575)]1/2 − 1 = 5.62492604%.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-07 Offer different theories that explain the shape of the term structure of
interest rates.
12
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
33) One-year Treasury bills currently earn 5.50 percent. You expect that one year from now,
one-year Treasury bill rates will increase to 5.75 percent. The liquidity premium on two-year
securities is 0.075 percent. If the liquidity theory is correct, what should the current rate be on
two-year Treasury securities?
A) 3.775 percent
B) 5.625 percent
C) 5.662 percent
D) 11.325 percent
Answer: C
Explanation: 1R2 = [(1 + 0.055)(1 + 0.0575 + 0.00075)]1/2 − 1 = 5.66237504%.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-07 Offer different theories that explain the shape of the term structure of
interest rates.
34) Based on economists' forecasts and analysis, one-year Treasury bill rates and liquidity
premiums for the next four years are expected to be as follows: Using the liquidity premium
theory, what is the current rate on a four-year Treasury security?
R1 = 6.65 %
E(r2) = 7.75 % L2 = 0.10 %
E(r3) = 7.85 % L3 = 0.20 %
E(r4) = 8.15 % L4 = 0.25 %
A) 7.736 percent
B) 7.600 percent
C) 7.738 percent
D) 8.400 percent
Answer: A
Explanation: 1R4 = [(1 + 0.0665)(1 + 0.0775 + 0.0010)(1 + 0.0785 + 0.0020)(1 + 0.0815 +
0.0025)]1/4 − 1 = 7.73548.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-07 Offer different theories that explain the shape of the term structure of
interest rates.
13
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
35) One-year Treasury bills currently earn 3.15 percent. You expect that one year from now, 1-
year Treasury bill rates will increase to 3.65 percent and that two years from now, one-year
Treasury bill rates will increase to 4.05 percent. If the unbiased expectations theory is correct,
what should the current rate be on three-year Treasury securities?
A) 3.40 percent
B) 3.62 percent
C) 3.75 percent
D) 3.85 percent
Answer: B
Explanation: 1R3 = [(1 + 0.0315)(1 + 0.0365)(1 + 0.0405)]1/3 − 1 = 3.62%.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-07 Offer different theories that explain the shape of the term structure of
interest rates.
36) One-year Treasury bills currently earn 2.55 percent. You expect that one year from now,
one-year Treasury bill rates will increase to 2.85 percent and that two years from now, one-year
Treasury bill rates will increase to 3.15 percent. If the unbiased expectations theory is correct,
what should the current rate be on 3-year Treasury securities?
A) 2.55 percent
B) 2.85 percent
C) 2.93 percent
D) 3.15 percent
Answer: B
Explanation: 1R3 = [(1 + 0.0255)(1 + 0.0285)(1 + 0.0315)]1/3 − 1 = 3.62%.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-07 Offer different theories that explain the shape of the term structure of
interest rates.
14
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
37) The Wall Street Journal reports that the rate on three-year Treasury securities is 7.00 percent,
and the six-year Treasury rate is 7.25 percent. From discussions with your broker, you have
determined that the expected inflation premium will be 1.75 percent next year, 2.25 percent in
year 2, and 2.40 percent in year 3 and beyond. Further, you expect that real interest rates will be
3.75 percent annually for the foreseeable future. What is the maturity risk premium on the six-
year Treasury security?
A) 0.83 percent
B) 0.983 percent
C) 1.10 percent
D) 1.233 percent
Answer: C
Explanation: 7.25% = 2.40% + 3.75% + MP
=> MP = 7.25% − (2.40% + 3.75%) = 1.10%
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Nominal interest rate factors
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
38) A corporation's 10-year bonds are currently yielding a return of 7.75 percent. The expected
inflation premium is 3.0 percent annually and the real interest rate is expected to be 3.00 percent
annually over the next 10 years. The liquidity risk premium on the corporation's bonds is 0.50
percent. The maturity risk premium is 0.25 percent on two-year securities and increases by 0.10
percent for each additional year to maturity. What is the default risk premium on the
corporation's 10-year bonds?
A) 0.18 percent
B) 0.20 percent
C) 0.22 percent
D) 0.27 percent
Answer: B
Explanation: 7.75% = 3.00% + 3.00% + DRP + 0.50% + (0.25% + (0.10% × 8))
=> DRP = 7.75% − (3.00% + 3.00% + 0.50% + (0.25% + (0.10% × 8))) = 0.20.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Nominal interest rate factors
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
15
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
39) Suppose we observe the following rates: 1R1 = 6 percent, 1R2 = 7.5 percent. If the unbiased
expectations theory of the term structure of interest rates holds, what is the one-year interest rate
expected one year from now, E(2r1)?
A) 6.75 percent
B) 7.50 percent
C) 9.02 percent
D) 13.5 percent
Answer: C
Explanation: 1 + 1R2 = {(1 + 1R1)(1 + E(2r1))}1/2
1.075 = {1.06(1 + E(2r1))}1/2
1.155625 = 1.06(1 + E(2r1))
1.155625/1.06 = 1 + E(2r1)
1 + E(2r1) = 1.090212264
E(2r1) = 0.0902 = 9.02.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
16
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
40) The Wall Street Journal reports that the rate on four-year Treasury securities is 4.75 percent
and the rate on five-year Treasury securities is 5.95 percent. According to the unbiased
expectations hypotheses, what does the market expect the one-year Treasury rate to be four years
from today, E(5r1)?
A) 1.11 percent
B) 5.95 percent
C) 10.70 percent
D) 10.89 percent
Answer: D
Explanation: 1 + 1R5 = {(1 + 1R4)4(1 + E(5r1))}1/5
1.0595 = {(1.0475)4(1 + E(5r1))}1/5
(1.0595)5 = (1.0475)4 (1 + E(5r1))
(1.0595)5/(1.0475)4 = 1 + E(5r1)
1 + E(5r1) = 1.108890541
E(5r1) = 10.89%.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-07 Offer different theories that explain the shape of the term structure of
interest rates.
17
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
41) The Wall Street Journal reports that the rate on three-year Treasury securities is 4.75 percent
and the rate on four-year Treasury securities is 5.00 percent. The one-year interest rate expected
in three years is E(4r1), 5.25 percent. According to the liquidity premium theory, what is the
liquidity premium on the four-year Treasury security, L4?
A) 0.0375 percent
B) 0.504 percent
C) 5.01 percent
D) 5.04 percent
Answer: B
Explanation: 1 + 1R4 = {(1 + 1R3)(1 + E(4r1) + L4)}1/4
1.0500 = {(1.0475)3(1 + 0.0525 + L4)}1/4
(1.0500)4 = (1.0475)3(1 + 0.0525 + L4)
(1.0500)4/(1.0475)3 = 1 + 0.0525 + L4
(1.0500)4/(1.0475)3 − 1.0525 = L4 = 0.0050358564 = 0.504%.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-07 Offer different theories that explain the shape of the term structure of
interest rates.
42) Suppose we observe the following rates: 1R1 = 8 percent, 1R2 = 10 percent, and E(2r1) = 8
percent. If the liquidity premium theory of the term structure of interest rates holds, what is the
liquidity premium for year 2, L2?
A) 1.02 percent
B) 4.04 percent
C) 6.15 percent
D) 12.03 percent
Answer: B
Explanation: 1 + 1R2 = {(1 + 1R1)(1 + E(2r1) + L2)}1/2
1.10 = {(1.08)(1 + 0.08 + L2)}1/2
(1.10)2 = (1.08)(1 + 0.08 + L2)
(1.10)2/(1.08) = 1 + 0.08 + L2
(1.10)2/(1.08) − 1.08 = L2 = 0.04037 = 4.04%.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-07 Offer different theories that explain the shape of the term structure of
interest rates.
18
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
43) You note the following yield curve in The Wall Street Journal. According to the unbiased
expectations hypothesis, what is the one-year forward rate for the period beginning one year
from today, 2f1?
Maturity Yield
One day 3.00%
One year 5.00
Two years 6.25
Three years 8.00
A) 1.01 percent
B) 1.19 percent
C) 5.625 percent
D) 7.51 percent
Answer: D
Explanation: 1R2 = 0.0625 = [(1 + 0.050)(1 + 2f1)]1/2 − 1
ψ [(1.0625)2/(1.050)] − 1 = 2f1 = 7.51%.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-08 Demonstrate how forward interest rates derive from the term structure of
interest rates.
19
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
44) On May 23, 20XX, the existing or current (spot) one-year, two-year, three-year, and four-
year zero-coupon Treasury security rates were as follows:
Using the unbiased expectations theory, what is the one-year forward rate on zero-coupon
Treasury bonds for year 4 as of May 23, 20XX?
A) 5.925 percent
B) 6.45 percent
C) 7.05 percent
D) 10.32 percent
Answer: C
Explanation: 4f1 = [(1 + 1R4)4/(1 + 1R3)3] − 1 = [(1 + 0.0645)4/(1 + 0.0625)3] − 1 = 7.05%.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-08 Demonstrate how forward interest rates derive from the term structure of
interest rates.
45) The Wall Street Journal reports that the current rate on 10-year Treasury bonds is 6.75
percent, on 20-year Treasury bonds is 7.25 percent, and on a 20-year corporate bond is 8.50
percent. Assume that the maturity risk premium is zero. If the default risk premium and liquidity
risk premium on a 10-year corporate bond is the same as that on the 20-year corporate bond,
what is the current rate on a 10-year corporate bond.
A) 7.50 percent
B) 8.00 percent
C) 8.50 percent
D) 8.75 percent
Answer: B
Explanation: 20-year corporate bond: 8.5% = 7.25% + DRP + LRP + 0.00% => DRP + LRP =
8.5% − 7.25% = 1.25%.
10-year corporate bond: ij* = 6.75% + 1.25% = 8.00%.
Difficulty: 3 Hard
Topic: Nominal interest rate factors
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
20
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
46) The Wall Street Journal reports that the current rate on 5-year Treasury bonds is 6.50 percent
and on 10-year Treasury bonds is 6.75 percent. Assume that the maturity risk premium is zero.
Calculate the expected rate on a 5-year Treasury bond purchased five years from today, E(5r1).
