According to an NRF survey conducted by BIGresearch, the average family spends about $237 on electronics (computers, cell phones, etc.) in back-to-college spending per student. Suppose back-to-college family spending on electronics is normally distributed with a standard deviation of $54. If a family of a returning college student is randomly selected, what is the probability that:

(a) They spend less than $140 on back-to-college electronics?
(b) They spend more than $370 on back-to-college electronics?
(c) They spend between $140 and $180 on back-to-college electronics?

For letter A, I got as far as -1.796 after diving by 54. When I look at the Z chart I look at 1.80 which is (.4641)

But looking at other examples similar to this problem with just the X variable being different, when I work out that example problem I'm reference I don't get the same answer for they come to. I only get to the -1.796. Not sure what step I'm missing to do after that.

Paulis Kennel uses tenant-days as its measure of activity; an animal housed in the kennel for one day is counted as one tenant-day. During February, the kennel budgeted for 3,900 tenant-days, but its actual level of activity was 3,880 tenant-days. The kennel has provided the following data concerning the formulas used in its budgeting and its actual results for February:

Data used in budgeting:

Actual results for February:

The overall revenue and spending variance (i.e., the variance for net operating income in the revenue and spending variance column on the flexible budget performance report) for February would be closest to:

Macro Economics Web Activity

Go to the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) Budget and Economic Information page (http://www.cbo.gov/topics/budget/budget-and-economic-outlook). Use the historical budget link on this page to answer the questions below.

A. Identify all periods where the government ran a budget surplus in the past 40 years. (Refer to the “on-budget” deficits and surpluses.)

B. Who was president during these budget surpluses? Is your answer consistent with the characterization of Republicans as favoring small government (less spending) and Democrats as favoring large government (more spending)? What other factors—besides presidential politics—contribute to budget surpluses?

C. Refer to the Bureau of Labor Statistics website (http://www.bls.gov/) for data on inflation during the periods of budget surplus that you identified in part a. Was inflation relatively high (over 3%) or low (under 2%) during these budget surpluses? Were the budget surpluses you identified in part a consistent with the inflation at the time? Why or why not?

Will thumbs up for correct answers!! Thanks!

From 80 of its restaurants, Noodles & Company managers collected data on per-person sales and the percent of sales due to "potstickers" (a popular food item). Both numerical variables failed tests for normality, so they tried a chi-square test. Each variable was converted into ordinal categories (low, medium, high) using cutoff points that produced roughly equal group sizes. At α = .05, is per-person spending independent of percent of sales from potstickers?

Calculate the chi-square test statistic, degrees of freedom, and the p-value. (Round your test statistic value to 2 decimal places and p-value to 4 decimal places. Leave no cells blank - be certain to enter "0" wherever required.)

1. Analyze the effect of the following independent shocks on domestic Y and i in the Fleming-Mundell model.

a. The domestic economy experiences a fall in wages. The exchange rate is fixed and capital is imperfectly mobile. State the effect on domestic central bank reserves of foreign currency.

b. Domestic money demand falls. The exchange rate is floating and capital is perfectly mobile.

c. Foreign commercial banks decide to hold a higher fraction of each deposit on reserve. The exchange rate is fixed and capital is perfectly mobile.

d. The foreign government lowers its spending. The exchange rate is fixed and capital is perfectly mobile.

e. Suppose the domestic economy is initially above Yn. With a diagram determine whether a fixed or floating exchange rate is superior for the shock in (d). Also state your finding in a sentence.

f. Domestic firms believe domestic consumption spending will fall. The exchange rate is floating and capital is imperfectly mobile. State the final effect on domestic investment.

Rostand Inc. operates a delivery service for over 70 restaurants. The corporation has a fleet of vehicles and has invested in a sophisticated, computerized communications system to coordinate its deliveries. Rostand has gathered the following actual data on last year’s delivery operations:

Rostand employs a standard costing system. During the year, a variable overhead rate of $5.10 per hour was used. The labor standard requires 0.80 hour per delivery.

Assume that the actual fixed overhead was $403,400. Budgeted fixed overhead was $400,000, based on practical capacity of 32,000 direct labor hours.

Required:

1. Calculate the standard fixed overhead rate based on budgeted fixed overhead and practical capacity.
$

2. Compute the fixed overhead spending and volume variances. Enter amounts as positive numbers and select Favorable or Unfavorable.

Patel and Sons, Inc., uses a standard cost system to apply overhead costs to units produced. Practical capacity for the plant is defined as 50,000 machine hours per year, which represents 25,000 units of output. Annual budgeted fixed overhead costs are $250,000 and the budgeted variable overhead cost rate is $4 per unit. Factory overhead costs are applied on the basis of standard machine hours allowed for units produced. Budgeted and actual output for the year was 20,000 units, which took 41,000 machine hours. Actual fixed overhead costs for the year amounted to $245,000 while the actual variable overhead cost per unit was $3.90.

a. Based on the information provided above, what was the fixed overhead spending (budget) variance for the year?

b. What was the fixed overhead production volume variance for the year?

c. Based on the information provided above, what was the variable overhead spending variance for the year?

d. What was the variable overhead efficiency variance for the year?

Fixed Overhead Variances

Rostand Inc. operates a delivery service for over 70 restaurants. The corporation has a fleet of vehicles and has invested in a sophisticated, computerized communications system to coordinate its deliveries. Rostand has gathered the following actual data on last year’s delivery operations:

Rostand employs a standard costing system. During the year, a variable overhead rate of $5.10 per hour was used. The labor standard requires 0.80 hour per delivery.

Assume that the actual fixed overhead was $403,400. Budgeted fixed overhead was $400,000, based on practical capacity of 32,000 direct labor hours.

Required:

1. Calculate the standard fixed overhead rate based on budgeted fixed overhead and practical capacity.
$

2. Compute the fixed overhead spending and volume variances. Enter amounts as positive numbers and select Favorable or Unfavorable.

1. Zacks Corporation is a service company that measures its output by the number of customers served. The company has provided the following fixed and variable cost estimates that it uses for budgeting purposes and the actual results of operations for December.

When the company prepared its planning budget at the beginning of December, it assumed that 25 customers would have been served. However, only 23 customers were served during December.

Required:

Prepare a performance report showing and interpreting the company’s activity and revenue and spending variances for December. Indicate in each case whether the variance is favorable (F) or unfavorable (U) that includes:

a. The Planning Budget

b. The Flexible Budget

c. Activity Variances

d. Revenue and Spending Variances

e. Explain the meaning of this report.