6. 獨立報告部分 Each group member should select a company that has long-term debt in the form of bonds. Pick one of the company’s bonds, and note the interest rate on the bond. Find out as much as you can about the factors that might explain the bond’s interest rate. Among the items to look for are characteristics of the bond, such as the size of the issue, the length of the term, and any special features such as subordination, convertibility, and covenants, and characteristics of the company, such as its industry, its debt-to-equity ratio, and its interest-coverage ratio. Also, try to find out when the bond was issue and the level of prevailing interest rates at the time of issue. Prevailing interest may be represented (but not limited to) by the rates on Treasury securities. Note the amount by which the interest rate of the bond exceeds the rate of a Treasury security of the same duration.
12. 綜合報告部分 After individual students have performed their independent research, you should get together and compare results. Do the factors you have identified explain the differences in rates across the companies? How do the factors related to the riskiness of the bonds? Is the amount by which the bond interest rates exceed the Treasury rate related to the bond’s riskiness?