8006 Exam Dumps : Exam I: Finance Theory Financial Instruments Financial Markets - 2015 Edition

A swaption is an option to enter into a fixed for floating interest rate swap at a point in the future, with the fixed rate decided upfront. These options can be European, Bermudan or American, in terms of what dates the option can be exercised. A receiver option on a swap is an option that gives the buyer the right to enter into a swap and receive the fixed rate and pay the variable rate. In the case of a payer option, the buyer pays the fixed rate and receives the variable rate. One way to remember this is that receiving and paying are terms used with reference to the fixed rates.

The all in price would be equal to the clean price plus accrued interest. The accrued interest for the 60 days that have passed since the last coupon payment is $5 x 60/360 = $0.83. Therefore the dirty price, or the all in price, will be $98.83. (Note that the $5 is the annual 5% coupon on the $100 face.)

The effect of higher convexity is that when yields rise, the price decrease is lower than the increase in yields, and when yields fall, the increase in price is greater than the fall in yield. In either case, it benefits the holder of the fixed income instrument that carries such positive convexity. The converse is true for someone short a bond - such an investor would prefer lower convexity to higher convexity. Therefore statement I is not true for an investor who is short a bond.

An increase in yields makes bond prices decrease, something that would benefit the short. Therefore statement II is true for an investor short a bond.

Negative convexity has exactly the opposite effect as the one described for positive convexity for statement I above. An investor short a bond would prefer negative convexity (which by the way is exhibited by very few fixed income instruments such as mortgages) to positive convexity, therefore statement III is true for such an investor.

Choice 'b' is the correct answer.