You have 3 billion dollars in the fund, which you can invest in any combination of Australian stocks, US stocks, and Australian Treasury. The idea is to use your knowledge of portfolio theory to make an argument for having an internationally diversified portfolio, rather than just holding domestic assets. The data are monthly returns and the relevant sample statistics are summarized in the following table:

1. Using the results of portfolio theory and the estimates above, compute the tangency mutual fund (portfolio) between Australian and US stocks (i.e., the optimal split between Australian and US stocks). Find the tangency portfolio using the Solver in Excel. Paste the table used with Solver to your Word document and discuss your findings.

2. Suppose you would like to achieve an average return of 0.5% per month in excess of the T-bill rate with the smallest possible risk. What is the optimal split between Australian stocks, US stocks, and T-bills? That is, how much of the $3 billion should you invest in each country and how much should you borrow or lend? What is the standard deviation of this portfolio?

3. After a bad year on the US stock market, some people try to influence you to divest (i.e., sell all of) the holdings of US stocks. How much should you invest in Australian stocks and T-bills alone to obtain the same level of risk as you obtained in part 2.? (Hint: you want the standard deviation of the divested portfolio to be the same as the nondivested portfolio.)

4. What would be the cost in terms of expected monthly return from divesting in the US stocks? What would be the cost in terms of annual return (note: the returns are continuously compounded)? What would be the cost in dollar terms on the $3 billion portfolio each year?

Your company, XYZ, Inc., wants to create an outdoor area adjacent to its office building for its employees to enjoy during lunch, breaks or during non-business hours.The city, Village Township, has restrictions of the use of the land (zoning) and the type of structures that may be erected on the land. The plans that your company have created is in violation of the city ordinances. Your company does not want to spend a lot of money to resolve negotiate with the city regarding the ordinance problem because the plans and cost of building the park are over budge. You are in charge of helping find a resolution for this conflict with the city. You report directly to the CEO of XYZ, Inc., and she has asked you to research whether arbitration, mediation or litigation would be in the best interest of both parties to resolve this conflict.

1. Differentiate the roles of a mediator and arbitrator so your boss clearly understand the difference.
2. Explain all three options (arbitration, mediation, and litigation) in relation to the conflict with they city.
3. Explain which option you think is best for the company to resolve this conflict.
   • Describe why it's the best option for the company based on the facts related to the company and the conflict.
   • Provide references to resources that help support for your position.

CASE STUDY 1: Lloyds Banking Group Monetary Policy Committee
You are a voting member of Lloyds Banking Group Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) and are expected to make a policy decision at the next MPC meeting in January 2021. The current Repo rate is 4.25% and the allowable inflation target ranges between 3% to 5%. The Research department has presented the following global and domestic market update for your consideration.
Key extracts of the presentation are summarized below:
Extract 1: Global update
According to the IMF’s World Economic Outlook (WEO) for October 2020, the global economy is expected to recover substantially in 2021 following the negative effects of COVID-19. The impact of COVID-19 outbreak has lessened significantly since the first cases were made public at the beginning of the year 2020. To curb the spread of the pandemic, governments worldwide imposed severe restrictions and lockdown measures, subsequently bringing economic activities to a virtual standstill in the process. According to the latest WEO, the global economy is now projected to recover and grow by 3.8 percent in 2021, which is an upward revision from a 2.3 percent growth published in the WEO update for January 2021. The upward revision is on the back of successful easing of lockdown restrictions and resumption of economic activities in both advanced and emerging market economies. The global output is then projected to expand by 5.8 percent in 2021.
Extract 2: Emerging market update
Emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) improved moderately in the second half of 2020 and are expected to recover strongly in 2021. Overall, EMDEs are projected to grow by 2.0 percent in 2020, before recovering to a strong growth of 6.6 percent in 2021. Going forward EMDEs are expected to experience a sharp recovery in 2021 once the adverse effects from this economic shock subside.
Extract 3: Domestic market update
1.   Domestic growth remained positive during the last quarter of 2020, supported by construction, wholesale and retail trade, as well as the communication sectors. In contrast, activities such as livestock farming and uranium mining performed weakly.
2.   Going forward, the domestic economy is forecasted to improve in the remainder of 2021, also supported by construction activities, as well as strong growth in demand. Declining international commodity prices remain a concern, as it may negatively affect mineral production.
3.   Inflation has shown an upward trend for the past five months. Annual inflation rose from 4.9 percent in June 2020 to 6.1 percent in January 2021, mainly due to increases in food and transport prices. As a result, this recent trend of inflation is expected to average around 7 percent for the year.
4.   The annual growth rate in domestic private sector credit increased steadily to 17.8 percent in December 2020, compared to 14.3 percent in December 2019. Growth in private sector credit resulted from higher demand by both individuals and businesses. The rise in household debt largely reflected strong growth in unproductive instalment credit and overdraft loans which remains a concern for the MPC.
5.   During the last quarter of 2020, the trade deficit increased significantly. A rapid growth in imports of vehicles, partly financed by instalment credit, remains a concern. The total number of vehicles sold during the last four months of 2020 increased by more than 50 percent, compared to the same period in 2019. The value of imported vehicles amounted to N$2.2 billion, which is a significant amount in relation to the total import bill of goods of N$15.9 billion. Unproductive imports have put pressure on international reserves of the country and require monitoring.