A) 6.625 percent
B) 6.75 percent
C) 7.00 percent
D) 7.58 percent
Answer: C
Explanation: 1 + 1R10 = {(1 + 1R5)5(1 + E(5r1))5}1/10 = 1.0675 = {(1 + 0.065)5(1 +
E(5r1))5}1/10
=> E(5r1) = {(1.0675)10/(1 + 0.065)5}1/5 − 1 = 7.00%.
Difficulty: 3 Hard
Topic: Nominal interest rate factors
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
47) Suppose we observe the three-year Treasury security rate (1R3) to be 6 percent, the expected
one-year rate next year E(2r1) to be 3 percent, and the expected one-year rate the following year
E(3r1) to be 5 percent. If the unbiased expectations theory of the term structure of interest rates
holds, what is the one-year Treasury security rate, 1R1?
A) 3.00 percent
B) 10.13 percent
C) 14.00 percent
D) 19.88 percent
Answer: B
Explanation: 1.06 = {(1 + 1R1)(1 + E(2r1))(1 + E(3r1))}1/3
1.06 = {(1 + 1R1) × 1.03 × 1.05}1/3
(1.06)3 = (1 + 1R1) × 1.03 × 1.05
1 + 1R1 = 1.191016/(1.03 × 1.05)
1R1 = 0.10126 = 10.13%.
Difficulty: 3 Hard
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-07 Offer different theories that explain the shape of the term structure of
interest rates.
21
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
48) The Wall Street Journal reports that the rate on three-year Treasury securities is 6.25 percent
and the rate on five-year Treasury securities is 6.45 percent. According to the unbiased
expectations hypothesis, what does the market expect the two-year Treasury rate to be three
years from today, E(4r2)?
A) 6.35 percent
B) 6.75 percent
C) 7.25 percent
D) 7.45 percent
Answer: B
Explanation: 1 + 1R5 = {(1 + 1R3)3(1 + E(3r2))2}1/5 = 1.0645 = {(1 + 0.0625)3(1 + E(3r2))2}1/5
=> E(3r2) = {(1.0645)5/(1 + 0.0625)3}1/2 − 1 = 6.75.
Difficulty: 3 Hard
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Apply; Analyze
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-07 Offer different theories that explain the shape of the term structure of
interest rates.
49) One-year Treasury bills currently earn 3.25 percent. You expect that one year from now,
one-year Treasury bill rates will increase to 3.45 percent and that two years from now, one-year
Treasury bill rates will increase to 3.95 percent. The liquidity premium on two-year securities is
0.05 percent and on three-year securities is 0.15 percent. If the liquidity theory is correct, what
should the current rate be on three-year Treasury securities?
A) 3.25 percent
B) 3.55 percent
C) 3.62 percent
D) 4.10 percent
Answer: C
Explanation: 1R2 = [(1 + 0.0325)(1 + 0.0345 + 0.0005)(1 + 0.0395 + 0.0015)]1/3 − 1 = 3.62%.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Apply; Analyze
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-07 Offer different theories that explain the shape of the term structure of
interest rates.
22
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
50) One-year Treasury bills currently earn 2.95 percent. You expect that one year from now,
one-year Treasury bill rates will increase to 3.15 percent and that two years from now, one-year
Treasury bill rates will increase to 3.35 percent. The liquidity premium on two-year securities is
0.05 percent and on three-year securities is 0.15 percent. If the liquidity theory is correct, what
should the current rate be on three-year Treasury securities?
A) 2.95 percent
B) 3.15 percent
C) 3.22 percent
D) 3.35 percent
Answer: C
Explanation: 1R2 = [(1 + 0.0295)(1 + 0.0315 + 0.0005)(1 + 0.0335 + 0.0015)]1/3 − 1 = 3.22%.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Apply; Analyze
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-07 Offer different theories that explain the shape of the term structure of
interest rates.
51) Assume the current interest rate on a one-year Treasury bond (1R1) is 5.00 percent, the
current rate on a two-year Treasury bond (1R2) is 5.75 percent, and the current rate on a three-
year Treasury bond (1R3) is 6.25 percent. If the unbiased expectations theory of the term
structure of interest rates is correct, what is the one-year interest rate expected on Treasury bills
during year 3, 3f1?
A) 5.00 percent
B) 5.67 percent
C) 7.26 percent
D) 8.00 percent
Answer: C
Explanation: 1R1 = 5.0%
1/2 − 1 Ψ f = 6.51%.
1R2 = 5.75% = [(1 + 0.05)(1 + 2f1)] 21
R = 6.25% = [(1 + 0.05)(1 + 0.0651)(1 + 1/3 − 1 Ψ f = 7.26.
1 3 3 1)]
f 31
Difficulty: 3 Hard
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Apply; Analyze
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-08 Demonstrate how forward interest rates derive from the term structure of
interest rates.
23
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52) A recent edition of The Wall Street Journal reported interest rates of 3.10 percent, 3.50
percent, 3.75 percent, and 3.95 percent for three-year, four-year, five-year, and six-year Treasury
security yields, respectively, According to the unbiased expectation theory of the term structure
of interest rates, what are the expected one-year rates for year 6?
A) 3.575 percent
B) 3.95 percent
C) 4.96 percent
D) 5.33 percent
Answer: C
Explanation: 1 + 1R6 = {(1 + 1R5)5(1 + E(6r1))}1/6
1.0395 = {(1.0375)5(1 + E(6r1))}1/6
(1.0395)6 = (1.0375)5(1 + E(6r1))
(1.0395)6/(1.0375)5 = 1 + E(6r1)
1 + E(6r1) = 1.04955798
E(6r1) = 4.96%.
Difficulty: 3 Hard
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-08 Demonstrate how forward interest rates derive from the term structure of
interest rates.
53) A particular security's default risk premium is 3 percent. For all securities, the inflation risk
premium is 1.75 percent and the real interest rate is 4.2 percent. The security's liquidity risk
premium is 0.35 percent and maturity risk premium is 0.95 percent. The security has no special
covenants. Calculate the security's equilibrium rate of return.
A) 8.50 percent
B) 6.05 percent
C) 10.25 percent
D) 9.90 percent
Answer: C
Explanation: 3 + 1.75 + 4.2 + 0.35 + 0.95 = 10.25.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Nominal interest rate factors
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
24
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
54) You are considering an investment in 30-year bonds issued by Moore Corporation. The
bonds have no special covenants. The Wall Street Journal reports that one-year T-bills are
currently earning 3.55 percent. Your broker has determined the following information about
economic activity and Moore Corporation bonds:
Answer: A
Explanation: 3.55 − 2.75 = 0.80.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Nominal interest rate factors
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
25
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
55) You are considering an investment in 30-year bonds issued by Moore Corporation. The
bonds have no special covenants. The Wall Street Journal reports that one-year T-bills are
currently earning 3.55 percent. Your broker has determined the following information about
economic activity and Moore Corporation bonds:
Answer: C
Explanation: 1.05 + 0.5 + 1.85 + 3.55 = 6.95.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Nominal interest rate factors
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
56) Dakota Corporation 15-year bonds have an equilibrium rate of return of 9 percent. For all
securities, the inflation risk premium is 1.95 percent and the real interest rate is 3.65 percent. The
security's liquidity risk premium is 0.35 percent and maturity risk premium is 0.95 percent. The
security has no special covenants. Calculate the bond's default risk premium.
A) 2.10 percent
B) 3.05 percent
C) 3.40 percent
D) 2.45 percent
Answer: A
Explanation: 9 − 1.95 − 3.65 − 0.35 − 0.95 = 2.1.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Nominal interest rate factors
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
26
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
57) A two-year Treasury security currently earns 5.13 percent. Over the next two years, the real
interest rate is expected to be 2.15 percent per year and the inflation premium is expected to be
1.75 percent per year. Calculate the maturity risk premium on the two-year Treasury security.
A) 5.13 percent
B) 3.38 percent
C) 2.98 percent
D) 1.23 percent
Answer: D
Explanation: 5.13 − 1.75 − 2.15 = 1.23.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Nominal interest rate factors
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
58) Suppose that the current one-year rate (one-year spot rate) and expected one-year T-bill rates
over the following three years (i.e., years 2, 3, and 4, respectively) are as follows:
1R1 = 5 percent,
E(2r1) = 7 percent,
E(3r1) = 7.5 percent
E(4r1) = 7.85 percent
Using the unbiased expectations theory, calculate the current (long-term) rates for one-year and
two-year-maturity Treasury securities.
A) one-year: 5.00 percent,two-year: 5.50 percent
B) one-year: 5.00 percent, two-year: 6.00 percent
C) one-year: 5.50 percent, two-year: 6.15 percent
D) one-year: 5.50 percent, two-year: 5.75 percent
Answer: B
Explanation: 1R1 = 5% and 1R2 = [(1 + 0.05)(1 + 0.07)]1/2 − 1 = 6.0%.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-07 Offer different theories that explain the shape of the term structure of
interest rates.
27
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
59) Suppose that the current one-year rate (one-year spot rate) and expected one-year T-bill rates
over the following three years (i.e., years 2, 3, and 4 respectively) are as follows:
1R1 = 5 percent,
E(2r1) = 6 percent,
E(3r1) = 7.5 percent
E(4r1) = 7.85 percent
Using the unbiased expectations theory, calculate the current (long-term) rates for three-year-
and four-year-maturity Treasury securities.
A) one-year: 6.16 percent, two-year: 6.58 percent
B) one-year: 6.16 percent, two-year: 6.78 percent
C) one-year: 6.25 percent, two-year: 6.45 percent
D) one-year: 5.95 percent, two-year: 6.45 percent
Answer: A
Explanation: 1R3 = [(1 + 0.05)(1 + 0.06)(1 + 0.075)]1/3 − 1 = 6.16% and
1/4 − 1 = 6.58%.
1R4 = [(1 + 0.05)(1 + 0.06)(1 + 0.075)(1 + 0.0785)]
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-07 Offer different theories that explain the shape of the term structure of
interest rates.
28
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
60) Suppose that the current one-year rate (one-year spot rate) and expected one-year T-bill rates
over the following three years (i.e., years 2, 3, and 4, respectively) are as follows:
1R1 = 5 percent,
E(2r1) = 6 percent,
E(3r1) = 7.5 percent
E(4r1) = 6.85 percent
Using the unbiased expectations theory, calculate the current (long-term) rates for one-, two-,
three-, and four-year-maturity Treasury securities.
