You are to analyze the Economic aspects of each of the following three countries ( Russia, China, Germany). The bullet points are what you are to analyze. Use only 2018/2019 numbers. Address each country individually. This project does not have to be written in paragraph form. I am looking for economic numbers. When in doubt, give the estimate if the data says so. Also state any footnotes that are included with the data.

• Currency
• Exchange rate with the US dollar
• GDP - Gross Domestic Product
• Average inflation rate
• Exports to the United States (in US dollars $)
• Imports from the United States (in US dollars $)
• Average per capita income
• Major exports to the United States
• Major imports from the United States
• Major trade partners

Consider a financial institution which would like to invest 100 AUD today and receive USD in one year from now. The real rate is 5% in Australia and the inflation rate in Australia is 5%. The inflation rate in the US is 7.5%.

a) Assume that the real rate equivalence holds. Calculate the nominal interest rate in the US and Australia.

b) Assume the spot exchange rate is 0.80 USD per 1 AUD. Calculate the forward rate for one year from now.

c) Consider the following two strategies:
1. The financial institution invests 100 AUD in Australia for one year and transfers the repayment at the forward rate.

2. The financial institution transfers 100 AUD to USD at the spot exchange rate and invests in the US.

Calculate the investment result and interpret your finding.

Capital markets and the ability to raise funds for corporate uses are essential to the U.S. economic system. For this assignment, imagine that you have $25,000 to invest in U.S. companies. You are buying used stock. The company got the money when it issued the stock originally. You will be buying it from an existing owner. You are investing, or buying, the stock because you believe the company will make money and pay you a dividend in cash. Each share of stock that you buy entitles you to any dividend declared and a vote at the annual stockholders' meeting. The stock also allows you the ability to earn your money back by selling the stock. Of course, investing in stocks is risky and there is the possibility that the stock you buy will be worth less when you want your money back. The company is not obligated to give you any of your money back. You will only get your money back if another investor wants to buy your stock. Instructions Using the above scenario and the resources listed below, complete the following directions for your Week 3 Stock Journal entry: Select three US companies that are publicly traded using your knowledge and experience and make sure you are practicing good diversification. Jim Cramer, Money Manager, on CNBC, plays a game at the end of his show called "Am I Diversified." Check out the short clip, Am I Diversified - Mad Money [Video], to get a sense of industry diversification. Ideas for Sources of Information: There are many ways to find such companies and the stock prices, including the New York Stock Exchange, Google Finance, NASDAQ, and Yahoo! Finance. Describe how you will divide $25,000 across the three companies (e.g. $10,000 in Company 1, $10,000 in Company 2, and $5,000 in Company 3). You decide the amount you are investing in each company. You do not have to provide any analysis to justify your decisions. Provide a reason for picking each company. For example, you might invest in Ford because that company gets a lot of your money and you hear that Ford is doing well, and will continue to do well. Identify the number of shares you are buying, and the price of the shares you are buying for each company. Once you decide the companies and the amount for each company, determine how many shares you can buy. For example, if Company 1 is selling for $42.16, then you may buy $10,000/$42.16, or 237.19 shares. But you cannot buy a part of a share, so you decide to buy either 237 or 238. In this example, you buy 237 shares at $42.16 per share, investing $9,991.92. You won’t be able to buy exactly $10,000, or $5,000, or $25,000, but it will be relatively close. Use at least two quality references. Consider using the sources of information ideas above and/or searching and locating resources from the Strayer University Library. Note: Wikipedia and other websites do not qualify as academic resources. Submit two documents for your journal assignment submission by uploading them to the assignment submission area: Completed Excel template. Completed Word document template with your rationale. Note: This course requires the use of Strayer Writing Standards. For assistance and information, please refer to the Strayer Writing Standards link in the left-hand menu of your course. The specific course learning outcome associated with this assignment is: Analyze the performance of an investment portfolio over time.

Section III - Income Taxes (45 points)

- XYZ began business on 1/1/18. During that year, they had pre-tax financial accounting income of$96,000 and paid $800 of officer life insurance (company is the beneficiary). The accountant has determined that a truck purchased in 2018 for $25,000 will be depreciated as follows:

                                                                2018                 2019                 2020                 2021                 2022

Financial Statement $5,000 $5,000 $5,000      5,000 5,000 Tax Return $9,000 $7,000 $4,000 $ 3,000      2,000

Prepare the journal entry to record income taxes for 2018. Assume that the tax rate for 2018 and beyond is 40%.

- In 2019, XYZ had a financial accounting income of 360,000, which includes $800 of municipal income which is not taxable. In addition to the depreciation differences discussed above, the pre-tax income also includes an unrealized holding loss of $25,000 that cannot be deducted for tax purposes until the security is sold. All securities are held in a trading portfolio.

Prepare the journal entries to record income taxes for 2019. Assume that the tax rate for 2019 and beyond remains at 40%.

