
Answer-first summary for fast verification
Answer: c) A stop-limit order with stop at $121.80 and limit at $117.80
Barbara wants to **sell if the price falls below $121.80** (a 13% drop from $140.00), but **only if the price remains at or above $117.80** (so that her total holding-period return still meets her 30% target once dividends are included). That is exactly the logic of a **stop-limit sell order**: - **Stop price = $121.80**: activates the order if the market falls to this level. - **Limit price = $117.80**: the minimum acceptable execution price. If the stock falls too far below the limit, the order will not execute, which matches her desire to avoid panic selling at fire-sale prices.
Author: Manit Arora
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Q-709.1. Barbara is a value investor who bought 1,000 shares of Apple (ticker: AAPL) in 2014 when the share price was $95.00, and she considered them under-valued. In hindsight, her view was correct as the shares currently (as of mid-2017) trade at $140.00. She now thinks the shares are slightly over-valued. However, she does not want to sell them unless there is a market crash. This is because she believes the shares are likely to trade in a range and may even gain modestly in the future. However, she also believes there is something like a 10.0% probability of a technology sector crash (a possibility enabled by the low interest rate regime). If the technology sector does crash, she fears the AAPL shares could plummet. If the AAPL shares drop, Barbara does want to sell; however, she does not want to sell in a panic at fire-sale prices.
Specifically, if the shares were to quickly lose more than 13.0% of their current value, Barbara would be eager to sell them. However, she also wants to ensure that she realizes a minimum holding period return (HPR) of 30.0%; and to this, HPR dividends have already contributed 6.0%. Therefore, she only wants to sell if the price appreciation (from her $95.00 cost basis) is at least +24.0%. She justifies this conditional view on a belief that if the shares plunge too far such that she cannot realize her HPR threshold, the market will have overreacted. In this case of an over-reaction, she believes it will be better to avoid selling in a panic, and instead, she will be better off to await an eventual recovery. Which of the following orders is most consistent with her strategy?
A
a) A market order
B
b) A limit order at $121.80 plus a market order at $135.57
C
c) A stop-limit order with stop at $121.80 and limit at $117.80
D
d) Two stop-loss orders: a soft-stop at $121.80 and a hard-stop at $105.00
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