A) 5.00 percent, 5.50 percent, 6.16 percent, 6.33 percent
B) 5.00 percent, 5.25 percent, 6.10 percent, 6.27 percent
C) 5.00 percent, 5.50 percent, 6.10 percent, 6.23 percent
D) 5.00 percent, 5.25 percent, 6.16 percent, 6.49 percent
Answer: A
Explanation: 1R1 = 5%
1/2 − 1 = 5.5%.
1R2 = [(1 + 0.05)(1 + 0.06)]
1/3 − 1 = 6.16%.
1R3 = [(1 + 0.05)(1 + 0.06)(1 + 0.075)]
1/4 − 1 = 6.33%.
1R4 = [(1 + 0.05)(1 + 0.06)(1 + 0.075)(1 + 0.0685)]
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-07 Offer different theories that explain the shape of the term structure of
interest rates.
61) One-year Treasury bills currently earn 3.75 percent. You expect that one year from now,
one-year Treasury bill rates will increase to 4.15 percent. If the unbiased expectations theory is
correct, what should the current rate be on two-year Treasury securities?
A) 4.25 percent
B) 3.85 percent
C) 3.95 percent
D) 4.35 percent
Answer: C
Explanation: 1R2 = [(1 + 0.0375)(1 + 0.0415)]0.5 − 1 = 3.95%.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-07 Offer different theories that explain the shape of the term structure of
interest rates.
29
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
62) One-year Treasury bills currently earn 4.5 percent. You expect that one year from now, one-
year Treasury bill rates will increase to 6.65 percent. The liquidity premium on two-year
securities is 0.05 percent. If the liquidity theory is correct, what should the current rate be on
two-year Treasury securities?
A) 5.24 percent
B) 5.59 percent
C) 5.65 percent
D) 5.95 percent
Answer: B
Explanation: 1R2 = [(1 + 0.045)(1 + 0.0665 + 0.0005)]0.5 − 1 = 5.59%.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-07 Offer different theories that explain the shape of the term structure of
interest rates.
63) Based on economists' forecasts and analysis, one-year Treasury bill rates and liquidity
premiums for the next four years are expected to be as follows:
R1 = 5.95percent
E(r2) = 6.25percent L2 = 0.05percent
E(r3) = 6.75percent L3 = 0.10percent
E(r4) = 7.15percent L4 = 0.12percent
Using the liquidity premium theory, what should be the current rate on four-year Treasury
securities?
A) 6.59 percent
B) 6.75 percent
C) 6.82 percent
D) 7.13 percent
Answer: A
Explanation: 1R4 = [(1 + 0.0595)(1 + 0.0625 + 0.0005)(1 + 0.0675 + 0.0010)(1 + 0.0715 +
0.0012)]1/4 − 1 = 6.59%.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-07 Offer different theories that explain the shape of the term structure of
interest rates.
30
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
64) The Wall Street Journal reports that the rate on three-year Treasury securities is 7.00 percent,
and the six-year Treasury rate is 6.20 percent. From discussions with your broker, you have
determined that the expected inflation premium will be 2.25 percent next year, 2.50 percent in
year 2, and 2.50 percent in year 3 and beyond. Further, you expect that real interest rates will be
4.4 percent annually for the foreseeable future. Calculate the maturity risk premium on the 3-year
Treasury security.
A) 0.00 percent
B) 0.10 percent
C) 4.50 percent
D) 2.60 percent
Answer: B
Explanation: 7.00% = 2.50% + 4.40% + MP => MP = 7.00% − (2.50% + 4.40%) = 0.10%.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Nominal interest rate factors
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
65) The Wall Street Journal reports that the rate on three-year Treasury securities is 6.50 percent,
and the six-year Treasury rate is 6.80 percent. From discussions with your broker, you have
determined that the expected inflation premium will 2.25 percent next year, 2.50 percent in year
2, and 2.60 percent in year 3 and beyond. Further, you expect that real interest rates will be 3.4
percent annually for the foreseeable future. Calculate the maturity risk premium on the three-year
and the six-year Treasury security.
A) 3-year: 0.6 percent, 6-year: 0.80 percent
B) 3-year: 0.5 percent, 6-year: 0.90 percent
C) 3-year: 0.6 percent, 6-year: 1.20 percent
D) 3-year: 0.5 percent, 6-year: 0.80 percent
Answer: D
Explanation: Step 1: 6.50% = 2.60% + 3.40% + MP => MP = 6.50% − (2.60% + 3.40%) =
0.50%.
Step 2: 6.80% = 2.60% + 3.40% + MP => MP = 6.80% − (2.60% + 3.40%) = 0.80%.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Nominal interest rate factors
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
31
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66) Nikki G's Corporation's 10-year bonds are currently yielding a return of 9.25 percent. The
expected inflation premium is 2.0 percent annually and the real interest rate is expected to be
3.10 percent annually over the next 10 years. The liquidity risk premium on Nikki G's bonds is
0.1 percent. The maturity risk premium is 0.10 percent on two-year securities and increases by
0.05 percent for each additional year to maturity. Calculate the default risk premium on Nikki
G's 10-year bonds.
A) 2.55 percent
B) 5.65 percent
C) 3.55 percent
D) 1.85 percent
Answer: C
Explanation: 9.25% = 2.0% + 3.10% + DRP + 0.1% + (0.10% + (0.05% × 8))
DRP = 9.25% − (2.0% + 3.10% + 0.1% + 0.5%) = 3.55%.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Nominal interest rate factors
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
67) Suppose we observe the following rates: 1R1 = 12 percent, 1R2 = 15 percent. If the unbiased
expectations theory of the term structure of interest rates holds, what is the one-year interest rate
expected one year from now, E(2r1)?
A) 13.5 percent
B) 14.2 percent
C) 15.6 percent
D) 18.0 percent
Answer: D
Explanation: 1 + 1R2 = {(1 + 1R1)(1 + E(2r1))}1/2
1.15 = {1.12(1 + E(2r1))}1/2
1.32 = 1.12(1 + E(2r1))
1.32/1.12 = 1 + E(2r1)
1 + E(2r1) = 1.18
E(2r1) = 0.18.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
32
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68) The Wall Street Journal reports that the rate on four-year Treasury securities is 7.50 percent
and the rate on five-year Treasury securities is 9.15 percent. According to the unbiased
expectations hypothesis, what does the market expect the one-year Treasury rate to be four years
from today, E(5r1)?
A) 16.0 percent
B) 18.4 percent
C) 15.9 percent
D) 13.7 percent
Answer: A
Explanation: 1 + 1R5 = {(1 + 1R4)4(1 + E(5r1))}1/5
1.0915 = {(1.075)4(1 + E(5r1))}1/5
(1.0915)5 = (1.075)4(1 + E(5r1))
(1.0915)5/(1.075)4 = 1 + E(5r1)
1 + E(5r1) = 1.1601
E(5r1) = 16.01%.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-07 Offer different theories that explain the shape of the term structure of
interest rates.
33
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
69) The Wall Street Journal reports that the rate on three-year Treasury securities is 7.25 percent
and the rate on four-year Treasury securities is 8.50 percent. The one-year interest rate expected
in three years is E(4r1), 4.10 percent. According to the liquidity premium theory, what is the
liquidity premium on the four-year Treasury security, L4?
A) 6.7 percent
B) 7.1 percent
C) 8.2 percent
D) 9.6 percent
Answer: C
Explanation: 1 + 1R4 = {(1 + 1R3)(1 + E(4r1) + L4)}1/4
1.0850 = {(1.0725)3(1 + 0.0410 + L4)}1/4
(1.0850)4 = (1.0725)3(1 + 0.0410 + L4)
(1.0850)4/(1.0725)3 = 1 + 0.0410 + L4
(1.0850)4/(1.0725)3 − 1.0410 = L4 = 0.0824 = 8.24%.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-07 Offer different theories that explain the shape of the term structure of
interest rates.
70) Suppose we observe the following rates: 1R1 = 13 percent, 1R2 = 16 percent, and E(2r1) = 10
percent. If the liquidity premium theory of the term structure of interest rates holds, what is the
liquidity premium for year 2, L2?
A) 8.7 percent
B) 9.1 percent
C) 9.7 percent
D) 10.0 percent
Answer: B
Explanation: 1 + 1R2 = {(1 + 1R1)(1 + E(2r1) + L2)}1/2
1.16 = {(1.13)(1 + 0.10 + L2)}1/2
(1.16)2 = (1.13)(1 + 0.10 + L2)
(1.16)2/(1.13) = 1 + 0.10 + L2
(1.16)2/(1.13) − 1.10 = L2 = 0.0908.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-07 Offer different theories that explain the shape of the term structure of
interest rates.
34
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
71) You note the following yield curve in The Wall Street Journal. According to the unbiased
expectations hypothesis, what is the one-year forward rate for the period beginning one year
from today, 2f1?
Maturity Yield
One day 2.00%
One year 6.00
Two years 7.50
Three years 9.00
A) 7.6 percent
B) 8.6 percent
C) 9.0 percent
D) 10.2 percent
Answer: C
Explanation: 1R2 = 0.075 = [(1 + 0.06)(1 + 2f1)]1/2 − 1; [(1.075)2/(1.06)] − 1 = 2f1 = 9.02%.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Interest rate forecasting
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-08 Demonstrate how forward interest rates derive from the term structure of
interest rates.
35
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
72) On May 23, 20XX, the existing or current (spot) one-year, two-year, three-year, and four-
year zero-coupon Treasury security rates were as follows:
Using the unbiased expectations theory, calculate the one-year forward rates on zero-coupon
Treasury bonds for years two, three, and four as of May 23, 20XX.
