Mortgage payments:Can be completely deducted from income for tax purposes.Vary from month to month on a fixed rate loan.Represent high principal payments early in the term of the loan.Are typically tax deductible to the extent that they represent payment of interest.
The P/E ratio:Is the same for all firms in a given industry.Does not change over time.Is typically higher for firms whose earnings are expected to grow rapidly.Is the same as the dividend yield.
The January Effect:Is the influence on the market of the mutual funds’ performance reported in December.Is another name for the Superbowl anomaly believed to affect stock prices.Is the result of several studies regarding inexplicably higher returns during January.Supports the predictabilityof cyclical prices determined by chaos theory.(Portfolio Construction, Management and Protection by Robert A. Strong, p. 182.)
Beta is commonly used as a relative measure of risk. It measures:Standard deviation of a stock’s price.The expected total returns of a diversified portfolio.The unsystematic risk component of an investment.The risk of a security or portfolio relative to the overall market.
A prudent investor:Does not have to consider the tax effect of long-term gains.Evaluates his/her investments on an after-tax basis.Studiously avoids income-shifting among funds.Knows that a drop in the dividend payout signals a stronger firm.
Stocks whose returns are tied closely to the overall national economy are typically called:Blue Chip stocks.Defensive stocks.Speculative stocks.Cyclical stocks.
Credit cards:Are a cost effective way of financing investment purchases.Have interest payments that are not tax deductible.Typically have lower interest rates than home equity loans.Often have 3 month grace periods on new purchases.
The highest denomination of U.S. currency is:The $20 billThe $100 billThe $1,000 billThe $100,000 bill