Assume today is March 16, 2016. Natasha Kingery is 30 years old and has a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science. She is currently employed as a Tier 2 field service representative for a telephony corporation located in Seattle, Washington, and earns $38,000 a year that she anticipates will grow at 3% per year. Natasha hopes to retire at age 65 and has just begun to think about the future.

Natasha has $75,000 that she recently inherited from her aunt. She invested this money in 30-year Treasury Bonds. She is considering whether she should further her education and would use her inheritance to pay for it.9

She has investigated a couple of options and is asking for your help as a financial planning intern to determine the financial consequences associated with each option. Natasha has already been accepted to both of these programs, and could start either one soon.

One alternative that Natasha is considering is attaining a certification in network design. This certification would automatically promote her to a Tier 3 field service representative in her company. The base salary for a Tier 3 representative is $10,000 more than what she currently earns and she anticipates that this salary differential will grow at a rate of 3% a year as long as she keeps working. The certification program requires the completion of 20 Web-based courses and a score of 80% or better at the end of the course work. She has learned that the average amount of time necessary to finish the program is one year. The total cost of the program is $5000, due when she enrolls in the program. Because she will do all the work for the certification on her own time, Natasha does not expect to lose any income during the certification.

Another option is going back to school for an MBA degree. With an MBA degree, Natasha expects to be promoted to a managerial position in her current firm. The managerial position pays $20,000 a year more than her current position. She expects that this salary differential will also grow at a rate of 3% per year for as long as she keeps working. The evening program, which will take three years to complete, costs $25,000 per year, due at the beginning of each of her three years in school. Because she will attend classes in the evening, Natasha doesn’t expect to lose any income while she is earning her MBA if she chooses to undertake the MBA.

1. Determine the interest rate she is currently earning on her inheritance by going to the U.S. Treasury Department Web site (treasury.gov) and selecting “Data” on the main menu. Then select “Daily Treasury Yiled Curve Rates” under the Interest Rate heading and enter the appropriate year, 2016, and then search down the list for March 16 to obtain the closing yield or interest rate that she is earning. Use this interest rate as the discount rate for the remainder of this problem.

2. Create a timeline in Excel for her current situation, as well as the certification program and MBA degree options, using the following assumptions:

   • Salaries for the year are paid only once, at the end of the year.

   • The salary increase becomes effective immediately upon graduating from the MBA program or being certified. That is, because the increases become effective immediately but salaries are paid at the end of the year, the first salary increase will be paid exactly one year after graduation or certification.

3. Calculate the present value of the salary differential for completing the certification program. Subtract the cost of the program to get the NPV of undertaking the certification program.

4. Calculate the present value of the salary differential for completing the MBA degree. Calculate the present value of the cost of the MBA program. Based on your calculations, determine the NPV of undertaking the MBA.

5. Based on your answers to Questions 3 and 4, what advice would you give to Natasha? What if the two programs are mutually exclusive? That is, if Natasha undertakes one of the programs there is no further benefit to undertaking the other program. Would your advice be different?

BlackRock is the world's largest asset management corporation. In January 2020, Larry Fink, the CEO and Chairman of BlackRock, issued an annual letter titled “A Fundamental Reshaping of Finance”1 to Chief Executives of companies in which BlackRock invests. In this letter, BlackRock announces several sustainability initiatives, recognises climate risk as investment risk, and urges companies to improve their financial disclosure to shareholders in relation to climate risks. As part of the initiatives, BlackRock begins to exit investments that present a high sustainability-related risk, such as thermal coal producers. The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) commented that BlackRock’s initiatives might lead to review and likely divestment of Australian coal companies such as Whitehaven Coal and Yancoal.

Required:

Assume you are a business consultant, reporting to the board of directors of Yancoal Australia Limited, Australia's largest pure-coal producer. Yancoal is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. You have been contracted to provide a report to Yancoal’s Board of Directors which:

1. Explains, taking an agency theory lens, why BlackRock revised its investing practices to consider climate risk as an investment risk. (Suggested words: 600)

2. Evaluates, taking an institutional theory lens, whether Yancoal will provide climate-changerelated risk disclosures. (Suggested words: 600)

3. Refers to Yancoal’s 2018 annual and sustainability reports for the year ended 31 December 2018,2,3 and a) evaluates whether Yancoal has provided any/adequate climate-change-related risk disclosures in these reports, and b) provides recommendations for preparation of, or improvement on, the climate-change-related risk disclosures for its 2019 reports for the year ended 31 December 2019 which will be released in April 2020. (

Problem 23-01

The following are Marigold Corp.’s comparative balance sheet accounts at December 31, 2020 and 2019, with a column showing the increase (decrease) from 2019 to 2020.

Additional information:

Prepare a statement of cash flows for Marigold Corp. for the year ended December 31, 2020, using the indirect method.

Problem 23-01

The following are Shamrock Corp.’s comparative balance sheet accounts at December 31, 2020 and 2019, with a column showing the increase (decrease) from 2019 to 2020.

Additional information:

Prepare a statement of cash flows for Shamrock Corp. for the year ended December 31, 2020, using the indirect method

Welcome to the Body Company. You are applying for a job with us as a vitamin or mineral. Please describe 3 functions you can play for The Body Company and which other nutrients you work best with. Include in your interview what will happen when there is too much of you (toxicity) or not enough (deficiency) as well as the 3 best places to get you (food sources). Please find your name on the table below. Supplements Use Google or some other search engine, or look in the supplement aisle in the store, or even (maybe) on your medicine shelf at home to locate a real supplement that contains at least 3 vitamins or minerals and promises to help your body respond to stress. List those 3 ingredients and describe how these vitamins might combat stress in the body. For each of the 3 ingredients, identify a food source you are willing to eat instead of taking a supplement. "Please focus on Calcium foods" This is important all you can use is Calcium rich foods.