A) year 1: 4.95 percent, Year 2: 6.26 percent, Year 3: 8.08 percent
B) year 1: 3.75 percent, Year 2: 6.02 percent, Year 3: 9.00 percent
C) year 1: 4.95 percent, Year 2: 7.26 percent, Year 3: 8.08 percent
D) year 1: 3.65 percent, Year 2: 6.32 percent, Year 3: 11.08 percent
Answer: A
Explanation: 2f1 = [(1 + 1R2)2/(1 + 1R1)] − 1 = [(1 + 0.0475)2/(1 + 0.0455)] − 1 = 4.95%
3f1 = [(1 + 1R3) /(1 + 1R2) ] − 1 = [(1 + 0.0525) /(1 + 0.0475) ] − 1 = 6.26%
3 2 3 2
4f1 = [(1 + 1R4) /(1 + 1R3) ] − 1 = [(1 + 0.0595) /(1 + 0.0525) ] − 1 = 8.08%.
4 3 4 3
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Interest rate forecasting
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
73) The Wall Street Journal reports that the current rate on 10-year Treasury bonds is 6.25
percent, on 20-year Treasury bonds is 7.95 percent, and on a 20-year corporate bond is 10.75
percent. Assume that the maturity risk premium is zero. If the default risk premium and liquidity
risk premium on a 10-year corporate bond is the same as that on the 20-year corporate bond,
calculate the current rate on a 10-year corporate bond.
A) 9.05 percent
B) 6.15 percent
C) 7.60 percent
D) 8.70 percent
Answer: A
Explanation: 20-year bond: 10.75% = 7.95% + DRP + LRP + 0.00% => DRP + LRP = 2.8%.
10-year bond: ij* = 6.25% + 2.8% = 9.05%.
Difficulty: 3 Hard
Topic: Nominal interest rate factors
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
36
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
74) The Wall Street Journal reports that the current rate on five-year Treasury bonds is 6.45
percent and on 10-year Treasury bonds is 7.75 percent. Assume that the maturity risk premium is
zero. Calculate the expected rate on a five-year Treasury bond purchased five years from today,
E(5r5).
A) 7.25 percent
B) 8.12 percent
C) 9.07 percent
D) 10.16 percent
Answer: C
Explanation: 1 + 1R10 = {(1 + 1R5)5(1 + E(5r5))5}1/10 = 1.0775 = {(1 + 0.0645)5(1 +
E(5r5))5}1/10
E(5r5) = {(1.0775)10/(1 + 0.0645)5}1/5 − 1 = 9.07%.
Difficulty: 3 Hard
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
75) Suppose we observe the three-year Treasury security rate (1R3) to be 11 percent, the
expected one-year rate next year E(2r1) to be 4 percent, and the expected one-year rate the
following year E(3r1) to be 5 percent. If the unbiased expectations theory of the term structure of
interest rates holds, what is the one-year Treasury security rate, 1R1?
A) 18.57 percent
B) 10.19 percent
C) 23.19 percent
D) 25.24 percent
Answer: D
Explanation: 1.11 = {(1 + 1R1)(1 + E(2r1))(1 + E(3r1))}1/3
1.11 = {(1 + 1R1) × 1.04 × 1.05}1/3
(1.11)3 = (1 + 1R1) × 1.04 × 1.05
1 + 1R1 = 1.3676/(1.04 × 1.05)
1R1 = 0.2524 = 25.24%.
Difficulty: 3 Hard
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-07 Offer different theories that explain the shape of the term structure of
interest rates.
37
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
76) Assume the current interest rate on a one-year Treasury bond (1R1) is 5.50 percent, the
current rate on a two-year Treasury bond (1R2) is 5.95 percent, and the current rate on a three-
year Treasury bond (1R3) is 8.50 percent. If the unbiased expectations theory of the term
structure of interest rates is correct, what is the one-year interest rate expected on Treasury bills
during year 3, 3f1?
A) 13.79 percent
B) 12.29 percent
C) 11.69 percent
D) 10.29 percent
Answer: A
Explanation: 1R1 = 5.5%
1/2 − 1; f = 6.40%.
1R2 = 5.95% = [(1 + 0.055)(1 + 2f1)] 21
1/3 − 1; f = 13.79%.
1R3 = 8.50% = [(1 + 0.055)(1 + 0.064)(1 + 3f1)] 31
Difficulty: 3 Hard
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-08 Demonstrate how forward interest rates derive from the term structure of
interest rates.
77) If the yield curve is downward sloping, what is the yield to maturity on a 30-year Treasury
bond relative to a 10-year Treasury bond?
A) The yield on the 10-year bond must be greater than the yield on the 30-year bond.
B) The yield on the 10-year bond must be less than the yield on the 30-year bond.
C) The yields on the two bonds are equal.
D) We need to know the other risk premiums to answer this question.
Answer: A
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Treasury yield curve
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
38
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
78) One-year Treasury bill rates in 20XX averaged 5.15 percent and inflation for the year was
7.3 percent. If investors had expected the same inflation rate as that realized, calculate the real
interest rate for 20XX according to the Fisher effect.
A) 0.00 percent
B) −2.15 percent
C) 2.15 percent
D) 3.95 percent
Answer: B
Explanation: 5.15 − 7.3 = −2.15%.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Fisher effect
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
79) Assume that you observe the following rates on long-term bonds:
The main reason for the differences in the interest rates is:
A) maturity risk premium
B) inflation premium
C) default risk premium
D) convertibility premium
Answer: C
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Nominal interest rate factors
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
39
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
80) Which of the following statements is correct?
A) According to the unbiased expectations theory, the return for holding a two-year bond to
maturity is equal to the nominal rate divided by the real interest rate.
B) The rate on a 10-year Corporate bond can never be less than the rate on a 10-year Treasury.
C) We usually observe the inverted yield curve.
D) The rate on a three-year Treasury can never be less than the rate on a 15-year Treasury.
Answer: B
Difficulty: 3 Hard
Topic: Treasury yield curve
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.; 06-07 Offer
different theories that explain the shape of the term structure of interest rates.
81) One-year interest rates are 3 percent. The market expects one-year rates to be 5 percent one
year from now. The market also expects one-year rates to be 7 percent two years from now.
Assume that the unbiased expectations theory holds. Which of the following is correct?
A) The yield curve is downward sloping.
B) The yield curve is flat.
C) The yield curve is upward sloping.
D) We need the maturity risk premiums to be able to answer this question.
Answer: C
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-07 Offer different theories that explain the shape of the term structure of
interest rates.
Answer: D
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-07 Offer different theories that explain the shape of the term structure of
interest rates.
40
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
83) The Wall Street Journal states that the yield curve for Treasuries is downward sloping and
there is no liquidity premium or maturity risk premium. Given this information, which of the
following statements is correct?
A) A 30-year corporate bond must have a higher yield than a five-year corporate bond.
B) A five-year corporate bond must have a higher yield than a 30-year Treasury bond.
C) A five-year Treasury bond must have a higher yield than a five-year corporate bond.
D) All of these choices are correct.
Answer: B
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Treasury yield curve
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-07 Offer different theories that explain the shape of the term structure of
interest rates.
Answer: A
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Primary and secondary markets
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-01 Differentiate between primary and secondary markets and between
money and capital markets.; 06-02 List the types of securities traded in money and capital
markets.; 06-05 Understand how equilibrium interest rates are determined.
41
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
85) In 20XX, the 10-year Treasury rate was 4.5 percent while the average 10-year Aaa corporate
bond debt carried an interest rate of 6.0 percent. What is the average default risk premium on
Aaa corporate bonds?
A) 0.75 percent
B) 1.5 percent
C) 1.95 percent
D) 2.25 percent
Answer: B
Explanation: 6.0 − 4.5 = 1.5.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Nominal interest rate factors
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
Answer: B
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.; 06-05 Understand
how equilibrium interest rates are determined.
42
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
87) All of the following are types of financial institutions EXCEPT
A) insurance companies.
B) pension funds.
C) thrifts.
D) Federal reserve
Answer: D
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Types of financial institutions
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-03 Identify different types of financial institutions and the services that each
provides.
88) All of the following are benefits that financial institutions provide to our economy EXCEPT
A) increased liquidity.
B) increased monitoring.
C) increased dollar amount of funds flowing from suppliers to fund users.
D) increased price risk.
Answer: D
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Financial institution functions
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-03 Identify different types of financial institutions and the services that each
provides.
89) All of the following are factors that affect nominal interest rates EXCEPT
A) time to maturity.
B) real interest rate.
C) convertibility features.
D) foreign exchange.
Answer: D
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Nominal interest rate factors
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
43
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
90) Which of the following statements is correct?
A) A flat yield curve occurs when the yield-to-maturity is virtually unaffected by the term-to-
maturity.
B) Real interest rates are generally lower than nominal interest rates.
C) Liquidity risk is the risk that a security may be difficult to sell on short notice for its true
value.
D) All of these choices are correct.
Answer: D
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Nominal and real rates
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
Answer: D
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Exchange rates
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-02 List the types of securities traded in money and capital markets.
44
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
92) The theory that argues that individual investors and financial institutions have specific
maturity preferences is called the
A) market segmentation theory.
B) unbiased expectations theory.
C) liquidity preference theory.
D) inverted forward theory.
Answer: A
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-07 Offer different theories that explain the shape of the term structure of
interest rates.
93) The theory that states that the yield curve reflects the market's current expectations of future
short-term rates is called the
A) market segmentation theory.
B) liquidity premium theory.
C) unbiased expectations theory.
D) inverted forward theory.
Answer: C
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-07 Offer different theories that explain the shape of the term structure of
interest rates.
Answer: A
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Money and capital markets
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-01 Differentiate between primary and secondary markets and between
money and capital markets.; 06-02 List the types of securities traded in money and capital
markets.; 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
45
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
95) All of the following are secondary market transactions EXCEPT
A) GE sells $30 million of new preferred stock.
B) Microsoft sells $2 million of IBM preferred stock out of its marketable securities portfolio.
C) The Magellan Fund buys $100 million of Apple previously issued bonds.
D) Allstate Insurance Co. sells $5 million in IBM bonds.
Answer: A
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Primary and secondary markets
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-01 Differentiate between primary and secondary markets and between
money and capital markets.
96) Which of the following is NOT correct with respect to derivative securities?
A) They are among the riskiest of securities in the financial securities markets.
B) They can be used for hedging purposes.
C) Examples of derivatives include futures, options, and swaps.
D) All of these choices are correct.
Answer: D
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Derivatives and other securities
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-02 List the types of securities traded in money and capital markets.
97) Which of the following is NOT correct with respect to financial institutions?
