Luke and Sarah lived in a house in Albury where they both had permanent jobs. In July 2012 they purchased a rural block of 30 acres for $160,000 with the intention of building a house and moving out of town. In September 2012 they listed their house in Albury for sale at $570,000, however given a downturn in the market the house remained unsold until March 2014 when they finally accepted an offer of $460,000. Settlement took place in April 2014 and they commenced construction on the new house in May 2014. Whilst the house was being built Luke and Sarah rented the Albury house back from the new owners at an amount of $480 per week.

In November 2014 the new house was completed at a cost of $410,000 and Luke and Sarah moved in. Additional costs incurred by them included construction of a road for $15,000, sinking a dam at a cost of $30,000 and connection of electricity at a cost of $40,000. They financed the new property with a home loan of $450,000 payable over 30 years at a rate of 4.20%.

Luke and Sarah began a horse agistment business in January 2015 to which they allocated 20 acres of their property. They constructed fencing to create smaller paddocks, built shade shelters and installed water troughs at a total cost of $80,000. To fund the cost of the improvements they took out a small business loan for $80,000 payable over 10 years at a rate of 5.30%.

In October 2019, Luke was offered a promotion in his job which required them to re-locate to Queensland. They listed the rural property for sale and in December 2019 it sold for an amount of $850,000 with settlement occurring in January 2020 at which time Luke and Sarah moved to Queensland.

Required

Advise Luke and Sarah of the taxation consequences of selling the rural property including whether any taxation exemptions or concessions may apply. You do not need to calculate the amount of any resulting capital gain or loss .

Suppose Elon Musk has an existing business making electric bicycles. Sales are so strong that he is considering selling his existing factory and replacing it with a new factory.   Assuming the following, what is the NPV of the project and is it financially worthwhile? (12 points available; 9                                                    points gets full credit toward final score)

a. The current factory can be sold for $200mm; it has a tax value of $100mm. The current factory produces annual after tax cash flow of $50mm.   Elon believe that after six years from now, the existing factory would have a resale value of $10mm which would also be its tax value.

b. A new bicycle factory can be built for $500mm and equipment will cost $400mm plus installation costs of $100mm. Assume the plant and equipment can be built and operational on day one.

c. Expect incremental working capital needs (starting on day one) of $50mm of Accounts Receivable and $75mm of Inventory; expect an incremental $25mm of Accounts Payable.

d. He initially projects after-tax cash flows of $275mm per year for eight years occurring on the last day of each year, starting at the end of year one and finishing after eight years of operations. This cash flow is for the new project alone (remember you are no longer going to have the cash flow from the current factory if you do the new project)

e. Now assume that after six years, Elon gets bored and liquidates the business. Assume the working capital is liquidated and the PP&E is sold for $200mm (assume it had been depreciated to $150mm.

f. Assume a tax rate of 30% and a cost of capital is 17%.

g. For an optional extra 2 points (potentially 14 total points for this problem 12), what is the IRR of the project?

Luke and Sarah lived in a house in Albury where they both had permanent jobs. In July 2012 they purchased a rural block of 30 acres for $160,000 with the intention of building a house and moving out of town. In September 2012 they listed their house in Albury for sale at $570,000, however given a downturn in the market the house remained unsold until March 2014 when they finally accepted an offer of $460,000. Settlement took place in April 2014 and they commenced construction on the new house in May 2014. Whilst the house was being built Luke and Sarah rented the Albury house back from the new owners at an amount of $480 per week.

In November 2014 the new house was completed at a cost of $410,000 and Luke and Sarah moved in. Additional costs incurred by them included construction of a road for $15,000, sinking a dam at a cost of $30,000 and connection of electricity at a cost of $40,000. They financed the new property with a home loan of $450,000 payable over 30 years at a rate of 4.20%.

Luke and Sarah began a horse agistment business in January 2015 to which they allocated 20 acres of their property. They constructed fencing to create smaller paddocks, built shade shelters and installed water troughs at a total cost of $80,000. To fund the cost of the improvements they took out a small business loan for $80,000 payable over 10 years at a rate of 5.30%.

In October 2019, Luke was offered a promotion in his job which required them to re-locate to Queensland. They listed the rural property for sale and in December 2019 it sold for an amount of $850,000 with settlement occurring in January 2020 at which time Luke and Sarah moved to Queensland.

