Bond Markets Analysis and Strategies 8th Edition by Frank J. Fabozzi Solution manual

 
The maturity of a bond refers to the date that the debt will cease to exist, at which time the issuer will redeem the bond by paying the principal. There may be provisions in the indenture that allow either the issuer or bondholder to alter a bond’s term to maturity.
 
Generally, bonds with a maturity of between one and five years are considered short-term. Bonds with a maturity between 5 and 12 years are viewed as intermediate -term, and those with a maturity of more than 12 years are called long-term. With all other factors constant, the longer the maturity of a bond, the greater the price volatility resulting from a change in market yields.
 
Principal and Coupon Rate
 
The principal of a bond is the amount that the issuer agrees to repay the bondholder at the maturity date. This amount is also referred to as the redemption value, maturity value, par value, or face value. The coupon rate, also called the nominal rate, is the interest rate that the issuer agrees to pay each year. The annual amount of the interest payment made to owners during the term of the bond is called the coupon.
 
The holder of a zero-coupon bond realizes interest by buying the bond substantially below its principal value. Interest is then paid at the maturity date, with the exact amount being the difference between the principal value and the price paid for the bond.
 
Floating-rate bonds are issues where the coupon rate resets periodically (the coupon reset date) based on a formula. The coupon reset formula has the following general form: reference rate + quoted margin. The quoted margin is the additional amount that the issuer agrees to pay above the reference rate.
 
An important non-interest rate index that has been used with increasing frequency is the rate of inflation. Bonds whose interest rate is tied to the rate of inflation are referred to generically as linkers.
 
The coupon on floating-rate bonds (which is dependent on an interest rate benchmark) typically rises as the benchmark rises and falls as the benchmark falls. Exceptions are inverse floaters whose coupon interest rate moves in the opposite direction from the change in interest rates. To reduce the burden of interest payments, firms involved in LBOs and recapitalizations, have issued deferred-coupon bonds that let the issuer avoid using cash to make interest payments for a specified number of years.
 
Amortization Feature
 
The principal repayment of a bond issue can call for either (1) the total principal to be repaid at maturity or (2) the principal repaid over the life of the bond. In the latter case, there is a schedule of principal repayments. This schedule is called an amortization schedule. For amortizing securities, a measure called the weighted average life or simply average life of a security is computed.
 
Embedded Options
 
It is common for a bond issue to include a provision in the indenture that gives either the bondholder and/or the issuer an option to take some action against the other party. The most common type of option embedded in a bond is a call provision. This provision grants the issuer the right to retire the debt, fully or partially, before the scheduled maturity date. An issue with a put provision included in the indenture grants the bondholder the right to sell the issue back to the issuer at par value on designated dates.
 
A convertible bond is an issue giving the bondholder the right to exchange the bond for a specified number of shares of common stock. An exchangeable bond allows the bondholder to exchange the issue for a specified number of common stock shares of a corporation different from the issuer of the bond.
 
Describing a Bond Issue
 
There are hundreds of thousands of bonds issues. Most securities are identified by a nine character (letters and numbers) CUSIP number. CUSIP stands for Committee on Uniform Security Identification Procedures. The first six characters identify the issuer: the corporation, government agency, or municipality. The next two characters identify whether the issue is debt or equity and the issuer of the issue. The last character is simply a check character that allows for accuracy checking and is sometimes truncated or ignored. The CUSIP International Numbering System (CINS) is used to identify foreign securities and includes 12 characters.
 
RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH INVESTING IN BONDS
 
Bonds may expose an investor to one or more of the following risks: (1) interest-rate risk, (2) reinvestment risk, (3) call risk, (4) credit risk, (5) inflation risk, (6) exchange rate risk, (7) liquidity risk, (8) volatility risk, and (9) risk risk. In later chapters, other risks, such as yield curve risk, event risk, and tax risk, are also introduced.