A) Financial institutions channel funds from those with shortages to those with surplus funds.
B) Commercial banks, insurance companies, and mutual funds are examples of financial
institutions.
C) Financial institutions reduce monitoring costs and liquidity costs.
D) Financial institutions reduce price risk.
Answer: A
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Financial institution functions
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-03 Identify different types of financial institutions and the services that each
provides.
46
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
98) All of the following are factors that influence interest rates for individual securities EXCEPT
A) the security's term to maturity.
B) inflation.
C) special provisions regarding the use of funds raised by a particular security issuer.
D) the home mortgage rate.
Answer: D
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Nominal interest rate factors
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
Answer: B
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Nominal and real rates
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
100) All of the following special provisions benefit security holders EXCEPT
A) tax-free status.
B) convertibility.
C) callability.
D) All of these choices are correct.
Answer: C
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
47
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
101) An example of an illiquid asset is
A) U.S. Treasury bill.
B) bonds issued by GM.
C) common stock issued by Apple Inc.
D) common stock issued by a small but financially strong firm.
Answer: D
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
102) All of the following are common shapes for the yield curve EXCEPT
A) elliptical.
B) upward-sloping.
C) flat.
D) inverted.
Answer: A
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Term structure of interest rates
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
103) The Wall Street Journal reports that the current rate on five-year Treasury bonds is 2.85
percent and on 10-year Treasury bonds is 4.35 percent. Assume that the maturity risk premium is
zero. Calculate the expected rate on a five-year Treasury bond purchased five years from today,
E(5r5).
A) 3.60 percent
B) 5.85 percent
C) 7.20 percent
D) 8.28 percent
Answer: B
Explanation: 1 + 1R10 = {(1 + 1R5)5(1 + E(5r5))5}1/10 = 1 .0435 = {(1 + 0.0285)5(1 +
E(5r5))5}1/10
=> E(5r5) = {(1.0435)10/(1 + 0.0285)5}1/5 − 1 = 5.85%.
Difficulty: 3 Hard
Topic: Interest rate forecasting
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
48
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
104) The Wall Street Journal reports that the current rate on 10-year Treasury bonds is 3.25
percent and on 20-year Treasury bonds is 5.50 percent. Assume that the maturity risk premium is
zero. Calculate the expected rate on a 10-year Treasury bond purchased 10 years from today,
E(10r10).
A) 2.25 percent
B) 4.38 percent
C) 7.80 percent
D) 8.75 percent
Answer: C
Explanation: 1 + 1R20 = {(1 + 1R10)10(1 + E(10r10))10}1/20 = 1.0550 = {(1 + 0.0325)10(1 +
E(10r10))10}1/20
=> E(10r10) = {(1.0550)20/(1 + 0.0325)10}1/10 − 1 = 7.80%.
Difficulty: 3 Hard
Topic: Interest rate forecasting
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-06 Analyze specific factors that influence interest rates.
Answer: D
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Money and capital markets
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-04 Know the main suppliers and demanders of loanable funds.
49
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
106) Which of the following do foreign suppliers of funds in the U.S. financial market assess?
A) interest rates offered on financial securities
B) their total wealth
C) foreign investors
D) All of these choices are correct.
Answer: D
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Money and capital markets
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-04 Know the main suppliers and demanders of loanable funds.
Answer: D
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Money and capital markets
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-04 Know the main suppliers and demanders of loanable funds.
108) Why would foreign participants borrow from U.S. financial markets?
A) They look for the cheapest source of funds.
B) They look at the economic conditions of their home country.
C) All of these choices are correct.
Answer: C
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Money and capital markets
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-04 Know the main suppliers and demanders of loanable funds.
50
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
109) Which of the following factors cause the supply of funds curve to shift?
A) total wealth risk of the financial security
B) future spending needs
C) All of these choices are correct.
Answer: C
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Term structure of interest rates
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-05 Understand how equilibrium interest rates are determined.
110) When monetary policy objectives are to contract the economic growth, which of the
following occurs?
A) The Federal Reserve decreases the supply of funds available in the financial markets.
B) At every interest rate the supply of loanable funds increases.
C) The supply curve shifts down and to the right.
D) The equilibrium interest rate rises.
Answer: A
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Money and capital markets
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-05 Understand how equilibrium interest rates are determined.
111) Which of the following factors cause the demand for funds curve to shift?
A) utility derived from asset purchased with borrowed funds
B) restrictiveness of nonprice conditions of borrowing
C) domestic and foreign economic conditions
D) All of these choices are correct.
Answer: D
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-05 Understand how equilibrium interest rates are determined.
51
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
112) Which of the following occurs as the utility derived from an asset purchased with borrowed
funds increases?
A) The willingness of market participants to borrow decreases.
B) The absolute dollar value borrowed increases.
C) At every interest rate the demand for loanable funds decrease.
Answer: B
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-05 Understand how equilibrium interest rates are determined.
113) Which of the following occurs as the nonprice restrictions put on borrowers as a condition
of borrowing increase?
A) The willingness of market participants to borrow decreases.
B) The absolute dollar value borrowed increases.
C) At every interest rate the demand for loanable funds increases.
Answer: A
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-05 Understand how equilibrium interest rates are determined.
114) Which of the following occurs as domestic economic conditions experience a period of
growth especially relative to other countries?
A) Market participants are willing to borrow more heavily.
B) At every interest rate the supply of loanable funds increases.
C) At every interest rate the demand for loanable funds increases.
D) All of these choices are correct.
Answer: D
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Interest rate theories
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Goal: 06-05 Understand how equilibrium interest rates are determined.; 06-04 Know
the main suppliers and demanders of loanable funds.
52
Copyright ©2019 McGraw-Hill
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
on earth could have made him do a thing like that. Why he did it,
Heaven only knows. Complete mystery to me. Can’t fathom it. Thank
God he did, though!”
“You don’t think he might have been—murdered?” Roger
suggested tentatively.
“Murdered? How could he have been? Out of the question under
the circumstances. Besides, he took jolly good care of that. I’d have
murdered him myself before this—hundreds of times!—if I hadn’t
known it would make things worse than before all round.”
“Yes, I’ve heard about that. Kept the evidence addressed to the
interested parties, didn’t he? I suppose everyone knew that?”
“You bet they did. He rubbed it in. No, Stanworth never meant to
be murdered. But my God, I had a fright when I saw him lying there
dead and the safe locked.”
“You were going to try and open it when I interrupted you
yesterday morning, of course?”
“Yes, properly caught out then,” Jefferson smiled ruefully. “But
even if I’d found the keys, I didn’t know the combination. Lord, what
a relief that note of his was. You know about that, I suppose?”
“You got a note by the post before lunch, did you?”
“That’s right. Saying he was going to kill himself. Rum business.
Can’t explain it. Almost too good to be true. I feel another man.”
“And so are a good many other people, I imagine,” Roger said
softly. “And women, too. His activities were fairly widespread, weren’t
they?”
“Very, I believe. Never knew much about it, though. He kept all
that sort of thing to himself.”
“That butler now,” Roger hazarded. “He looks a pretty tough
customer. I suppose Stanworth employed him as a sort of
bodyguard?”
“Yes, something like that. But I don’t know about ‘employed.’ ”
“What do you mean?”
“He was no more employed than I was. That is to say, we got a
salary and we did our work, but it wasn’t a sort of employment either
of us could leave.”
Roger whistled softly. “Oho! So friend Graves was another victim,
was he? What’s his story?”
“Don’t know all the details, but Stanworth could have had that
man hanged, I believe,” Jefferson said coolly. “Instead he preferred
to use him as a sort of bodyguard, as you say.”
“I see. Then Graves hadn’t much cause to love him either, I take
it?”
“If he hadn’t known what would happen afterwards, I wouldn’t
have given Stanworth ten minutes of life in Graves’s presence.”
Roger whistled again.
“Well, thanks very much, Jefferson. I think that’s all I wanted to
know.”
“If you’re trying to look for someone who induced Stanworth to
shoot himself, you’re wasting your time,” Jefferson remarked.
“Couldn’t be done.”
“Oh, there’s a little more in my quest than that,” Roger smiled, as
he let himself out of the room.
He hurried upstairs, glancing at his watch as he did so. The time
was nearly five minutes to four. He scurried down the passage to
Alec’s room.
“Finished packing?” he asked, putting his head round the door.
“Good, well come along to my room while I do mine.”
“Well?” Alec asked sarcastically, when they were once more
ensconced in Roger’s bedroom. “Has Jefferson written out his
confession?”
Roger paused in the act of laying his suitcase on a chair.
“Alec,” he said solemnly, “I owe friend Jefferson an apology,
though I can’t very well tender it. I was hopelessly wrong about him,
and you were hopelessly right. He didn’t kill Stanworth at all. It’s
extremely annoying of him considering how neatly I solved this little
problem of ours; but there’s the fact.”
“Humph!” Alec observed. “I won’t say, ‘I told you so,’ because I
know how annoying it would be for you. But I don’t mind telling you
that I’m thinking it hard.”
“Yes, and the most irritating part is that you’re fully entitled to do
so,” Roger said, throwing his pyjamas into the case. “That’s what I
find so irksome.”
“But I suppose you’ve found somebody else to take his place all
right?”
“No, I haven’t. Isn’t it maddening? But I’ll tell you one significant
fact I’ve unearthed. That butler had as much cause as anyone, if not
more, to regret the fact that Stanworth was still polluting the earth.”
“Had he? Oh! But look here, how do you know that Jefferson
didn’t do it?”
Roger explained.
“Not much so far as actual hard-and-fast-evidence goes, I’m
afraid,” he concluded, “but we greater detectives are above
evidence. It’s psychology that we study, and I feel in every single
bone in my body that Jefferson was telling the truth.”
“Lady Stanworth!” Alec commented. “Good Lord!”
“Some men are brave, aren’t they? Still, I daresay she’ll make an
excellent wife; I believe that’s the right thing to say on this sort of
occasion. But seriously, Alec, I’m absolutely baffled again. I think I
shall have to turn the case over to you.”
“Well, do,” Alec retorted with unexpected energy, “and I’ll tell you
who killed Stanworth.”
Roger desisted from his efforts to close the lid of his bulging case
in order to look up in surprise.