Required

Advise Luke and Sarah of the taxation consequences of selling the rural property including whether any taxation exemptions or concessions may apply. You do not need to calculate the amount of any resulting capital gain or loss .

MaxiCare Corporation, a not-for-profit organization, specializes in health care for senior citizens. Management is considering whether to expand operations by opening a new chain of care centers in the inner city of large metropolitan areas. For a new facility, initial cash outlays for lease, renovations, net working capital, training, and other costs are expected to be about $19 million. The corporation expects the cash inflows of each new facility in its first year of operation to equal the initial investment outlay for the facility. Net cash inflows are expected to increase to $3.0 million in each of years 2 and 3; $2.5 million in year 4; and $3.0 million in each of years 5 through 10. The lease agreement for the facility will expire at the end of year 10, and MaxiCare expects the cost to close a facility will pretty much exhaust all cash proceeds from the disposal. Cost of capital for MaxiCare is estimated as 12%. Assume that all cash flows occur at year end.

Required:

1. Compute (using the built-in NPV function in Excel) the net present value (NPV) the proposed investment. (Negative amount should be indicated by a minus sign. Enter your answer in whole dollars, not in millions, rounded to nearest whole dollar.)

2. Compute (using the built-in IRR function in Excel) the internal rate of return (IRR) for the proposed investment. (Round your final answer 2 decimal places. (i.e. .1234 = 12.34%))

3. What is the breakeven selling price for this investment, that is, the price that would yield an NPV of $0? (Use the Goal Seek function in Excel to determine the breakeven selling price. The following online tutorial may be helpful to you: Goal Seek Tutorial.) (Enter your answer in whole dollars, not in millions, rounded to nearest whole dollar.)

Use this constant dictionary as a global variable:

tile_dict = { 'A': 1, 'B': 3, 'C': 3, 'D': 2, 'E': 1, 'F': 4, 'G': 2, 'H': 4, 'I': 1, 'J': 8, 'K': 5, 'L': 1, 'M': 3, 'N': 1, 'O': 1, 'P': 3, 'Q': 10, 'R': 1, 'S': 1, 'T': 1, 'U': 1, 'V': 4, 'W': 4, 'X': 8, 'Y': 4, 'Z': 10 }

Implement function scrabblePoints(word) that returns the calculated points for the word based on the tile_dict above. The word parameter is a string. This function takes the string and evaluates the points based on each letter in the word (points per letter is set by the global dictionary). P or p is worth the same points. No points calculated for anything that is not A-Z or a-z.

[You may use upper() and isalpha() ONLY and no other method or built-in function]

Examples:

word = “PYTHON”

print(scrabblePoints(word))

returns:

14

word = “hello!!”

print(scrabblePoints(word))

returns:

8

word = “@#$=!!”

print(scrabblePoints(word))

returns:

0

Note: This function relies on scrabblePoints. Function you solved in Question 2.

Implement function declareWinner(player1Word = “skip”, player2Word = “skip”) that returns either “Player 1 Wins!”, “Player 2 Wins!”, “It’s a Tie”, “Player 1 Skipped Round”, “Player 2 Skipped Round”, “Both Players Skipped Round”. The player1Word and player2Word parameters are both type string. Assume input is always valid. This function should call on the function scrabblePoints to earn credit.

[No built-in function or method needed]

Examples:

player1Word = “PYTHON”

player2Word = “Pizza”

     print(declareWinner(player1Word, player2Word))

     returns:           

     Player 2 Wins!

              print(declareWinner(player1Word))

              returns:           

              Player 2 Skipped Round

Suppose that you work for Camden Property Trust (Links to an external site.), a multi-family REIT in the southern US, and that your company wants to add another apartment building to its investment portfolio. After conducting a thorough market analysis, you have narrowed your search to three properties located in different areas in Houston, Texas. All of the properties have a similar number of units, and the units are also similar with regard to mix and sizes. The primary differences is the supply and demand in the different market areas, and the consideration of newer versus older properties

Option 1: The first property is currently built and operating in a middle income area that has a shortage of housing. At this time, the building has no vacancy, but there are some new apartments being built nearby that will soon be competing with this property. This is the oldest property, and will likely be impacted by the new construction in the area that may take away tenants.

