National Chengchi University
Department of Finance
ETP Graduate Investments
Fall 2010
Case Discussion Questions
Instructor: Professor Edward H. Chow 周行一
Case study: financial bubble
Case: Trouble with a bubble (9-808-067)
1. Why did Irving Fisher believe that stock prices had reached a permanently high plateau?
2. Why did the stock market crash in 1929?
3. Why did influential individuals like Fisher, Keynes and Rockefeller believe that the downturn would only be temporary?
Case study: investment banking business and global financial crisis
Case: Investment banking in 2008 (A): Rise and fall of the Bear (KEL378)
1. What role did Bear’s culture play in its positioning vis-à-vis its competitors, and what role might that
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Try to work out this question by assuming that Beta’s position had been 99% of equity funds invested in the index fund, and 1% in a riskless money market account. Imagine that you can switch from the money market account to CREIT, BG, or the index fund. Think about the condition for Sarah to be indifferent between switching to CREIT (or BG) and switching to the index.
Case study: Asset allocation
Case: Investment Policy at the Hewlett Foundation (2005) (5-206-114)
1. What are the financial issues facing the Hewlett Foundation (HF)? In particular, is HF’s newly proposed asset allocation policy adequate to meet the foundation’s long-term spending goal of sustaining a long-term real (or inflation-adjusted) payout ratio of 5%, while preserving capital in real terms? Is it adequate to meet its short-term objective of maintaining consistent spending without sharp fluctuations?
2. How does HF manage their assets?
3. Is HF’s donor stock sale program a good idea?
4. Are a member of HP’s Investment Committee, would you agree with the proposals to: a. Double to 20% the allocation to absolute return strategies? b. Implement the bondization and equitization overlay program? c. Make the 5% commitment to Sirius V?
5. With respect to b), what would be the effect of the bondization and equitization overlay program on the expected return of the absolute return portfolio? Which contracts would be the most
In the Book, Pop, Why bubbles are Great for the Economy by Daniel Gross, there is an explanation of why people today do not understand the agitations and turmoil that create barriers to improving the economy. The ideas that economist hope to see in the world, are very farfetched from actuality. This world that they think of is a dream that is practically perfect in the way of allocating resources and making sure everything is done in the best possible way. However, people cannot all see the bigger picture and have faith that it will be what is good for the economy. Instead, our economy is centered over a few main points which are self-indulgence, entrepreneurship, and sometimes this can cause mayhem within the economy. Daniel explains how Americans handle our economy growing and new things coming to the public’s eye as if losing their marbles and everything crumbles from there. The book discusses different time periods that bubbles got out of hand and because of that people were hurt financially. People got hurt because the prices of different markets rose when the economy was not ready for it to raise. The different industries that the book exhibits are telegraphs, railroads, the internet, real estate, and alternative energy.
When most people think of the U.S in the 1920s they thinks of flapper girls, the up and coming sports industry, and all the new technology that was coming out. What many people don’t think of is all the ups and downs that the economy experienced. From the economical adjustments after WW1 and the worker strikes, all the way to the booming economy and eventual crash of the stock market. With that being said, I believe it is safe to say that the 1920s had it’s fair share of ups and downs. Although the 1920s had many great attributes, it is still most widely known for the disastrous stock market crash.
Part I: The Stock Market Crash, the Great Depression, and the first New Deal, 1929-1934
3. What were the causes of the Great Depression? How did the U.S. become involved? Could the U.S. have avoided the depression? If so, how, and if not, why? What actions helped the U.S. get out of it? Were there some actions that would have helped the U.S. more quickly than others? How? Why? Support your answer with
Both domestic and international factors led to the Great Depression, and one of the domestic factors involves the 1929 crash in the stock market. This event has come to be known as “The Great Crash.” It was in autumn of 1929 that the market actually began to fall apart. October 29, “Black Tuesday,” marked the day in which all efforts to save the market had failed. Throughout the 1920s, stock prices had been rising steadily, but in 1928 and 1929 they surged forward and the prices of stocks greatly rose and when they reached their peak most people sold their stocks to earn a profit. So many people sold their stocks at a rapid rate that the corporations were unable to pay the shareholders. In this time frame, over sixteen million shares of stock were
In 2008, the stock market crash began. Many people couldn’t afford to buy anything in the time being because of the financial crisis.The financial crisis was even worst then the Great Depression of the 1930s. Many people lost their employments and received low payment from their jobs. The financial crisis actually began in early 2006 because of the subprime mortgage market in the United States, which increased the rate of non-payment. The federal reserve and the treasury department put a stop to the United States banking system from being crumpled. The financial crisis in 2008 caused a lot of economic turmoil because of the increased of unemployment rate and the mortgage crisis.