Why is the Chinese telecommunications manufacturer Huawei banned from selling devices in the US and a few other countries?

Ethics question: What is this company doing that is unethical? And is this company doing something unethical that US companies are not doing? What is the justification for the ban?

The comparative balance sheets for 2021 and 2020 are given below for Surmise Company. Net income for 2021 was $60 million. SURMISE COMPANY Comparative Balance Sheets December 31, 2021 and 2020 ($ in millions) 2021 2020 Assets Cash $ 60 $ 69 Accounts receivable 79 86 Less: Allowance for uncollectible accounts (14 ) (4 ) Prepaid expenses 9 6 Inventory 132 120 Long-term investment 74 45 Land 78 78 Buildings and equipment 320 220 Less: Accumulated depreciation (106 ) (88 ) Patent 14 17 $ 646 $ 549 Liabilities Accounts payable $ 8 $ 21 Accrued liabilities 1 9 Notes payable 28 0 Lease liability 92 0 Bonds payable 54 102 Shareholders’ Equity Common stock 59 50 Paid-in capital—excess of par 249 205 Retained earnings 155 162 $ 646 $ 549 Required: Prepare the statement of cash flows of Surmise Company for the year ended December 31, 2021. Use the indirect method to present cash flows from operating activities because you do not have sufficient information to use the direct method. You will need to make reasonable assumptions concerning the reasons for changes in some account balances. A spreadsheet or T-account analysis will be helpful. (Hint: The right to use a building was acquired with a seven-year lease agreement. Annual lease payments of $8 million are paid at January 1 of each year starting in 2021.) (Enter your answers in millions (i.e., 10,000,000 should be entered as 10). Amounts to be deducted should be indicated with a minus sign.)

SURMISE COMPANYStatement of Cash FlowsFor year ended December 31, 2021($ in millions)Cash flows from operating activities:Net incomeAdjustments for noncash effects:Changes in operating assets and liabilities:Net cash flows from operating activities$0Cash flows from investing activities:Net cash flows from investing activities0Cash flows from financing activities:Net cash flows from financing activities0Net increase (decrease) in cashCash balance, January 1Cash balance, December 31$0Noncash investing and financing activities:

Beech Bark Disease is a (mostly) fungal disease that was first observed in the US in NYC in the 1950's and is spreading south. It kills mature trees in as little as 5 years. As it spreads through the UGA Botanical Garden, the size of the beech population is reduced by 98%, leaving only the 2% of individuals that exhibit some resistance to the fungus. Over time the population increases to its original size. All of the individuals in the new population exhibit resistance to the fungus, but are more susceptible to root rot disease.

This story is an example of: (Mark all that apply or are described directly)

New Dawn pharma is considering the acquisition of a small biotech company—Sunset Pharmaceuticals. Sunset is developing a new drug that, if successful, would revolutionize the treatment of pancreatic and/or liver cancer. Sunset is about to start Phase I of the clinical testing for the new drug. New Dawn estimates that if they acquired Sunset the costs associated with Phase I testing would be around $60 million. They believe the probability of successful Phase I testing is 30%. Phase 2 testing for the pancreatic cancer and/or liver cancer indication would cost $170 million. The probability that Phase 2 testing will show effectiveness for pancreatic cancer is 25%. The probability that Phase II will show clinical efficacy for liver cancer only is 45%. Phase 3 testing for the pancreatic cancer indication will cost $300 million. The probability that Phase 3 testing for pancreatic cancer will be successful is 40%, and the cost of launching the drug for the pancreatic indication only will be $250 million. New Dawn estimates that future cash flows from a successful pancreatic cancer indication will be in the vicinity of $10 billion. Phase 3 testing for the liver cancer indication only will cost $350 million. The probability that Phase 3 testing will show effectiveness for liver cancer is 70%, and the cost of launching the drug for the liver indication only will be $200 million. Estimates for future cash flows from a successful liver cancer launch are in the vicinity of $20 billion. (All cash flows are expressed in after-tax present values discounted to time zero, including capital expenditure.)

B. Sunset has about $70 million in fixed assets and $500 million in debt/outstanding obligations to investors that will have to be paid off before the merger can proceed. Sunset is being sued by an academic partner for patent infringement on their new drug line. If the lawsuit is settled, they will have to pay around $200 million to the University. New Dawn’s lawyers are saying that this is likely to happen with probability 95%. However, if the University is not willing to settle and they go to court, there is a 30% probability that the University will receive 30% of any and all proceeds from the drug’s sales and will not share any of the costs of development. Based on this information, what is the value of Sunset as a stand-alone company?

“US oil prices turned negative for the first time on record on Monday April 20th, 2020 after oil producers ran out of space to store the oversupply of crude left by the coronavirus crisis, triggering an historic market collapse which left oil traders reeling.” (The Guardian, April 20th, 2020) On April 21st, 2020 the US president Donald Trump tweeted: “We will never let the great U.S. Oil & Gas Industry down. I have instructed the Secretary of Energy and Secretary of the Treasury to formulate a plan, which will make funds available so that these very important companies and jobs will be secured long into the future!”

a. Plot the price of oil (crude or brent) for the past 12 months period and explain the decrease in the price by using demand and supply framework.