Superior Markets, Inc., operates three stores in a large metropolitan area. A segmented absorption costing income statement for the company for the last quarter is given below:

The North Store has consistently shown losses over the past two years. For this reason, management is giving consideration to closing the store. The company has asked you to make a recommendation as to whether the store should be closed or kept open. The following additional information is available for your use:

1. The breakdown of the selling and administrative expenses that are shown above is as follows:

*Allocated on the basis of sales dollars.

*Allocated on the basis of sales dollars.

2. The lease on the building housing the North Store can be broken with no penalty.

3. The fixtures being used in the North Store would be transferred to the other two stores if the North Store were closed.

4. The general manager of the North Store would be retained and transferred to another position in the company if the North Store were closed. She would be filling a position that would otherwise be filled by hiring a new employee at a salary of $13,200 per quarter. The general manager of the North Store would continue to earn her normal salary of $14,200 per quarter. All other managers and employees in the North store would be discharged.

5. The company has one delivery crew that serves all three stores. One delivery person could be discharged if the North Store were closed. This person’s salary is $5,700 per quarter. The delivery equipment would be distributed to the other stores. The equipment does not wear out through use, but does eventually become obsolete.

6. The company pays employment taxes equal to 15% of their employees' salaries.

7. One-third of the insurance in the North Store is on the store’s fixtures.

8. The “General office salaries” and “General office—other” relate to the overall management of Superior Markets, Inc. If the North Store were closed, one person in the general office could be discharged because of the decrease in overall workload. This person’s compensation is $7,100 per quarter.

Required:

1. How much employee salaries will the company avoid if it closes the North Store?

2. How much employment taxes will the company avoid if it closes the North Store?

3. What is the financial advantage (disadvantage) of closing the North Store?

4. Assuming that the North Store's floor space can’t be subleased, would you recommend closing the North Store?

5. Assume that the North Store's floor space can’t be subleased. However, let's introduce three more assumptions. First, assume that if the North Store were closed, one-fourth of its sales would transfer to the East Store, due to strong customer loyalty to Superior Markets. Second, assume that the East Store has enough capacity to handle the increased sales that would arise from closing the North Store. Third, assume that the increased sales in the East Store would yield the same gross margin as a percentage of sales as present sales in the East store. Given these new assumptions, what is the financial advantage (disadvantage) of closing the North Store?

Superior Markets, Inc., operates three stores in a large metropolitan area. A segmented absorption costing income statement for the company for the last quarter is given below:

The North Store has consistently shown losses over the past two years. For this reason, management is giving consideration to closing the store. The company has asked you to make a recommendation as to whether the store should be closed or kept open. The following additional information is available for your use:

1. The breakdown of the selling and administrative expenses that are shown above is as follows:

*Allocated on the basis of sales dollars.

*Allocated on the basis of sales dollars.

2. The lease on the building housing the North Store can be broken with no penalty.

3. The fixtures being used in the North Store would be transferred to the other two stores if the North Store were closed.

4. The general manager of the North Store would be retained and transferred to another position in the company if the North Store were closed. She would be filling a position that would otherwise be filled by hiring a new employee at a salary of $10,000 per quarter. The general manager of the North Store would continue to earn her normal salary of $11,000 per quarter. All other managers and employees in the North store would be discharged.

5. The company has one delivery crew that serves all three stores. One delivery person could be discharged if the North Store were closed. This person’s salary is $4,100 per quarter. The delivery equipment would be distributed to the other stores. The equipment does not wear out through use, but does eventually become obsolete.

6. The company pays employment taxes equal to 15% of their employees' salaries.

7. One-third of the insurance in the North Store is on the store’s fixtures.

8. The “General office salaries” and “General office—other” relate to the overall management of Superior Markets, Inc. If the North Store were closed, one person in the general office could be discharged because of the decrease in overall workload. This person’s compensation is $5,500 per quarter.

Required:

1. How much employee salaries will the company avoid if it closes the North Store?

2. How much employment taxes will the company avoid if it closes the North Store?

3. What is the financial advantage (disadvantage) of closing the North Store?

4. Assuming that the North Store's floor space can’t be subleased, would you recommend closing the North Store?

5. Assume that the North Store's floor space can’t be subleased. However, let's introduce three more assumptions. First, assume that if the North Store were closed, one-fourth of its sales would transfer to the East Store, due to strong customer loyalty to Superior Markets. Second, assume that the East Store has enough capacity to handle the increased sales that would arise from closing the North Store. Third, assume that the increased sales in the East Store would yield the same gross margin as a percentage of sales as present sales in the East store. Given these new assumptions, what is the financial advantage (disadvantage) of closing the North Store?

Tablet computers are rapidly becoming more mainstream and replacing traditional desktop and laptop computers with the first IPAD becoming available in 2010 and an assortment of Linux and Windows-based tablets following. How do you believe that tablet computers have changed or contributed to the ways Forensic Scientists have to think or function on a daily basis? Do you believe that tablet computers have made a Forensic Scientist's job easier or harder? Can you think of any other technologies that have become mainstream in the last 6 years that would have an impact on a Forensic Scientist's job responsibilities? Why?

The average starting salary of students who graduated from colleges of Business in 2009 was $48,800. A sample of 100 graduates of 2010 showed an average starting salary of $50,000. Assume the standard deviation of the population is known to be $7000. We want to determine whether or not there has been a significant increase in the starting salaries.

The shareholders' equity of Crystal Company includes the items shown below. The board of directors of Crystal declared cash dividends of $6.5 million, $10 million, and $45 million in each of its first 3 years of operation: 2009, 2010, and 2011, respectively.
Common stock, $1 par, 50,000,000 shares outstanding

Preferred stock, 7%, $100 par, 1,000,000 shares outstanding (cumulative)
Preferred stock, 6%, $100 par, 100,000 shares outstanding (non-cumulative)

Determine the amount of dividends distributed on preferred and common stock for each of the three years

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1. Table 3 (below) shows annual returns for the S&P 500 for the years 2000-2016:

Table 3: Annual Returns

Calculate:

1. The cumulative return over the 17 years;
2. The average annual return;
3. The standard deviation;
4. The Sharpe Ratio (assuming a risk free rate of 2.3% on average)

Do students in early morning classes do more poorly than students in later classes? During one semester of Quan 2010, exam scores were averaged for one section of 28 students who met at 8:00am, and for another section of 37 students who met at 10:50am. The earlier section had a mean score of 80.6 with a variance of 103, while the later section had a mean score of 81.5 with a variance of 138.   

At a significance level of 0.10 can we conclude that 8:00am sections score lower than sections that meet at 10:50am?