Option 2: The second property is currently under construction, and is being sold because the developer has run out of money, and is unable to finish the project. However, it is likely that your firm could complete the building at a favorable per-unit cost. The market area is close to equilibrium, but with some excess supply, and the completion of this property would add even more. However, it would be a new building – something that is often attractive to potential tenants.

Option 3: The third property currently has a relatively high vacancy rate. However, the market area has become an increasingly desirable area to live and demand is expected to grow. There is also little threat of new competition here because there are no sites available to build additional apartment complexes. Given these vacancy considerations, which property would you choose? Are there other investment factors that may be impacted by these considerations?

please use python to solve this problem.

Math and String operations
Write a script to perform various basic math and string operations. Use some functions from Python's math module. Generate formatted output.

Basic math and string operations
Calculate and print the final value of each variable.

a equals 3 to the power of 2.5
b equals 2 b equals b + 3 (use +=)
c equals 12 c = c divided by 4 (use /=)
d equals the remainder of 5 divided by 3
Built-in functions abs, round, and min
Use abs, round, and min to calculate some values. These are all Python built in functions (see: BIF ).

Print the difference between 5 and 7.
Print 3.14159 rounded to 4 decimal places.
Print 186282 rounded to the nearest hundred.
Print the minimum of 6, -9, -3, 0
Functions from the math module
Use some functions from Pythons math module to perform some calculations.

Ask the user for a number (test with the value 7.6).
Print the square root of the number, rounded to two decimal places (include an appropriate description).
Print the base-10 log of the number, rounded to two decimal places (include an appropriate description)
(see https://docs.python.org/3/library/math.html).
Complex numbers
Do a calculation with complex numbers. Note that, while you might be familiar with the notation convention commonly used within mathematics for complex numbers (z = a + bi), Python uses the notation convention used in electromagnetism and electrical engineering (z = a + bj).

Assign z1 the value of 4 + 3j
Assign z2 the value of 2 + 2j
Assign z3 the value of z1 times z2
Print the value of z3
Add the following at the end of the script to show your results

10) (1 point) A manufacturer of electronic kits has found that the mean time required for novices to assemble its new circuit tester is 2.7 hours, with a standard deviation of 0.8 hours. A consultant has developed a new instructional booklet intended to reduce the time an inexperienced kit builder will need to assemble the device and the manufacturer needs to decide whether or not to send out the new booklet.

The testable hypotheses in this situation are H0:μ=2.7H0:μ=2.7 vs HA:μ<2.7HA:μ<2.7.

1. Identify the consequences of making a Type I error.
A. The manufacturer sends out a helpful instructional booklet.
B. The manufacturer does not send out a helpful instructional booklet.
C. The manufacturer sends out an unhelpful instructional booklet.
D. The manufacturer does not send out an unhelpful instructional booklet.

2. Identify the consequences of making a Type II error.
A. The manufacturer sends out an unhelpful instructional booklet.
B. The manufacturer does not send out a helpful instructional booklet.
C. The manufacturer sends out a helpful instructional booklet.
D. The manufacturer does not send out an unhelpful instructional booklet.

To monitor the assembly time of inexperienced kit builders using the booklet, the manufacturer is going to take a random sample of 10 novices and calculate the mean time to assemble the circuit tester. If it is less than 2.6, they will send out the new instructional booklet. Assume the population standard deviation is 0.8 hours.

3. What is the probability that the manufacturer will make a Type I error using this decision rule? Round your answer to four decimal places.

4. Using this decision rule, what is the power of the test if the actual mean time to assemble the circuit tester is 2.1 hours? That is, what is the probability they will reject H0H0 when the actual average time is 2.1 hours? Round your answer to four decimal places.

(Please answer number 4)

Please read the case provided below and answer the following question:

COMPANY Case: Porsche: Guarding the Old While Bringing in the New

Porsche (pronounced Porsh-uh) is a unique company. It has always been a niche brand that makes cars for a small and distinctive segment of automobile buyers. In 2009, Porsche sold only 27,717 cars in the five models it sells in the United States. Honda sold about 10 times that many Accords alone. But Porsche owners are as rare as their vehicles. For that reason, top managers at Porsche spend a great deal of time thinking about customers. They want to know who their customers are, what they think, and how they feel. They want to know why they buy a Porsche rather then a Jaguar, a Ferrari, or a big Mercedes coupe. These are challenging questions to answer; even Porsche owners themselves don’t know exactly what motivates their buying. But given Porsche’s low volume and the increasingly fragmented auto market, it is imperative that management understands its customers and what gets their motors running.

