Responded to message below. Should be at least 250 words. Responses should be informative and contribute to advancing knowledge of the topic. Include at least 2 APA-cited references. 

/in /by

. Responded to message below. Should be at least 250 words. Responses should be informative and contribute to advancing knowledge of the topic. Include at least 2 APA-cited references.

Frank, Greitzer & Holimer (2011) makes powerful augments about the difficulties surrounding the trail before the fact. I agree with them. It really is difficult to determine if threats are bogus and if they should be taken seriously. However, once a threat is made it must be taken seriously and that it is highly possible for the individual to carry out their plan. It is also difficult to know the individual’s state of mind or if the individual has psychological issues. Frank, Greitzer & Holimer (2011) states, “there are several factors that should taken into consideration regarding picking up the trail before the fact, (a) the lack of sufficient real-world data that has “ground truth” adequate scientific verification and validate of proposed solutions; (b) the difficulty in distinguishing between malicious insider behavior and what can be described as normal or legitimate behavior (c) the potential quantity of data, and the resultant number of “associations” or relationships that may emerge produce enormous scalability challenges; and (d) despite ample evidence suggesting that in a preponderance of cases, the perpetrator exhibited observable ‘concerning behaviors’. All threats should be taken into account and noted as warning signals and reported to the proper authorities.

Sometimes the most damage is done by individuals who had a personal insight into the company or one who became disgruntled. They know the outs an ins of the organization and how to cause the most damage. I also agree that the methods and skills of the perpetrators have changed in recent years. With all of the new technology, the generations have become wiser and smarter. Therefore, all threats should be observed.

2. Responded to message below. Should be at least 250 words. Responses should be informative and contribute to advancing knowledge of the topic. Include at least 2 APA-cited references.

What Frank, Greitzer & Hohimer (2011) argue about difficulties of picking up the trail before the fact, in order to provide time to intervene and prevent an insider cyber attack?
I agree with Greitzer and Hohimer that insider threat is a serious concern for cyber security that has to be addressed successfully. Unfortunately this is much easier said than done. The nature of insider threat makes it very difficult to detect and as Grietzer and Hohimer (2011) point out, there is a lack of real world data, it is difficult to differentiate between normal and abnormal behavior, there would be scalability challenges in data collected and no one has really decided to tackle this issue with technology yet (p.27). This means that devising a way to identify an insider threat prior to that insider launching an attack is a task that will not be easy to complete. That doesn’t mean that this is not a goal that we should be working towards, quite the opposite actually. This is something that should be given attention and professionals should be working on methods that can help catch insider threats before the damage is done.
Do you agree with them? Why? Why not?
I do agree with Greitzer and Hohimer that insider threat is a big problem. I also agree that there is a lack of data that can be used to help identify patterns and help develop methods and technology that can catch insider threat early. I have to admit that much of what they discussed in the article was a bit over my head. I don’t fully understand how the technology they discussed would work and I also can’t say that I believe that a technological solution would the perfect solution for this issue. Humans can be very unpredictable. This means that any technology developed to be an early identifier of insider threat will not work every time. I do think that more often than not there will be indicators prior to an insider attack occurring but there is always that chance that someone just snaps. With that being said I do think that there should still be research and work done to mitigate the risk of insider attacks.

. What is the yield to maturity on a municipal bond scheduled to pay $10,000 upon maturity 5 years from now? This is a zero- coupon bond selling for $8,220. Round the yield to maturity to the nearest percent.