- In 2020, XYZ had a financial accounting income of $500,000.. In addition to the depreciationdifference discussed in 2018, $9,000 of the security loss recorded in 2019 was realized in 2020 when some of the securities were sold. Also, in 2020 XYZ adopted the installment sales method for tax purposes and $22,000 of profit recognized in 2020 will be taxable in a future year when the related receivables are collected.

Pre pare the journal entries to record income taxes for 2020. Assume that the tax rate for 2020 has been changed, effective 1/1/2020 to 30% and that the new rate is expected to remain in effect for all future years.

Governments must now account for their capital assets, including infrastructure, and they must recognize in their accounts that the assets may not last forever (unless continually preserved). In the year a road maintenance district was established, it engaged in the transactions that follow
involving capital assets (all dollar amounts in thousands). The district maintains only a single governmental fund (a general fund).

1. Received authority over roads previously “owned” by the county. The estimated replacement cost of the roads was $60,000. On average they have a remaining useful life of 40 years.
2. Acquired machinery and equipment for $700, with general fund resources. They have a useful life of 10 years.
3. Incurred costs of $3,000 to construct a building. The construction was financed with general obligation bonds. The building has a useful life of 30 years.
4. Acquired equipment having a fair value of $60 in exchange for $20 cash (from general-fund resources) plus used equipment for which the district had paid $50. The used equipment had a fair value at the time of the trade of $40; depreciation of $25 had previously been recognized.
5. Sold land for $70 that had been acquired for $90.
6. Received a donation of land from one of the towns within the district. The land had cost the town $120, but at the time of the contribution had a fair market value of $500.
7. Incurred $1,200 in road resurfacing costs. The district estimates that its roads must be resurfaced every four years if they are to be preserved in the condition they were in when they were acquired.
8. Recognized depreciation of $100 on its building, $70 on its machinery and equipment, and $1,500 on its roads, in addition to any depreciation relating to the resurfacing costs.

a. Prepare entries to record the transactions so that they could be reflected in the district’s government-wide statements. The district has opted to depreciate its infrastructure assets.
b. Suppose instead that the district has elected not to depreciate its roads but to record as an expense only the costs necessary to preserve the roads in the condition they were in when acquired. How would your entries differ?
c. If, in fact, the roads have a useful life of 40 years, do you think it is sound accounting not to depre-ciate the roads? Explain.
d. If, in fact, the preservation costs are sufficient to preserve the roads in the condition they were in when the district acquired them, do you think it is sound accounting to depreciate the roads? Explain.

Review the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to address the accounting scandals in the late 1990s and early 2000s (Enron, WorldCom, etc.)BELOW:

List the existing provisions in the Act do you believe (if any) are unnecessary or over-regulate the profession?

As a result of corporate accounting scandals, such as those at Enron and WorldCom, the U.S. Congress enacted the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). The purpose of SOX is to restore trust in publicly traded corporations, their management, their financial statements, and their auditors. SOX enhances internal control and financial reporting requirements and establishes new regulatory requirements for publicly traded companies and their independent auditors. Publicly traded companies have spent millions of dollars upgrading their internal controls and accounting systems to comply with SOX regulations. As shown in Exhibit 1-10, SOX requires the company’s CEO and CFO to assume responsibility for their company’s financial statements and disclosures. The CEO and CFO must certify that the financial statements and disclosures fairly present, in all material respects, the operations and financial condition of the company. Additionally, they must accept responsibility for establishing and maintaining an adequate internal control structure and procedures for financial reporting. The company must have its internal controls and financial reporting procedures assessed annually. Some Important Features of SOX SOX also requires audit committee members to be independent; that is, they may not receive any consulting or advisory fees from the company other than for their service on the board of directors. In addition, at least one of the members should be a financial expert. The audit committee oversees not only the internal audit function but also the company’s audit by independent CPAs. To ensure that CPA firms maintain independence from their client company, SOX does not allow CPA firms to provide certain nonaudit services (such as bookkeeping and financial information systems design) to companies during the same period of time in which they are providing audit services. If a company wants to obtain such services from a CPA firm, it must hire a different firm to do the nonaudit work. Tax services may be provided by the same CPA firm if pre-approved by the audit committee. The audit partner must rotate off the audit engagement every five years, and the audit firm must undergo quality reviews every one to three years. SOX also increases the penalties for white-collar crimes such as corporate fraud. These penalties include both monetary fines and substantial imprisonment. For example, knowingly destroying or creating documents to “impede, obstruct, or influence” any federal investigation can result in up to 20 years of imprisonment. SOX also contains a “clawback” provision in which previously paid CEO’s and CFO’s incentive-based compensation can be recovered if the financial statements were misstated due to misconduct. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 further strengthens the clawback rules, such that firms must recover all incentive compensation paid to any current or former executive, in the three years preceding the restatement, if that compensation would not have been paid under the restated financial statements. In other words, executives will not be allowed to profit from misstated financial statements, even if the misstatement was not due to misconduct.