“You will, eh? Well, who did?”
“Some unknown victim of Stanworth’s blackmail, of course. The
whole thing stands to reason. We were looking for a mysterious
stranger at first, weren’t we? And we thought he might be a burglar.
Translate the burglar into the blackmailer’s victim and there you are.
And as he burnt the evidence himself, and we haven’t the least idea
who was on Stanworth’s blackmailing list, we shall never find out
who he was. The whole thing seems as clear as daylight to me.”
Roger turned to his refractory case again. “But why did we give
up the burglar idea?” he asked. “Aren’t you rather overlooking that?
Chiefly because of the disappearance of those footprints. That must
mean either that the murderer came from inside the house or that he
had an accomplice there.”
“I don’t agree with you. We don’t know how or why the footprints
disappeared. It might have been pure chance. William might have
raked the bed over, somebody might have noticed it and smoothed it
out; there are plenty of possible explanations for that.”
With a heave Roger succeeded in clicking the lock with which he
was struggling. He straightened his bent back and drew his pipe out
of his pocket.
“I’ve talked enough for a bit,” he announced.
“Oh, rot!” Alec exclaimed incredulously.
“And it’s about time I put in a little thinking,” Roger went on,
disregarding the interruption. “You run along down to tea, Alexander;
you’re ten minutes late as it is.”
“And what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to spend my last twenty minutes here doing some
high-speed cogitating in the back garden. Then I shall be ready to
chat with you in the train.”
“Yes, I have a kind of idea that you’ll be quite ready to do that,”
said Alec rudely, as they went out into the passage.
CHAPTER XXVII.
Mr. Sheringham Hits the Mark
Roger did not reappear until the car was at the front door and the
other members of the party already making their farewells on the
steps. His leave-taking was necessarily a little hurried; but perhaps
this was not altogether without design. Roger did not feel at all
inclined to linger in the society of Lady Jefferson.
He shook hands warmly enough with her husband, however, and
the manner of their parting was sufficient to assure the latter, without
the necessity of any words being spoken on the subject, that his
confidences would be regarded as inviolate. The taciturn Jefferson
became almost effusive in return.
Arrived at the station, Roger personally superintended the
purchase of the tickets and deftly shepherded Mrs. Plant into a non-
smoking carriage explaining that the cigars which he and Alec
proposed to smoke would spell disaster to the subtleties of Parfum
Jasmine. A short but interesting conversation with the guard,
followed by the exchange of certain pieces of silver, ensured the
locking of the door of their own first-class smoker.
“And so ends an extremely interesting little visit,” Roger observed
as soon as the train started, leaning back luxuriously in his corner
and putting his feet on the seat. “Well, I shan’t be sorry to get back to
London, on the whole, I must say, though the country is all very well
in its way. I always think you ought to take the country in small doses
to appreciate it properly, don’t you?”
“No,” said Alec.
“Or look at it in comfort from the windows of a train,” Roger went
on, waving an appreciative hand towards the countryside through
which they were passing. “Fields, woods, streams, barley——”
“That isn’t barley. It’s wheat.”
“—barley, trees—delightful, my dear Alexander! But how much
more delightful seen like this in one charming flash, that leaves a
picture printed on the brain only to give way the next instant to
another equally charming one, than stuck down in the middle, for
instance, of one of those fields of barley——”
“Wheat.”
“—of barley, with the prospect of a ten-mile walk in this blazing
sunshine between you and the next long drink. Don’t you agree?”
“No.”
“I thought you wouldn’t. But reflect. Sunshine, considered from
the purely æsthetic point of view, is, I am quite willing to grant you, a
thing of——”
“What are you talking about?” Alec asked despairingly.
“Sunshine, Alexander,” returned Roger blandly.
“Well, for goodness’ sake stop talking about sunshine. What I
want to know is, have you got any farther?”
Roger was evidently in one of his maddening moods.
“What with?” he asked blankly.
“The Stanworth affair of course, you idiot!” shouted the
exasperated Alec.
“Ah, yes, of course. The Stanworth affair,” Roger replied
innocently. “Did I do that bit well, Alec?” he asked with a sudden
change of tone.
“What bit?”
“When I said, ‘What with?’ Did I say it with an air of bland
innocence? The best detectives always do, you know. When they
reach this stage of the proceedings they always pretend to have
forgotten all about the case in hand. Why they do so, I’ve never been
able to imagine; but it’s evidently the correct etiquette for the job. By
the way, Alec,” he added kindly, “you did your part very well. The
idiot friend always shouts in an irritated and peevish way like that. I
really think we make quite a model pair, don’t you?”
“Will you stop yapping and tell me whether you’ve got any farther
with Stanworth’s murder?” Alec demanded doggedly.
“Oh, that?” said Roger with studied carelessness. “I solved that
exactly forty-three minutes ago.”
“What?”
“I said that I solved the mystery exactly forty-three minutes ago.
And a few odd seconds, of course. It was an interesting little problem
in its way, my dear Alexander Watson, but absurdly simple once one
had grasped the really vital factor in the case. For some
extraordinary reason I appeared to have overlooked it before; hence
the delay. But don’t put that bit in when you come to write up the
case, or I shall never land the next vacancy for a stolen-crown-jewels
recoverer to an influential emperor.”
“You’ve solved it, have you?” Alec growled sceptically. “I seem to
have heard something like that before.”
“Meaning Jefferson? Yes, I admit I backed the wrong horse there.
But this is a very different matter. I’ve really solved it this time.”
“Oh? Well, let’s hear it.”
“With the greatest pleasure,” Roger responded heartily. “Let me
see now. Where shall I begin? Well, I think I’ve told you all the really
important things that I managed to elicit from Mrs. Plant and
Jefferson, haven’t I? Except one.” Roger dropped his bantering
manner with startling suddenness. “Alec,” he said seriously, “that
man Stanworth was as choice a scoundrel as I’ve ever heard of.
What I didn’t tell you is that he gave Mrs. Plant three months in
which to find two hundred and fifty pounds for him; and hinted that if
she hadn’t got it already, a pretty woman like her would have no
difficulty in laying her hands on it.”
“Good God!” Alec breathed.
“He even went farther than that and offered to introduce her to a
rich man out of whom she would be able to wheedle it, if she played
her cards properly. Oh, I tell you, shooting was much too easy a
death for friend Stanworth. And the person who did it ought to be
acclaimed as a public benefactor, instead of being hanged by a
grateful country; as he certainly would be, if all this had got into the
hands of the police.”
“You can hardly expect the law to recognise the principle of
poetic justice for all that,” Alec objected.
“I don’t see why not,” Roger retorted. “However, we won’t go into
that at present. Well, to my mind there were two chief difficulties in
this Stanworth business. The first one was that at the beginning
there didn’t seem to be any definite motive for killing him; and
afterwards, when we’d found out about him, there were far too many.
All those people in the house, Mrs. Plant, Jefferson, Lady Stanworth,
the butler (who, by the way, appears to be a murderer in a small way
already, as I gather from Jefferson; that was the hold which
Stanworth had over him)—all of them had every reason to kill him;
and the case began to take on the aspect not so much of proving
who did it, but, by a process of elimination, of finding out who didn’t.
In that way I managed eventually to dismiss Mrs. Plant, Jefferson,
and Lady Stanworth. But besides the people actually under our
noses in the house, there were all the others—goodness only knows
how many of them!—of whose very existence we knew nothing; all
his other victims.”
“Were there many of them, then?”
“I understand that Stanworth’s practice was a fairly extensive
one,” Roger replied ironically. “Anyhow, I was able to narrow down
the field to a certain extent. Then I began to go over once more the
evidence we had collected. The question I kept asking myself was—
is there a single item that gives a definite pointer towards any certain
person, male or female?”
“Female?” Roger repeated surprisedly.
“Certainly. In spite of everything—the footprint in the flower bed,
for example—I was still keeping before me the possibility of a
woman being mixed up in it. It didn’t seem altogether probable, but I
couldn’t afford to lose sight of the bare possibility. And it’s lucky I did,
for it was just that which finally put me on the right track.”
“Good Lord!”
“Yes; I admit I was slow in the up-take, for the fact had been
staring me in the face the whole time, and I never spotted it. You
see, the key to the whole mystery was that there was a second
woman in the library that night.”
“How on earth do you know that?” Alec asked in consternation.
“By the hair we found on the settee. I put it away in the envelope,
you remember, and promptly forgot all about it, assuming it to have
been one of Mrs. Plant’s. It struck me suddenly in the garden just
now that it wasn’t anything of the sort; Mrs. Plant’s hair is very much
darker. Of course that opened up an entirely new field for
speculation.”
“Good Lord!”
“Yes, it is rather surprising, isn’t it?” Roger continued equably.
“That set my brain galloping away like wildfire, I need hardly tell you;
and five minutes later the whole thing became absolutely plain to
me. I’m a little hazy about some of the details, of course, but the
broad lines are clear enough.”
“You mean you guessed who the second woman was?”
“Hardly guessed. I knew at once who she must be.”
“Who?” Alec asked, with unconcealed eagerness.
“Wait a bit. I’m coming to that. Well, then I began to put two and
two together. I’d got a pretty shrewd idea already of the personal
appearance of the man himself.”
“Oh, it was a man then?”
“Yes, it was a man right enough. There was never any doubt that
a man must have done the actual killing. No woman would have
been strong enough for the struggle that must have taken place.
Stanworth was no weakling, so that gives us the fact that the man
must have been a strong, burly sort of person. From the footprint and
the length of those strides across the bed he was evidently both tall
and largely built; from the clever way in which everything was left he
must have been possessed of a fund of cunning; from the manner in
which he left that window fastened behind him it was clear that he
was thoroughly accustomed to handling lattice windows. Well, what
does all that give us? It looked obvious to me.”
Alec was staring intently at the speaker, following every word with
eager attention. “I think I see what you’re getting at,” he said slowly.
“I thought you would,” said Roger cheerfully. “Of course there
were other things that clinched it. The disappearance of that
footprint, for instance. That must have been done by somebody who
knew what he was doing. And somebody who heard me say that I
was going to fit every male boot in the house into the mark, you
remember. Of course it was that which made me so sure at first
about Jefferson, because I jumped to the conclusion that it must
have been Jefferson whom we saw edging out of the library door.