Extract 4: Key domestic sector updates
Construction Sector update:
The contraction in the construction sector is expected to deepen during 2020 as projects anticipated to kickstart earlier are likely to be delayed. The construction sector is expected to contract by 16.3 percent and 1.5 percent in 2020 and 2021, respectively. The deeper contraction for 2020 is based on expectations that some of major projects, which were expected to commence in 2020 are likely to be delayed, mainly due to COVID-19 induced travel restrictions. This assertion is supported by the recent directive by the Minister of Finance to SOEs and Government Ministry to suspend capital projects until further notice.
Uranium Sector update
Uranium mining is similarly projected to contract during 2020, followed by a mild recovery in 2021. The uranium mining sector is expected to contract by 22.4 percent in 2020, before expanding by 4.6 percent in 2021. The sector is first and foremost grappling existing factors that include insufficient supply of water required for their operations and persistently low uranium prices, viewed together with the reduction in long-term supply contracts. This means that uranium mines are more exposed to spot prices, which squeezes their margins. There is, however, an indication that COVID-19 and resulting travel restriction have not prevented the mines from exporting their output thus far and it may not constitute a major factor in the foreseeable future. The volumes produced during the first three months of 2020, were 26.4 percent lower than the production for the corresponding three months of 2019, making any prospects to catch up with 2019 production levels unlikely.

CASE STUDY 1 QUESTIONS
1.   Based on Extracts 1-3 in the case facts presented above, Recommend the monetary policy stance and decision that Lloyds Banking Group should take and Justify your recommendation with three (3) reasons found in Case study 1 above

Justification should include specific facts related to the case study!!!

2.   Based on Extract 4 above, Identify one reason for the expected contraction in the construction sector and two reasons for expected contraction in the Uranium sector

Pharoah Corporation provides the following information about its defined benefit pension plan for the year 2020:

Pharoah follows IFRS.

QUESTIONS:

A) Prepare a continuity schedule for 2020 for the defined benefit obligation.

B) Prepare a continuity schedule for 2020 for the plan assets.

C) Calculate pension expense for the year 2020.

D) Prepare all pension journal entries recorded by Pharoah in 2020.

E) What pension amount will appear on Pharoah’s SFP at December 31, 2020?

Presented below are two independent situations related to future taxable and deductible amounts resulting from temporary differences existing at December 31, 2020. 1. Sunland Co. has developed the following schedule of future taxable and deductible amounts. 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Taxable amounts $200 $200 $200 $200 $200 Deductible amount — — — (1,400 ) 2. Coronado Co. has the following schedule of future taxable and deductible amounts. 2021 2022 2023 2024 Taxable amounts $200 $200 $200 $200 Deductible amount — — (2,500 ) — Both Sunland Co. and Coronado Co. have taxable income of $3,800 in 2020 and expect to have taxable income in all future years. The tax rates enacted as of the beginning of 2020 are 30% for 2020–2023 and 35% for years thereafter. All of the underlying temporary differences relate to noncurrent assets and liabilities.

1. Compute the net amount of deferred income taxes to be reported at the end of 2020, and indicate how it should be classified on the balance sheet for situation one.

2. Compute the net amount of deferred income taxes to be reported at the end of 2020, and indicate how it should be classified on the balance sheet for situation two.

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed a significant weakness in our supply chain. The United States had not produced penicillin since 2006. Up to 93 percent of our antibiotics come from China. 50% of all the face masks produced in the world come from China. Apple could not produce IPhones because the only factory making the screens was located at the epi center of the virus in China and was shut down. Most electronic first tier vendors are located in China. The list goes on. Side note – in 1941, the largest trade partner to the US was Japan.

1. How should the US view strategically important products in a global marketplace? Should we allow our primary adversary to be the sole source? Why or why not? Options?
2. Should the US focus on being self-sufficient with regard to medical products?
3. How did the supply chain become so vulnerable? What steps would you recommend to prevent this from reoccurring?
4. The use of JIT in the supply chain has had many advantages. Unfortunately, any interruption is catastrophic. What options should be put in place to mitigate this risk?

According to the 2018 American Community Survey, 80% of the 120 million households in the US have broadband Internet subscriptions. Consider drawing a random sample of n = 256 households from all households in the US. Let p̂ denote the sample proportion of households that have broadband Internet subscriptions.

a) State the mean, standard deviation, and the approximate shape for the sampling distribution of p̂ .

b) Based on your answer in part a, what is the approximate probability that p̂ is greater than 0.78 but less than 0.85?

In what way is health care a business? In what ways is it not? In what way is the business case in health care different from organizations in other sectors of the US economy? Do you believe the business case for diversity and cultural competence in health care is strong enough that leadership in US health care provider organizations should make strategic diversity management and cultural competence a high priority?Support your answers with logical argument and factual information and use APA format for in-text citation.

In what way is health care a business? In what ways is it not? In what way is the business case in health care different from organizations in other sectors of the US economy? Do you believe the business case for diversity and cultural competence in health care is strong enough that leadership in US health care provider organizations should make strategic diversity management and cultural competence a high priority? Support your answers with logical argument and factual information and use APA format for in-text citation.