.
An investment that requires $2000 initial investment will return $800 at the end of first year, $850 at the end of second year, and $900 at the end of third year. Assume the discount rate is continuously compounded at 10%. What is the Net Present Value of the investment?

NPV=PV-I = $800*e-.10*1+$850*e-.10*2+$900*e-.10*3 -$2,000=723.87+695.92+666.74-2,000=86.53

.
The current price of a stock is $40, and two-month European call options with a strike price of $39 currently sell for $5. An investor who feels that the price of the stock will increase is trying to decide between buying 100 shares and buying 800 call options (8 contracts). Both strategies involve an investment of $4,000.
a. Which strategy will earn more profits if the stock increases to $42?
b. How high does the stock price have to rise for the option strategy to be more profitable?

A:
a. If the stock closes at $42, buying100 shares will have a profit 0f $200 and buying 800 calls will have a loss of $1600. So buying stocks will be better than buying options.
Shares Price Position Cost Profit
stock investing 100 42.00 $4200 4000 $200.00
options only investing 800 $3(ITM) $2400 4,000 -$1600
Stock investing makes a profit of $200 and a loss of $1600 for options investing.

b. The strategies are equally profitable if the stock price rises to a level, S

The profit to buy 100 shares: 100 x S – 4,000
The profit to buy 1000 calls: 800(S – 39) – 4000

100 x S – 4,000 = 800(S – 39) – 4000

Find S:

100 x S – 4,000 = 800x S – 31200 – 4,000
700S=31200
S=31200/700=44.57

The option strategy is therefore more profitable if the stock price rises above $44.57

. (protective put)
The stock price of BAC is currently $120 and a put option with strike price of $120 is $5. A trader goes long 200 shares of BAC stock and long 2 contracts of the put options with strike price of $120.
a. What is the maximum potential loss for the trader?
b. When the stock price is $140, what is the trader’s net profit?

Solution:
a. What is the maximum potential loss for the trader?
S= $120 K= $120 P= $5
long 200 long 200 P

The costs to establish this protective put position: 200*$120+200*$5=$24,000+$1,000=$25,000

When the stock goes below $120, you will exercise the protective put option to limit the losses.
The sale proceeds from exercising put option (to sell the stock at $120) =200*$120=$24,000
The profit= sale proceeds – initial costs=$24,000-$25,000=-$1000
So the maximum loss=$1,000

b. When the stock price is $140, what is the trader’s net profit?
S= $140 K= $120 P= $5
The stock value at $140 per share =200*$140=$28,000
initial costs=$25,000
Net profit=28000-25000=$3000

. (Compare Options versus stock investments)
Suppose you think Tesla stock is going to appreciate substantially in value in the next year. Say the stock’s current price, S, is $500, and a call option expiring in one year has an exercise price, X, of $510 and is selling at a price, C, of $50. With $50,000 to invest, you are considering three investment alternatives.
Alternative A: Invest all $50,000 in the stock, buying 100 shares.
Alternative B: Invest all $50,000 in 1,000 options (10 contracts).
Alternative C: Buy 100 options (one contract) for $5,000, and invest the remaining $45,000 in a money market fund paying 6% annual interest.
a. What is total value of the investment for alternative A if Tesla stock goes up to $700 one year later?
b. What is your rate of return for alternative A if Tesla stock goes up to $700 one year later?
c. What is total value of the investment for alternative C if Tesla stock goes up to $700 one year later?
d. What is your rate of return for alternative C if Tesla stock goes up to $700 one year later?

Dollar Value Rate of Returns
Stock price=  700 700
Alternative A All stocks(100 shares) 70000 40.00%
Alternative B All Options(1000 shares) 190000 280.00%
Alternative C Bills+100 Options 66782.64 33.57%
Please make sure you feel comfortable with the answers in the table. Refer to the teaching note for the detailed steps in the calculations.
Answer a: Alternative C will buy 100 options (one contract) for $5000, and invest the remaining money ($45000) in a money market fund paying 6% annual interest:
the investment in the money market fund will becomes: 45000*ert= 45000*e0.06*1= 45000*1.061837 =47782.64 (t is the number of years)
When the stock price is $700, each call option will make a gain of $190 ($700-510=190), 100 call options will make 100*$190=19,000
The total dollar value will be 47782.64+19000=66782.64

.
Suppose that zero and forward rates are as follows:
Zero rate for an n-year
investment (% per annum)
Year(n) (% per annum)
1 3.0
2 4.0 (rate for two years)
3 4.6 (rate for three years)
4 5.0 (rate for four years)
5 5.3 (rate for five years)

Please calculate
Solution:
Zero rate for an n-year Forward Rate
investment (% per annum) For nth Year
Year(n) (% per annum) (% per annum)
1 3.0
2 4.0 (rate for two years) 5.0 (2nd yr rate)
3 4.6 (rate for three years) 5.8 (3rd yr rate)
4 5.0 (rate for four years) 6.2 (4th yr rate)
5 5.3 (rate for five years) 6.5 (5th yr rate)

In this example, future LIBOR rate (RM) is not given, we will use the forward rate for (RM).

