Understanding Interest Rates
Four Types of Credit Market
Instruments
Simple loan
Discount bond
Coupon bond
Fixed-payment loan
Time Lines for Credit Market
Instruments
Measuring Interest Rates
Present Value:
A dollar paid to you one year from now is less valuable than a dollar paid to you today
Why?
A dollar deposited today can earn interest and become
$1 x (1+i) one year from today.
Let i = .10
In one year $100 X (1+ 0.10) = $110
In two years $110 X (1 + 0.10) = $121 or 100 X (1 + 0.10)
2
In three years $121 X (1 + 0.10) = $133 or 100 X (1 + 0.10)3
In n years
$100 X (1 + i ) n
Discounting the future
What is the value today of a future return?
PV of $133 received in 3 years is $133/(1+0.10)3
Generally:
Time Line
One cannot directly compare payments scheduled in different points in the time line
Year
PV
$100
$100
$100
$100
0
1
2
n
100
100/(1+i)
100/(1+i)2
100/(1+i)n
$110
$121
Yield to Maturity
We know the price of a debt instrument and the future payment schedule
The interest rate that equates the present value of cash flow payments received from a debt instrument with its value today.
Yield to Maturity
Question: did I make a sound investment?
If I pay a price P today for a set of future payments, what is the interest rate at which I could invest P and get the same set of future payments?
Simple Loan
PV = amount borrowed = $100
CF = cash flow in one year = $110 n = number of years = 1
$110
$100 =
(1 + i )1
(1 + i ) $100 = $110
$110
(1 + i ) =
$100
i = 0.10 = 10%
For simple loans, the simple interest rate equals the yield to maturity
Fixed Payment Loan
The same cash flow payment every period throughout the life of the loan
LV = loan value
FP = fixed yearly payment n = number of years until maturity
FP
FP
FP
FP
LV =
...+
2
3
1 + i (1 + i ) (1 + i)
(1 + i) n
Coupon Bond
Using the same strategy used for the fixed-payment loan:
P = price of coupon bond
C = yearly coupon payment
F = face value of the bond n = years to maturity date
C
C
C
C
F
P=
. . . +
2
3
n
1+i (1+i ) (1+i )
(1+i) (1+i ) n
Relationship Between Price and Yield to
Maturity
• When the coupon bond is priced at its face value, the yield to maturity equals the coupon rate
• The price of a coupon bond and the yield to maturity are negatively related
• The yield to maturity is greater than the coupon rate when the bond price is below its face value
Consol or Perpetuity
• A bond with no maturity date that does not repay principal but pays fixed coupon payments forever.
i =
C
-------P
• For coupon bonds, this equation gives the current yield, and easy way to calculate approximation to the yield to maturity. Discount Bond (P = $900, F=
$1000)
Yield on a Discount Basis idb =
(F – P)
F
x
360
(number of days to maturity)
One year bill, P = $900, F = $1000
idb =
$1000 – $900
$1000
x
360
365
=0.099 = 9.9%
Two Characteristics
1.