Question: (1) Suppose that the treasurer of IBM has an extra cash reserve of $100,000,000 to invest for six months. The six-month interest rate is 8 percent per annum in the United States and 6 percent per annum in Germany. Currently, the spot exchange rate is €1.01 per dollar and the six-month forward exchange rate is €0.99 per dollar. The treasurer of IBM does not wish to bear any exchange risk. Where should he/she invest to maximize the return?
(2) Due to the integrated nature of their capital markets, investor in both the U.S. and Great Britain require the same expected real interest rate of 3 percent. The expected annual inflation in the U.S. is 2 percent and in the U.K. expected annual inflation is 5%. The spot exchange rate is currently £1.00 = $1.80. Calculate the nominal interest rates in Britain and the U.S. assuming the Fisher effect holds.