/in /by

1. What is the yield to maturity on a municipal bond scheduled to pay $10,000 upon maturity 5 years from now? This is a zero- coupon bond selling for $8,220. Round the yield to maturity to the nearest percent.
A. 8 percent C. 4 percent B. 5 percent D. 3 percent
2. What is the yield to maturity on a corporate bond scheduled to pay annual interest of $100 and $1,000 upon maturity 3 years from now? The bond is selling for $1,025.31. Round the yield to maturity to the nearest percent.
A. 11 percent C. 8 percent B. 9 percent D. 7 percent
3. What is the duration of a bond that will pay $50 per year in coupon payments and $1,000 after four years? Use a discount rate of 10 percent.
A. 8.4 years C. 3.7 years B. 4.0 years D. 0.27 years
4. What is the present value of a share of preferred stock that you own indefinitely? The stock’s dividend is $5. The appropriate discount rate is 6 percent.
A. $13.33 C. $852.33 B. $83.33 D. $852.98
5. A perpetual bond annually pays interest of $35 and alternative investments yield 14 percent. What is the present value of the bond?
A. $250 C. $490 B. $355 D. $505
6. Duration is a better way to compare cash flows than simply comparing present values because
duration incorporates cash flow volatility.
present value fails to incorporate the timing of cash flows.
when maturities differ among compared cash flows, present value inaccurately
represents the yield to maturity.
durationeffectivelytreatscashflowsasaperpetuity,incorporatingthereinvestmentrate.
7. One of the benefits of the laddered approach to managing interest rate risk in a bond portfolio is that
A. reinvestment risk is eliminated because you standardize the timing of bond maturities. B. theportfolioincludesbondsissuedbydifferentorganizations,therebyreducingdefaultrisk. C. all bonds are liquidated if the investor elects to capitalize on an opportunity.
D. when bonds mature at different intervals, you diversify the timing of reinvestment.
8. If you want to maximize safety and earn federally tax-exempt interest, you should buy
A. municipal bonds backed by the revenue earned on the project funded by the bond.
B. municipal bonds backed by the taxing authority of the issuing government.
C. U.S. Treasury bonds backed by the taxing authority of the U.S. federal government. D. U.S. Treasury bills backed by the taxing authority of the U.S. federal government.
9. To participate in the U.S. national mortgage market by investing in bonds, the best way would be to invest in
A. revenue bonds issued by a sprawling suburban city.
B. treasury bonds that ultimately depend on funding from households.
C. mortgage pass-through bonds issued by a federal government agency.
D. stocks issued by banks that make mortgage loans.
10. One strategy for diversifying government-issued bonds and earning tax-exempt interest is to invest in
A. U.S. Treasury bonds, notes, and bills with diverse maturities.
B. a state-specific municipal bond fund.
C. a combination of state and local bonds plus bonds issued by foreign governments. D. money market mutual funds and U.S. Treasury bills.
11. What is the key distinction between Series EE bonds and Treasury bills?
A. Series EE bonds pay interest every six months.
B. Series EE bonds aren’t backed by the full faith and credit of the federal government. C. Treasury bills are deeply discounted bonds with all interest paid upon maturity.
D. Treasury bills can be traded in the secondary market.
12. Why do bond issuers attach a call feature to their bonds?
A. Increases the marketability of the bond
B. Increases the likelihood of issuing bonds at face value or higher C. Presents an opportunity to capitalize on rising interest rates
D. Frees the organization from high-interest debt if interest rates drop
13. If you were CEO and decided to finance retirement of a bond issue, you would be most likely to
issue collateral serial bonds, the proceeds of which would fund the bond retirement.
rewrite the debenture to include an option to exchange bonds for shares of stock.
set up a payment arrangement with a trustee to fund an account designated for bond retirement.
sell production assets and apply the proceeds to bond retirement.
14. If you owned bonds issued by a corporation that announced expectations for a protracted period of cash flow difficulties, what kind of risk would concern you most?
A. Default risk C. Reinvestment rate risk B. Interest rate risk D. Price fluctuation
15. When an investor purchases a 12-month T-bill with the intention of selling it after a period of time, he’s
A. riding the yield curve and selling on a secondary market.
B. minimizing his return on a short-term investment.
C. ensuring that the sale is at maximum discount.
D. maximizing his return on a long-term investment.
16. Which of the following measures would increase the duration of a bond issue?
A. Exercising a call option
B. Offering bondholders early retirement of bonds
C. Prepaying interest
D. Exercising an extendible option
17. If a bond issuer failed to honor terms of the indenture prohibiting the corporation from merging with another corporation,
A. the bond issue would be considered a fallen angel.
B. the bond issue would be considered in default.
C. the corporation would be obliged to exercise an extendible option.
D. bondholders could exchange their bonds for stock of the issuing corporation.
18. Periods of a negatively sloped yield curve have also been times of
A. rising interest rates and inflation.
B. a bull market in stocks.
C. rapid economic growth that reduced the cost of long-term debt. D. low commodity prices.
19. The impact of inflation as it relates to a bonding arrangement is most devastating to
A. borrowers. C. corporations and governments. B. lenders. D. trustees.

The post . What is the yield to maturity on a municipal bond scheduled to pay $10,000 upon maturity 5 years from now? This is a zero- coupon bond selling for $8,220. Round the yield to maturity to the nearest percent. appeared first on Infinitessays.org.

The VIX is said to be a “fear” index. Can it forecast the direction of the market? Can it forecast the volatility of the market?

/in /by

The VIX is said to be a “fear” index. Can it forecast the direction of the market? Can it forecast the volatility of the market?

Given the monthly data in the attached EXCEL spreadsheet do the following steps.

1) Convert each series into returns using the following formula.
Returnt =LN(Pt/Pt-1)

2) Run the following two regressions
i) Return of SP500t = a + b*(Return of VIXt-1)
ii) (Return of SP500t)^2 = a + b*(Return of VIXt-1)

[NOTE: (Return of SP500t)^2 is a measure of volatility)

3) Based on the results, answer the two questions.
a) Can the VIX forecast the direction of the market?
b) Can the VIX forecast the volatility of the market?
You should review your statistics concerning tests of significance.

The post The VIX is said to be a “fear” index. Can it forecast the direction of the market? Can it forecast the volatility of the market? appeared first on Infinitessays.org.

Assume that your neighbor took a loan of $300,000 four years ago. At that time, she took a 30-year loan for 5.8%.

/in /by

Assume that your neighbor took a loan of $300,000 four years ago. At that time, she took a 30-year loan for 5.8%. She now wants to consider re-financing her loan. She went to a bank and was told that re-financing her loan for 30 years would cost her $6,500 upfront and re-financing her loan for 15 years would cost her $5,000 upfront. Your neighbor is low on cash and would prefer to add the upfront fees into her new loan.

Your neighbor comes to seek your help with her mortgage dilemma.
Can you use your Time Value of Money skills to help guide your neighbor if she should go for re-financing? You can guide her in terms of helping her understand her current interest expense versus future interest expense, current PMT versus future PMT, how a 15-year loan versus a 30-year loan would affect her finances, etc. Help her understand by giving her different scenarios so she can make a good decision that suits her best. You can get the current rates from any bank website by searching under Mortgage Rates.

Provide your work using tables/graphs/explanations. Also, attach a PDF of the website you used to obtain the mortgage rates.

The post Assume that your neighbor took a loan of $300,000 four years ago. At that time, she took a 30-year loan for 5.8%. appeared first on Infinitessays.org.