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Bond calculations.
The HP 30b includes two bond duration calculations – the modified duration and
Macaulay duration. These measure a bond’s price sensitivity to fluctuations in interest rate movements by
giving what is essentially a time value of money weighted average time to maturity. While the modified
duration has been in other manufacturer’s calculators before, this may be the first time the Macaulay
duration has ever been on a preprogrammed calculator.
MIRR and FMRR.
The HP 30b extends the usefulness of the HP 20b’s cash flow analysis tools by
including Modified Internal Rate of Return and, for the first time ever in a financial calculator, the
Financial Management Rate of Return. Both of these tools address a problem with the basic IRR that
occurs when the signs of cash flows switch from negative to positive to negative, etc. – there can be
multiple interest rates that make the present value of the cash flows equal to the cost, which is the
definition of the IRR. That’s a particular problem if you’re trying to use IRR to make a decision. MIRR
and FMRR provide one rate of return that more accurately reflects the return an investor receives. They
differ on how they manipulate any negative cash flows after the initial cash outlay.
Black-Scholes.
The HP 30b includes a menu that computes put and call option prices for European
options using the Black-Scholes method. While Tony Hutchins (New Zealand) provided the programs to
compute these for the presently shipping HP 12c calculator manual, this is the first preprogrammed
financial calculator from HP to have Black-Scholes built-in. This menu is invoked using the shift+hold
method and is labeled on the keyboard above the BOND key.
Canadian Mortgages.
A new Mode menu setting allows the choice of TVM Standard or TVM Canada.
When TVM Canada is chosen, the compounding periods per year can be a different value from the
payments per year. Canada is the name given since Canadian mortgages compound interest semiannually
while having monthly payments, but any combination of compounding and payment frequencies per year
can be specified.
Other.
The Probability sub-menu in the Math menu has been extended by including the binomial
probability distribution. There is also a choice in the Stats menu for frequency statistics, which is quite
useful for analysis of grouped data. The Math menu has two new functions: IP for integer part and FP for
fractional part.
Still missing?
In an earlier HP 20b review, several things were
functions were listed as missing. Of these, the shift key position
being more centrally located and the lack of a primary key for
storing numbers remain on the wish list.
Found? Programming.
Yes, that’s correct. The HP 30b
contains programming abilities that are a mixture of several
things: key recording macros, RPN and RPL too. Programming
commands are mapped to the shift-hold positions of the top 4
rows of keys. These commands are not printed on the faceplate
and will not execute in run mode, but only in program editing
mode. To help the user who wants to write programs more
easily remember the command locations, a clear, thin, sticky
overlay is provided which lays over the top four rows of keys.
The program catalog is entered by pressing shift and then the
close parenthesis key. There are 10 program slots available in
Fig. 3 – Programming designations.
