Russia’s Alternative Currency Bonds.

On March 17, 2018, the Russian Federation issued USD 4bn in eurobonds (what are they?) with an unusual provision. The issuer reserves the right pay bondholders principal and interest in EUR, GBP, or CHF should the Russian Federation be unable to make payment in USD for “for reasons beyond its control..”

Working for the chief investment officer (CInvO) of NoNaCaPa (No-Name Capital Partners), a prominent hedge fund, you are analyzing the bonds to determine what their risk and rewards are.    Your company is USD based but not averse to taking on foreign currency risk to enhance a position’s return potential. Your starting point is the attached Financial Times article which you supplement by your own research. In particular, you wonder about the alternative-currency clause in the indenture (debt contract) and how it might affect the investment performance of the bonds.

(a) Research dual- or multiple-currency debt securities which are typically issued in the eurobond market.

• What do they consist of?   How can you unbundle the bonds into its constituent parts?

• What are eurobonds?

(b) In comparison to multiple curency bonds, what does the alternative currency payment provision effectively amount to?

(c) What motivates the alternative currency payment provision and how does it affect the pricing of the bonds?

(d) What risk factors do investors face?   Present the risks in tabular form distinguishing between financial from nonfinancial risks which obviously translate into financial risks at a later stage. Identify each risk’s origin and nature,who bears it, its impact on bond pricing, and whether and how investors can hedge or not against it.

(e) What investment recommendation would you give to your CInvO? Explain your advice and motivate your investment thesis, i.e., the rationale why or why not you should participate in the transaction.

• What psychological factors might contribute to the memory failures of the eyewitnesses?
  • Think about what the witnesses said regarding their experiences and note relevant psychological components like emotion, attention, and perceptual processes!
• What are some of the most important things to try and remember if you end up witnessing a crime?
• How much should we rely on eye-witness testimony?
• What would an eye witness need to provide to help boost your confidence in their individual report of an event?

Sealing Company manufactures three types of DVD storage units. Each of the three types requires the use of a special machine that has a total operating capacity of 15,000 hours per year. Information on the three types of storage units is as follows:

Basic              Standard       Deluxe

Selling price                        $9.00              $30.00           $35.00

Variable cost                        $6.00              $20.00           $10.00

Machine hours required       0.10                 0.50                0.75

Sealing Company's marketing director has assessed demand for the three types of storage units and believes that the firm can sell as many units as it can produce.

Required:

1. How many of each type of unit should be produced and sold to maximize the company's contribution margin? What is the total contribution margin for your selection?

2. Now suppose that Sealing Company believes that it can sell no more than 12,000 of the deluxe model but up to 50,000 each of the basic and standard models at the selling prices estimated. What product mix would you recommend, and what would be the total contribution margin?

Assuming you were a public figure trying to engage the citizens to become more participatory what audience would you target and why? What would be some innovative ways to get the attention for your targeted audience to listen to what you have to say?

Why do you think it is more important to differentiate yourself as a company when dealing with business to business transactions and customers than business to consumer customers?

#######################################################################################################
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###########################################################
#############################using python###################
###########################################################
 
#  RQ1
from operator import add, sub
def a_plus_abs_b(a, b):
    """Return a+abs(b), but without calling abs.

    >>> a_plus_abs_b(2, 3)
    5
    >>> a_plus_abs_b(2, -3)
    5
    """
    if b < 0:
        f = _____
    else:
        f = _____
    return f(a, b)


#  RQ2
def two_of_three(a, b, c):
    """Return x*x + y*y, where x and y are the two largest members of the
    positive numbers a, b, and c.

    >>> two_of_three(1, 2, 3)
    13
    >>> two_of_three(5, 3, 1)
    34
    >>> two_of_three(10, 2, 8)
    164
    >>> two_of_three(5, 5, 5)
    50
    """
    return _____

Please answer the following questions in complete sentences.

1. Why do employees resist change?

2. How can managers facilitate change in an organization?

Cornerstone Exercise 4.5 (Algorithmic)

Activity-Based Product Costing

Roberts Company produces two weed eaters: basic and advanced. The company has four activities: machining, engineering, receiving, and inspection. Information on these activities and their drivers is given below.

Required:

1. Calculate the four activity rates.

2. Calculate the unit costs using activity rates. Round your answers to the nearest cent.

Calculate the overhead cost per unit. Round your answers to the nearest cent.

3. What if consumption ratios instead of activity rates were used to assigned costs? Show the cost assignment for the inspection activity.

