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CFA Institute Exam CFA-Level-II Topic 2 Question 100 Discussion

Actual exam question for CFA Institute's CFA-Level-II exam
Question #: 100
Topic #: 2
[All CFA-Level-II Questions]

Viper Motor Company, a publicly traded automobile manufacturer located in Detroit, Michigan, periodically invests its excess cash in low-risk fixed income securities. At the end of 2009, Viper's investment portfolio consisted of two separate bond investments: Pinto Corporation and Vega Incorporated.

On January 2, 2009, Viper purchased $10 million of Pinto's 4% annual coupon bonds at 92% of par. The bonds were priced to yield 5%. Viper intends to hold the bonds to maturity. At the end of 2009, the bonds had a fair value of $9.6 million.

On July I, 2009, Viper purchased $7 million of Vega's 5% semi-annual coupon mortgage bonds at par. The bonds mature in 20 years. At the end of 2009, the market rate of interest for similar bonds was 4%. Viper intends to sell the securities in the near term in order to profit from expected interest rate declines.

Neither of the bond investments was sold by Viper in 2009.

On January 1,2010, Viper purchased a 60% controlling interest in Gremlin Corporation for $900 million. Viper paid for the acquisition with shares of its common stock.

Exhibit 1 contains Viper's and Gremlin's pre-acquisition balance sheet data.

Exhibit 2 contains selected information from Viper's financial statement footnotes.

The amount of goodwill Viper should report in its consolidated balance sheet immediately after the acquisition of Gremlin is closest to:

Show Suggested Answer Hide Answer
Suggested Answer: C

Norris is incorrect regarding the convenience yield. The price of an index futures contract is reduced by cash flows from the underlying asset, but the reduction comes from the future value of the cash flows, not from an implied cost for retaining the use of the underlying asset. The comment regarding the difference between the futures and forward contracts is also incorrect. In a flat (constant) interest rate environment (indicated in the first paragraph of the item set), there Is no difference in the prices of futures or forward contracts. The part of the comment relating to credit risk is correct. Since the forward contracts are not marked to market each day, the value is not reset to zero each day and credit risk is higher since large losses are allowed to accumulate. Thus, the credit risk would increase if forwards were used instead of futures. (Study Session 16, LOS 59.c,d)


Contribute your Thoughts:

Daniel
21 days ago
Goodwill calculations, bond yields, and acquisitions - this question has it all! I feel like I'm back in my finance professor's class. *sighs* Alright, let's do this!
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Stephaine
23 days ago
Hold up, did anyone else notice that Viper bought Gremlin with shares of its own common stock? Looks like they're really driving this acquisition forward, huh? *chuckles*
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Rosamond
29 days ago
Ah, I see now. The question is specifically asking for the amount under the full goodwill method. That makes sense, since Viper acquired a controlling 60% stake in Gremlin. Option C it is!
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Daniel
19 days ago
I agree, Viper acquiring a controlling interest in Gremlin means they should report the full goodwill amount. Option C is the correct choice.
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Lashawna
1 months ago
I'm a bit confused by the different goodwill calculation methods mentioned. I better re-read the question and exhibits closely to make sure I understand which one applies in this scenario.
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Julieta
9 days ago
Let's carefully analyze the exhibits to make sure we choose the right goodwill calculation method.
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Simona
13 days ago
I think we need to focus on the details in the financial statements to figure out the correct method.
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Dorthy
19 days ago
Exhibit 1 and 2 should provide the necessary information to determine the goodwill calculation method.
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Candra
2 months ago
Hmm, the question is asking about the amount of goodwill Viper should report, so I need to carefully examine the information provided about the acquisition. The full goodwill method seems the most appropriate here, so I'll go with option C.
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Tyra
16 days ago
Yeah, I agree. The full goodwill method takes into account the entire value of the acquired company, so it makes sense in this case.
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Stephane
20 days ago
I think option C is correct because the full goodwill method is usually used for acquisitions.
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Margart
2 months ago
I'm not sure, but I think B could also be a possibility.
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Mattie
2 months ago
I agree with Verlene, C seems like the correct choice.
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Verlene
2 months ago
I think the answer is C.
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