Since its early days, Porsche has appealed to a very narrow segment of financially successful people. These are achievers who see themselves as entrepreneurial, even if they work for a corporation. They set very high goals for themselves and then work doggedly to meet them. And they expect no less from the clothes they wear, the restaurants they go to, or the cars they drive. These individuals see themselves not as a part of the regular world but as exceptions to it. They buy Porsches because the car mirrors their self-image; it stands for the things owners like to see in themselves and their lives.

Most of us buy what Porsche executives call utility vehicles. That is, we buy cars primarily to go to work, transport children, and run errands. Because we use our cars to accomplish these daily tasks, we base buying decisions on features such as price, size, fuel economy, and other practical considerations. But Porsche is more than a utility car. Its owners see it as a car to be enjoyed, not just used. Most Porsche buyers are not moved by information but by feelings. A Porsche is like a piece of clothing—something the owner “wears” and is seen in. They develop a personal relationship with their cars, one that has more to do with the way the car sounds, vibrates, and feels, rather than the how many cup holders it has or how much cargo it can hold in the trunk. They admire their Porsche because it is a competent performance machine without being flashy or phony.

People buy Porsches because they enjoy driving. If all they needed was something to get them from point A to point B, they could find something much less expensive. And while many Porsche owners are car enthusiasts, some of them are not. One successful businesswoman and owner of a high-end Porsche said, “When I drive this car to the high school to pick up my daughter, I end up with five youngsters in the car. If I drive any other car, I can’t even find her; she doesn’t want to come home.”

For its first few decades, Porsche AG lived by the philosophy of Ferry Porsche, Ferdinand’s son. Ferry created the Porsche 356 because no one else made a car like he wanted. But as the years rolled on, Porsche management became concerned with a significant issue: Were there enough Porsche buyers to keep the company afloat? Granted, the company never had illusions of churning out the numbers of a Chevrolet or a Toyota. But to fund innovation, even a niche manufacturer has to grow a little. And Porsche began to worry that the quirky nature of the people who buy Porsches might just run out on them.

This led Porsche to extend its brand outside the box. In the early 1970s, Porsche introduced the 914, a square-ish, mid-engine, two-seater that was much cheaper than the 911. This meant that a different class of people could afford a Porsche. It was no surprise that the 914 became Porsche’s top selling model. By the late 1970s, Porsche replaced the 914 with a hatchback coupe that had something no other regular Porsche model had ever had: an engine in the front. At less than $20,000, more than $10,000 less than the 911, the 924 and later 944 models were once again Porsche’s pitch to affordability. At one point, Porsche increased its sales goal by nearly 50 percent to 60,000 cars a year.

Although these cars were in many respects sales successes, the Porsche faithful cried foul. They considered these entry-level models to be cheap and underperforming. Most loyalists never really accepted these models as “real” Porsches. In fact, they were not at all happy that they had to share their brand with a customer who didn’t fit the Porsche owner profile. They were turned off by what they saw as a corporate strategy that had focused on mass over class marketing. This tarnished image was compounded by the fact that Nissan, Toyota, BMW, and other car manufacturers had ramped up high-end sports car offerings, creating some fierce competition. In fact, both the Datsun 280-ZX and the Toyota Supra were not only cheaper than Porsche’s 944 but also faster. A struggling economy threw more sand in Porsche’s tank. By 1990, Porsche sales had plummeted, and the company flirted with bankruptcy.

But Porsche wasn’t going down without a fight. It quickly recognized the error of its ways and halted production of the entry-level models. It rebuilt its damaged image by revamping its higher-end model lines with more race-bred technology. In an effort to regain rapport with customers, Porsche once again targeted the high end of the market in both price and performance. It set modest sales goals and decided that moderate growth with higher margins would be more profitable in the long term. Thus, the company set out to make one less Porsche than the public demanded. According to one executive, “We’re not looking for volume; we’re searching for exclusivity.”