#  RQ3
def largest_factor(n):
    """Return the largest factor of n that is smaller than n.

    >>> largest_factor(15) # factors are 1, 3, 5
    5
    >>> largest_factor(80) # factors are 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 16, 20, 40
    40
    """
    "*** YOUR CODE HERE ***"


         
#  RQ4
#  Write functions c, t, and f such that calling the with_if_statement and
#  calling the with_if_function do different things.
#  In particular, write the functions (c,t,f) so that calling  with_if_statement function returns the integer number 1, 
#  but calling the with_if_function function throws a ZeroDivisionError.

def if_function(condition, true_result, false_result):
    """Return true_result if condition is a true value, and
    false_result otherwise.

    >>> if_function(True, 2, 3)
    2
    >>> if_function(False, 2, 3)
    3
    >>> if_function(3==2, 3+2, 3-2)
    1
    >>> if_function(3>2, 3+2, 3-2)
    5
    """
    if condition:
        return true_result
    else:
        return false_result


def with_if_statement():
    """
    >>> with_if_statement()
    1
    """
    if c():
        return t()
    else:
        return f()

def with_if_function():
    return if_function(c(), t(), f())

def c():
    "*** YOUR CODE HERE ***"

def t():
    "*** YOUR CODE HERE ***"

def f():
    "*** YOUR CODE HERE ***"

Another manager wants to evaluate an internal process that would be used to produce the new product. The fixed and variable costs and capacities for each process are listed below. Utilize this information to answer questions 3-4.

3. What are the low-cost output ranges for each alternative given the cost info and capacity info above? (showALL pertinent math and relevant ranges below (on both the 0-∞ continuum and in table). (5 pts)

   0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------∞ Math Area:

Answer: _______________ Explanation: ______________________________________________

4) If demand was expected to range between 5,000 and 13,000 for the next 10 years, which process would you select? Explain in one sentence. (1 pt)

McCormick & Company is considering a project that requires an initial investment of $24 million to build a new plant and purchase equipment. The investment will be depreciated as a modified accelerated cost recovery system (MACRS) seven-year class asset. The new plant will be built on some of the company's land, which has a current, after-tax market value of $4.3 million. The company will produce bulk units at a cost of $130 each and will sell them for $420 each. There are annual fixed costs of $500,000. Unit sales are expected to be $150,000 each year for the next six years, at which time the project will be abandoned. At that time, the plant and equipment is expected to be worth $8 million (before tax) and the land is expected to be worth $5.4 million (after tax).To supplement the production process, the company will need to purchase $1 million worth of inventory. That inventory will be depleted during the final year of the project. The company has $100 million of debt outstanding with a yield to maturity of 8 percent, and has $150 million of equity outstanding with a beta of 0.9. The expected market return is 13 percent, and the risk-free rate is 5 percent. The company's marginal tax rate is 40 percent.

Questions Below

5. What is the total operating cash flows, given the following operating cash flows:

Sales = 150,000 x $420 = $63,000,000

Costs = 150,000 x $130 + $500,000 = $20,000,000

6. Create an after-tax cash flow timeline.

7. What are the total expected cash flows at the end of year six? The $4.3 million is an opportunity cost and must be included at date zero as a cash outflow. If the project is accepted, however, the land can be sold in six years for $5.4 million.

Here are some questions and their answers. I would appreciate it if someone could explain to me step by step how to get the answer?

1) A student pipets 25 mL of propanoic acid from a stock container labeled 0.18 M propanoic acid. The student then dilutes the 25 mL to 100 mL with distilled water. He labels the bottle of 100 mL of propanoic acid with what concentration? The answer for this is 0.045M propanoic acid, but can someone show step by step how to get to this answer?

2) Which of the following three salts would be acidic if dissolved in water: I. KCN II. NH4Br III. C2H5NH3Cl
answer: II and III only (how and why???)

3) What is the OH− concentration in Drano, a common drain cleaner that has a pH of 12.3 at 25oC? Answer: 0.02 M

4) What is the hydronium ion concentration (x) in a 1.23M solution of hypochlorous acid (HOCl) at 25oC. Answer: sqrt 1.23 ∗ 3.5x10^-8

5) The two acid dissociation constants for sulfurous acid, H2SO3, are 1.3× 10–2 and 6.3× 10–8 at 25oC. The base constant, Kb, for HSO3– is:7.7 × 10^–13

In Java, write the method public static void insertUnique(List l, T e), user of the ADT List. The method takes a list l and an element e and inserts the element at the end of the list only if it is not already there. Example 0.2. If l : A → B → C, then after calling insertUnique(l, "C"), the list does not change. Calling insertUnique(l, "D") will make l be : A → B → C → D.