After that I more or less had Jefferson on the brain.”
“I did my best to put you off that track,” said Alec with a slight
smile.
“Oh, you did. It wasn’t your fault that I clung to him so
persistently.”
“I tried hard to stop you putting your foot in it, if you remember.”
“I know. And I daresay it’s lucky you did. I might have put things a
good deal more plainly to him, with extremely awkward results, if you
hadn’t dinned it into me so hard.”
“Well,” Alec said slowly, “what are you going to do about it, now
you’ve presumably got at the truth at last?”
“Do about it? Forget it, of course. I told you my views just now,
when I said the man who killed Stanworth ought to be acclaimed as
a public benefactor. As that is unfortunately out of the question, the
next best thing is to forget as diligently as possible that Stanworth
did not after all shoot himself, as everybody else believes.”
“Humph!” said Alec, gazing out of the window. “I wonder! You’re
really sure of that?”
“Absolutely,” said Roger with decision. “Anything else would be
ludicrous under the circumstances. We won’t discuss that side of it
again.”
There was a little pause.
“The—the second woman,” Alec said tentatively. “How were you
able to identify her so positively?”
Roger drew the envelope out of his breast pocket, opened it, and
carefully extracted the hair. He laid it across his knee for the moment
and contemplated it in silence. Then with a sudden movement he
picked it up and threw it through the open window.
“There goes a vital piece of evidence,” he said with a smile.
“Well, for one thing, there was nobody else in the house with just that
particular shade of hair, was there?”
“I suppose not,” Alec replied.
There was another silence, rather longer this time.
Then Roger, glancing curiously across at his companion,
remarked very airily:
“Just to satisfy my natural curiosity, Alec, why exactly did you kill
Stanworth?”
CHAPTER XXVIII.
What Really Did Happen
Alec contemplated the tips of his shoes for a moment. Then he
looked up suddenly. “It wasn’t exactly murder, you know,” he said
abruptly.
“Certainly not,” Roger agreed. “It was a well-merited execution.”
“No, I don’t mean that. I mean, if I hadn’t killed Stanworth, he
would probably have killed me. It was partly self-defence. I’ll tell you
the whole story in a minute.”
“Yes, I should like to hear what really happened. That is, if you
feel yourself at liberty to tell me, of course. I don’t want to force
confidences about—well, about the second lady in the case.”
“About Barbara? Oh, there’s nothing that reflects on her, and I
think you ought to hear the truth. I always meant to tell you the whole
thing if you found out that I did it, and of course, if you were intending
to take any drastic step, such as telling the police or trying to get
Jefferson arrested. That’s why I made you promise to tell me before
you did anything like that.”
“Quite so,” Roger nodded understandingly. “A good many things
are plain to me now. Why you hung back so much and were so
unenthusiastic and threw cold water on everything and pretended to
be so dull and refused to believe that a murder had been committed
at all, although I’d proved it to you beyond any shadow of doubt.”
“I was trying to keep you off the right track all the time. I really
never thought you’d find out.”
“Perhaps I shouldn’t have done if the significance of that hair
hadn’t dawned on me at last. After that everything seemed to come
in a series of flashes. Even then I might not have hit on the truth with
such certainty if two particular photographs hadn’t suddenly
developed themselves in my mind.”
“Tell me all your side of it, then I’ll tell you mine.”
“Very well. As I said, that hair was the clue to the whole thing. I’d
taken it quite idly out of my pocket out there in the garden and was
having a look at it, when it suddenly struck me that whosoever it
might be it was certainly not one of Mrs. Plant’s. I stared at it hard
enough then, I can tell you, and the second realization occurred to
me that, from the colour at any rate, it looked uncommonly like one
of Barbara’s. Then the first of the pictures flashed across my mind. It
was of Graves sorting the post just before lunch yesterday. He had
only three letters, and they were all of exactly the same appearance;
same shaped envelopes and typewritten addresses. One was for
Mrs. Plant, one for Jefferson—and one for Barbara. The first two I’d
already accounted for, now I seemed to be accounting for the third.
Add to all that Barbara’s ill-concealed agitation the next morning and
the fact that, for no apparent cause whatever, she broke off her
engagement to you at the same time, and the thing was as plain as
daylight—Barbara was also in the library that night and for some
reason or other the poor kid had got into Stanworth’s clutches.”
“She hadn’t,” Alec put in. “It was——”
“All right, Alec; you can tell me all that in the proper place. Let me
finish my story first. Well, having got so far, of course I asked myself
—What light does this throw on Stanworth’s death? Does it give a
definite pointer to any person? The answer was obvious. Mr.
Alexander Grierson! I gasped at first, I can assure you, but when I
got rather more used to the idea, daylight simply flooded in. First of
all, there was your hanging back all the time; that began to take on a
very significant aspect. Then there was your height and your
strength, which fitted in very nicely, and I knew that your place in
Worcestershire, where you must have spent most of your boyhood,
is liberally supplied with lattice windows, so that you might be
expected to be up to all the tricks of the trade regarding them. So far,
in fact, so good.”
“But what about that footprint? I thought I’d managed that rather
neatly. By Jove, I remember the shock you gave me when you
discovered that and the way I got out of the library that night. I’d
thought that was absolutely untraceable.”
“Yes, that did give me an awkward couple of minutes, until I
remembered that you’d run back to get your pipe while I was talking
to the chauffeur! And that’s where the second of my little pictures
comes in. The scene flashed across my mind on that flower bed just
after you had stepped on to the path when we were trying to find out
who had been in the library and before you smoothed out the fresh
footprints you’d made. The old and the new prints were absolutely
identical, you see. I suppose I must have noted it subconsciously at
the time without realizing its significance.”
“I noticed it all right,” Alec said grimly. “It gave me a bad turn for
the moment.”
“After that all sorts of little things occurred to me,” Roger
continued. “I began to test each of the facts I’d collected, and in each
case the explanation was now obvious. Those letters, for instance. I
knew they must have been posted between five and eight-thirty that
morning; and at eight o’clock behold you coming back from the
village and actually saying you’d been down there to post a letter!”
“Couldn’t think of any other explanation on the spur of the
moment,” Alec grinned ruefully.
“Yes, and curiously enough I questioned the bookmaker motif at
the time, didn’t I? Then there was your quite genuine anxiety to stop
me from assuming complicity on the part of Mrs. Plant. I suppose
you knew all the time about her and Stanworth, didn’t you?”
Alec nodded. “I was present at the interview between them,” he
said briefly.
“The devil you were!” Roger exclaimed in surprise. “I never
gathered that. She didn’t say anything about it.”
“She didn’t know. I’ll tell you all about that. Anything else on your
side?”
Roger considered. “No, I don’t think so. I gathered that you had
somehow got to know that Stanworth was blackmailing Barbara, and
had simply waded in and shot him, as any other decent chap would
have done in your place. That’s the gist of it.”
“Well,” Alec said slowly, “there’s a little more in it than that. I’d
better begin right at the beginning, I think. As you know, Barbara and
I had got engaged that afternoon. Well, I suppose you can imagine
that a thing like that rather unsettles a chap. Anyhow, the upshot was
that when I got to bed that night I found I couldn’t sleep. I tried for
some time, and then I gave it up as hopeless and looked round the
room for a book. There was nothing I particularly wanted to read
there, so I thought I’d slip down to the library and get one. Of course
I had no idea that everyone wouldn’t be in bed, so I didn’t trouble to
put on a dressing-gown but just went down as I was, in pyjamas.
There were no lights on the landing or in the hall, but to my surprise
when I got there I found all the lights in the library full on. However,
there wasn’t anyone inside and the door was open, so I went in and
began to look round the shelves. Then I heard unmistakably
feminine footsteps approaching and, hardly wishing to be caught like
that, I nipped behind those thick curtains in front of the sash window
and sat down on the seat to wait till the person, whoever it might be,
had gone. I thought it was someone come down like me for a book,
and probably also more or less in a state of undress. Not that I really
thought much about it at all. I just didn’t want to be mixed up in a
rather embarrassing situation.”
“Quite natural,” Roger murmured. “Yes?”
“Through the chink in the curtains I could see that it was Mrs.
Plant. She was still in evening dress, and I saw at once that she
looked rather worried. Very worried, in fact. She began to wander
aimlessly about the room, twisting her handkerchief about in her
hands and it looked rather as if she’d been crying. Then Stanworth
came in.”
“Ah!”
Alec hesitated. “I don’t want to exaggerate or turn on the pathetic
tap too much,” he resumed a little awkwardly, “but I hope to God I
never have to see anything again like the scene that followed. Roger,
it was almost unbearable! I don’t know how I sat it out without
dashing through the curtains and getting my hands into Stanworth’s
throat; but I had the sense to see that anything like that would only
make matters very much worse. Have you ever seen a woman in
agony? My God, it was absolutely heart-rending. I could never have
imagined that a man could be such an indescribable brute.”
He paused, shivering slightly, and Roger watched him
sympathetically. He was beginning to realise just how terrible that
scene must have been, if it could move the stoical Alec to such a
display of emotion.
“You know the main lines of what happened, don’t you?” Alec
went on, rather more calmly. “So I needn’t go into details. The
wretched woman begged and wept, but it had no more effect upon
Stanworth than if he had been a stone image. He just went on
smiling that infernal, cynical smile and told her not to make such an
unnecessary fuss. Then he made that suggestion to her that you told
me about, and for the moment I very nearly saw red. As for her, it
finished her off completely. She just crumpled up on the chesterfield
and didn’t say another word. A few minutes later she got up and
tottered out of the room. Then I came out of my hiding place.”
“Good man,” Roger murmured.