Porsche’s efforts had the desired effect. By the late 1990s, the brand was once again favored by the same type of achiever who had so deeply loved the car for decades. The cars were once again exclusive. And the company was once again profitable. But by the early 2000s, Porsche management was again asking itself a familiar question: To have a sustainable future, could Porsche rely on only the Porsche faithful? According to then CEO Wendelin Wiedeking, “For Porsche to remain independent, it can’t be dependent on the most fickle segment in the market. We don’t want to become just a marketing department of some giant. We have to make sure we’re profitable enough to pay for future development ourselves.”

So in 2002, Porsche did the unthinkable. It became one of the last car companies to jump into the insatiable sport utility vehicle (SUV) market. At roughly 5,000 pounds, the new Porsche Cayenne was heavier than anything that Porsche had ever made, with the exception of some prototype tanks it made during WWII. Once again, the new model featured an engine up front. And it was the first Porsche to ever be equipped with seatbelts for five. As news spread about the car’s development, howls could be heard from Porsche’s customer base.

But this time, Porsche did not seem too concerned that the loyalists would be put off. Could it be that the company had already forgotten what happened the last time it deviated from the mold? After driving one of the first Cayenne’s off the assembly line, one journalist stated, “A day at the wheel of the 444 horsepower Cayenne Turbo leaves two overwhelming impressions. First, the Cayenne doesn’t behave or feel like an SUV, and second, it drives like a Porsche.” This was no entry-level car. Porsche had created a two-and-a-half ton beast that could accelerate to 60 miles per hour in just over five seconds, corner like it was on rails, and hit 165 miles per hour, all while coddling five adults in sumptuous leather seats with almost no wind noise from the outside world. On top of that, it could keep up with a Land Rover when the pavement ended. Indeed, Porsche had created the Porsche of SUVs.

Last year, Porsche upped the ante one more time. It unveiled another large vehicle. But this time, it was a low-slung, five-door luxury sedan. The Porsche faithful and the automotive press again gasped in disbelief. But by the time the Panamera hit the pavement, Porsche had proven once again that Porsche customers could have their cake and eat it to. The Panamera is almost as big as the Cayenne but can move four adults down the road at speeds of up to 188 miles per hour and accelerate from a standstill to 60 miles per hour in four seconds flat.

Although some Porsche traditionalists would never be caught dead driving a front engine Porsche that has more than two doors, Porsche insists that two trends will sustain these new models. First, a category of Porsche buyers has moved into life stages that have them facing inescapable needs; they need to haul more people and stuff. This not only applies to certain regular Porsche buyers, but Porsche is again seeing buyers enter its dealerships that otherwise wouldn’t have. Only this time, the price points of the new vehicles are drawing only the well heeled, allowing Porsche to maintain its exclusivity. These buyers also seem to fit the achiever profile of regular Porsche buyers.

The second trend is the growth of emerging economies. Whereas the United States has long been the world’s biggest consumer of Porsches, the company expects China to become its biggest customer before too long. Twenty years ago, the United States accounted for about 50 percent of Porsche’s worldwide sales. Now, it accounts for only about 26 percent. In China, many people who can afford to buy a car as expensive as a Porsche also hire a chauffeur. The Cayenne and the Panamera are perfect for those who want to be driven around in style but who may also want to make a quick getaway if necessary.

The most recent economic downturn has brought down the sales of just about every maker of premium automobiles. When times are tough, buying a car like a Porsche is the ultimate deferrable purchase. But as this downturn turns back up, Porsche is better poised than it has ever been to meet the needs of its customer base. It is also in better shape than ever to maintain its brand image with the Porsche faithful and with others as well. Sure, understanding Porsche buyers is still a difficult task. But a former CEO of Porsche summed it up this way: “If you really want to understand our customers, you have to understand the phrase, ‘If I were going to be a car, I’d be a Porsche.’

4 Questions – Answer

1. Distinguish between the concepts of Needs, Wants and Demands, out of the three concepts which one you can relate it to Porsche customers . Briefly explain the concept of core competency , in your opinion what are the core competencies of Porsche.

2. Define and explain the concept of brand personality, describe the brand personality of Porsche brand in general, please justify your answers

3. Using relevant theory Analyze the buyer decision process of the Porsche Cayenne customer.

4. Identify, explain and justify the main consumer behaviour characteristics that influences the Porche buyers.