The Great Recession was an economic behemoth the likes the United States had never seen before since the Great Depression. In fact, the Great Recession of 2007-2009 was an unmitigated disaster for the US and world economy, its effects still lasting to this day. The Great Recession was spurred by an influx in subprime mortgages and loans. Normally, banks lend money to those they know are capable of paying it back with interest; however, in the early 2000s, banks took advantage of the unregulated sector of subprime loans, creating a substantial housing bubble at the cost of considerable profit. Soon millions of low-income and middle-class Americans were buying homes for much more than their normal income could pay for, but with ever increasing
2.) What capital allocation plan for Security Systems and Market Analysis for the coming three year period and the total HVC investment each year would you recommend?
Those struggling because of their country’s economy can only do so much to help their situation, it is important to aid those people and help bring them back to their feet because without helping the poverty stricken, jobless, and homeless, we are also doing nothing to save our country from disaster.
The Stock Market crash of 1929 was devastating tragedy. “In a matter of hours, thousands saw their fortunes sink, turning previous paper millionaires into destitute paupers.” Back in the roaring twenties, the American society was seen as very prosperous. Many citizens were becoming millionaires each day due to their ‘promising’ Stock Market. What they didn’t see coming was the great fall of their economy because of a fault in their banking systems and stock market. Several diverse economic factors led to the Stock Market crash of 1929. Even though they had many warnings of the overall destruction of their stock market, such as excessive loans, buying on the Margin, expectations, Agricultural Recession and the weakening American Banking System,
market was propped up by new investors entering the market , who viewed it as an easy
One economic policy was that “the Federal Reserve had raised interest rates in hopes of slowing the rapid rise in stock prices” (Romer, 3). At the time the “stock prices had risen more than fourfold from the low of 1920”
Just after ten years of Asian financial crisis, another major financial crisis now concern for all developed and some developing countries is “Global Financial Crisis 2008.” It is beginning with the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers on Sunday, September 14, 2008 and spread like a flood. At first U.S banking sector fall in a great liquidity crisis and simultaneously around the world stock markets have fallen, large financial institutions have collapsed or been bought out, and governments in even the wealthiest nations have had to come up with rescue packages to bail out their financial systems. (Global issue)
In the beginning days of the 21st century, the United States experience an increase in the price of real estate. The causes of the housing bubble were many and, even after it collapse in 2007, the causes for it creation are still under scrutiny. As parties are still blaming each other, the losing party in this crisis is the general public as they have been made responsible for it aftermath through the collectivization of the financial cost. Inquiries into the causes of the housing bubble and its eventual collapse has brought to light an ever increasing number of players responsible for its creation, some going back t the 1970s.
In 1966, William R. Hewlett, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard, established The Hewlett Foundation (HF). In 2004, with estimated assets worth $6.4 billion, the foundation was one of the largest private charitable organizations in the United States. At the time, the asset allocation employed was highly conservative compared to other philanthropic organizations of similar size. The main objective of the investment committee had been to guarantee the continuity of the grants while increasing the value of assets. In early 2005, Laurance Hoagland Jr., the chief investment officer of the Hewlett Foundation, and his investment team met to finish their recommendations to the investment committee for a new asset allocation policy for the foundation 's investment portfolio. If the proposal was approved, HF would adopt a new asset allocation policy that included a substantial reduction in the overall exposure of the investment portfolio to domestic public equities and a significant increase in the allocation to absolute return strategies and TIPS (U.S. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities). Hoagland and this team also needed to decide on a complementary recommendation to the HF Investment Committee to pledge approximately 5% of the total value of the portfolio to Sirius V, the latest fund at Sirius Investments, which specialized in global distressed real estate investments.