“Well, of course I knew by this time just how the land lay. I knew
what Stanworth was, and I knew where he kept his evidence against
these people. I didn’t quite know what I was going to do, but it was
pretty clear that something had got to be done. Well, he was a bit
startled at first, but recovered himself wonderfully and began to be
infernally sarcastic and cynical. I told him that I wasn’t going to stand
the sort of thing I’d just seen; and unless he stopped the whole thing
and let me burn all the evidence he’d been talking about, I’d go
straight to the police and tell them all about it. That seemed to
amuse him quite a lot; and he pointed out that if I did that, everything
would come to light which all these people had been paying money
to keep concealed, and they’d all be very much worse off than
before. That had never occurred to me, and I was rather taken aback
for the minute; then I told him that if that was the case I’d unlock the
safe myself, even if I had to lay him out to get the key. He simply
laughed and tossed his keys on the table. ‘That’s the one for the
safe,’ he said. ‘I don’t quite know how you’re going to open it as you
happen to be ignorant of the combination, but doubtless you have
provided for that contingency.’ Of course that took me in the wind
again, but before I could answer him I heard somebody coming
down the stairs.
“ ‘Ah!’ he said. ‘I was quite forgetting. I’ve got another visitor
coming to see me to-night. As you seem to have mixed yourself up in
my affairs, the least I can do is to invite you to be present at this
interview also. Get behind that curtain again, and I think I can
promise you an interesting quarter of an hour.’
“Well, I hesitated, while the footsteps began to cross the hall, till
he caught me by the arm and sort of snarled, ‘Get out of sight, you
fool. Can’t you see you’ll make it ten times worse for her by letting
her see you?’
“Even then I didn’t realise what he meant, but I saw that there
was something in what he said, and just managed to get behind the
curtain in time. You can imagine what I felt like when the door
opened and I saw Barbara come into the room.”
“Ghastly!” Roger exclaimed with feeling.
“Ghastly! That’s putting it mildly. Well, I’m not going to tell you the
details of what happened then, because there’s really no need to
and it’s only giving people away unnecessarily. All I need say is that
Stanworth had got hold of some information about—well, about Mrs.
Shannon. I don’t even know what it was. He ostentatiously pulled a
revolver out of his desk, opened the safe, and showed her two or
three pieces of paper, holding them so that she could read them
without taking them into her hands. Then he told her to sit down on
the settee to talk things over, keeping the revolver in front of him on
the desk all the time. Well, Barbara sat down, looking very white and
frightened, poor kid, but still not knowing in the least what Stanworth
was getting at. He didn’t keep her in ignorance long. He just leaned
back in his chair, informed her calmly that if she didn’t fall in with his
wishes he’d make the information he’s just shown her public property
and calmly proceeded to state his terms.
“Lord, Roger, old man, I had some difficulty in holding myself in.
What do you think he wanted? He told her absolutely plainly that
what he was after was money, and went on to say that he knew quite
well that she herself hadn’t got enough to satisfy him. Therefore
she’d got to marry me within a month, so that she would be able to
pay the very moderate sums which he would from time to time
require. She could either tell me or not, as she saw fit; it didn’t matter
to him in the least. If she refused, he was very much afraid she and
her mother would have to take the consequences.
“Of course you see what he was getting at. Me! He was
practically saying to me that if I didn’t marry her and pay his
blackmail, he would disgrace and ruin the mother of the girl I loved.
Very neat sort of trap, wasn’t it? Incidentally, he went on to point out,
also for my benefit, that it wasn’t the least use trying to do him any
sort of bodily harm, because that would only bring things to a head in
the way you know, and he never opened the safe without a loaded
revolver in his hand, which he wouldn’t hesitate for a second to use if
it became necessary.
“Well, Barbara behaved like an absolute thoroughbred. In fact,
she told him, in so many words, to go to the devil; she wouldn’t
dream of involving me in the affair, and as for her and her mother,
they’d have to take what was coming to them if he chose to behave
in such a damnable way, but they’d take it alone. Great Scott, she
was wonderful! She practically defied him to do his worst, and said
that she was going to break off her engagement to me the very next
morning. Then she sailed out of the room with her head in the air,
leaving him sitting there. No tears, no entreaties; simply the most
overwhelming contempt. Roger, she was just marvellous!”
“I can believe you,” Roger said simply. “What happened then?”
“I came out again. I think I meant to kill Stanworth then if I got a
chance to do so without making a worse mess of things. Remember,
I knew already to what lengths he was ready to push the wretched
women that he had in his clutches, and though Barbara would
certainly never give way to him an inch, I wasn’t so sure about Mrs.
Shannon. Well, there was the safe still open, and there was
Stanworth sitting in his chair with the revolver in his hand. He looked
at me with a grin as I appeared, and said he hoped I hadn’t been too
bored. I walked straight up to him without a word (I was beyond
talking by then), and I suppose he could see from my face what I had
in mind. Anyhow, when I was only a few feet away he whipped up
the revolver and fired. Luckily he missed, and I heard the vase
shatter behind me. I lunged forward, grabbed his wrist and used all
my strength to twist it round till the muzzle was pointing straight at
his own forehead. Then I simply tightened my finger over his on the
trigger and shot him.
“I didn’t stop to think what I was doing, or anything like that; I
hardly imagine I was capable of thought at the moment. I just knew
that Stanworth had got to be killed, in the same way that one knows
that a mad dog or a rat or any other vermin has got to be killed. In
fact, once he was dead, I hardly paid any more attention to him at all.
He was a filthy thing wiped out, and that’s all there was about it. I
never felt, nor have felt since, a single moment’s compunction. I
suppose it’s curious in a way.”
“You’d have been a sentimental fool if you had,” Roger said with
decision.
“Well, I suppose I’m not a sentimental fool then,” Alec replied with
a slight smile; “for I most certainly haven’t. Well, as soon as the man
was dead I became as cool as ice. I knew exactly, almost without
thinking about it, what had got to be done. First of all, and in case I
was interrupted, the evidence in the safe had got to be destroyed,
and then I had to make my escape. It didn’t take long to burn the
documents in the safe. There was one shelf full of them, all done up
in envelopes inscribed with various addresses; about sixteen or
seventeen altogether, I suppose. I burnt them in the hearth without
opening them, and just ran through the contents of the other shelves
to make sure that I hadn’t missed anything.
“Up till then, mind, it had never occurred to me that the case
would ever appear to be anything but murder; and if it was traced
back to me, I should simply say that I had shot him in self-defence,
after he had first shot at me. I would have gone to the police straight
away and told them the whole thing, if it wasn’t that that would have
given away the facts of blackmail, which it was of course essential to
hush up. Then I glanced at the chair in which he was lying, and it
struck me that he looked exactly as if he had shot himself, so I
began to wonder if I couldn’t make the whole thing look like suicide.
“I knew you weren’t such a blithering fool as you’ve been trying to
make yourself out to be for the last forty-eight hours——”
Roger interjected, “Yes?”
“Well, the whole finished effect didn’t occur to me at once. I
started off by shutting the safe and putting the keys back in his
waistcoat pocket; the wrong pocket, as it turned out afterwards. Then
I cleared up the bits of vase and shoved them into my pocket for the
time being, and examined the revolver in Stanworth’s hand. To my
joy, I found that I could get at the chamber and extract the first shell
without loosening his grip, which I proceeded to do. You were right
about my knowledge of lattice windows. I knew that trick with the
handle when I was a boy, and patted myself on the back when I
realised how I could get out of the room and leave everything locked
behind me. Lord, I never thought anyone would spot that!”
“You weren’t reckoning for me to be on the trail, my boy,” Roger
said with modest pride.
“Well, you certainly made me jump when you discovered it. Let’s
see now, what did I do next? Oh, yes, the letters. I knew that all
these people would be scared to death at the idea of Stanworth
having shot himself with the safe still locked, as even if they had the
keys nobody could open it without the combination; and I thought
that in the agitation of the moment Mrs. Plant or somebody might
give some vital point away. So I sat down and hammered out letters
to the three of them on the typewriter, for I knew by what I’d seen in
the safe that both Jefferson and Lady Stanworth were involved in it
also. You know what I said in the letters, of course. Well, then, I had
a final look round and just by chance thought I’d better glance into
the waste-paper basket. The very first thing I saw there was a sheet
of paper, only very slightly crumpled, that bore Stanworth’s
signature. Instantly I thought to myself—why not rig up a statement
of suicide just to clinch things? And I typed one out above the
signature.
“Of course all this took a devil of a time. In fact, it was about four
o’clock by now. I’d been as cool as a cucumber for two hours, but I
was getting so tired that I made one or two mistakes after that. I
never searched the waste-paper basket, for instance, and so left that
other piece of paper with the signature there for you to find; and I
forgot to smooth over that footprint on the bed. I did curse myself for
that when you found it! Also I ought not to have thrown those bits of
vase into the shrubbery between the library and the dining room, I
suppose.”
“But how did you get back into the house?” Roger asked.
“Oh, before I locked up the library I went through and opened the
dining-room windows. Then I just walked round from the lattice
window and in through the dining room, locked the dining-room door,
and went up to bed. And that’s all.”
“And very nicely timed,” Roger remarked, glancing out of the
window. “We shall be at Victoria in five minutes. Well, thanks very
much for telling me like that, Alec. And now let us proceed madly to
forget all about it, shall we?”
“There’s one thing that’s been worrying me rather,” Alec said
slowly. “Do you think I ought to tell Barbara?”
“Good heavens above, no!” Roger shouted, staring at his
companion in dismay. “What on earth would you want to tell her for?
She’d only be overcome with shame that you knew anything about
her mother’s shortcomings; and the fact that you’d killed a man more
or less on account of her would simply make her wretchedly
miserable. Of course you mustn’t dream of telling her, you goop!”
“I think you’re probably right,” Alec said, gazing out of the
window.
The train began to slacken speed, and the long, snaky Victoria
platforms appeared in sight. Roger stood up and began to lift his
suitcase off the rack.
“I think we might stay up in town this evening and do a dinner and
a show, don’t you?” he said cheerfully. “I feel as if I want a little
relaxation after my strenuous mental efforts of the last two days.”
Something seemed to be troubling Alec.
“You know,” he said awkwardly, “somehow I can’t help wondering.
Are you really sure, Roger, that it wouldn’t be best for me to go and
tell the police? I mean, it isn’t as if they’d have me up for a murder or
anything like that; nothing worse than manslaughter, I should
imagine. And I daresay I should get off altogether on the self-
defence idea. But are you sure it isn’t really the right thing to do?”
Roger gazed down at his companion with disfavour.
“For heaven’s sake, Alec, do try sometimes not to be so
disgustingly conventional!” he said scornfully.
The End