Determine the forward rate for the second year: (please review the teaching notes)
The forward rate for the period between times TT and TT+1 is
(RT+1TT+1 -RTTT)/(TT+1-TT)

Forward rate for the second year: (R2T2 -R1T1)/(T2-T1)=(4*2-3*1)/(2-1)=5/1=5% (Please verify the forward rates for the other periods)

So the forward rate in the second year is 5% with continuous compounding or 5.127% (er-1=e0.05-1=1.05127-1=0.05127) with annual compounding.

the cash flow to the lender at T2: L(Rk-RF)(T2-T1)
=100m(6%-5.127%)(2-1)=$873,000

What is the value today? VFRA=PV=873,000*e^(-R2T2)= 873,000*e^(-R2T2)= 873,000*e^(-4%*2)=$805,880.6

Or use the equation (4.9) from the book, VFRA=L(Rk-RF)(T2-T1)*e-R2T2

VFRA= 100,000,000(0.06-0.05127)(2-1)*e-0.04*2=$805,880.6

Sample solution

Dante Alighieri played a critical role in the literature world through his poem Divine Comedy that was written in the 14th century. The poem contains Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The Inferno is a description of the nine circles of torment that are found on the earth. It depicts the realms of the people that have gone against the spiritual values and who, instead, have chosen bestial appetite, violence, or fraud and malice. The nine circles of hell are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed and wrath. Others are heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Dante’s Inferno in the perspective of its portrayal of God’s image and the justification of hell. 

In this epic poem, God is portrayed as a super being guilty of multiple weaknesses including being egotistic, unjust, and hypocritical. Dante, in this poem, depicts God as being more human than divine by challenging God’s omnipotence. Additionally, the manner in which Dante describes Hell is in full contradiction to the morals of God as written in the Bible. When god arranges Hell to flatter Himself, He commits egotism, a sin that is common among human beings (Cheney, 2016). The weakness is depicted in Limbo and on the Gate of Hell where, for instance, God sends those who do not worship Him to Hell. This implies that failure to worship Him is a sin.

God is also depicted as lacking justice in His actions thus removing the godly image. The injustice is portrayed by the manner in which the sodomites and opportunists are treated. The opportunists are subjected to banner chasing in their lives after death followed by being stung by insects and maggots. They are known to having done neither good nor bad during their lifetimes and, therefore, justice could have demanded that they be granted a neutral punishment having lived a neutral life. The sodomites are also punished unfairly by God when Brunetto Lattini is condemned to hell despite being a good leader (Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). While he commited sodomy, God chooses to ignore all the other good deeds that Brunetto did.

Finally, God is also portrayed as being hypocritical in His actions, a sin that further diminishes His godliness and makes Him more human. A case in point is when God condemns the sin of egotism and goes ahead to commit it repeatedly. Proverbs 29:23 states that “arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.” When Slattery condemns Dante’s human state as being weak, doubtful, and limited, he is proving God’s hypocrisy because He is also human (Verdicchio, 2015). The actions of God in Hell as portrayed by Dante are inconsistent with the Biblical literature. Both Dante and God are prone to making mistakes, something common among human beings thus making God more human.

To wrap it up, Dante portrays God is more human since He commits the same sins that humans commit: egotism, hypocrisy, and injustice. Hell is justified as being a destination for victims of the mistakes committed by God. The Hell is presented as being a totally different place as compared to what is written about it in the Bible. As a result, reading through the text gives an image of God who is prone to the very mistakes common to humans thus ripping Him off His lofty status of divine and, instead, making Him a mere human. Whether or not Dante did it intentionally is subject to debate but one thing is clear in the poem: the misconstrued notion of God is revealed to future generations.

 

References

Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). Dante’s inferno: Seven deadly sins in scientific publishing and how to avoid them. Addiction Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, 267.

Cheney, L. D. G. (2016). Illustrations for Dante’s Inferno: A Comparative Study of Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Stradano, and Federico Zuccaro. Cultural and Religious Studies4(8), 487.

Verdicchio, M. (2015). Irony and Desire in Dante’s” Inferno” 27. Italica, 285-297.

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