Which of the following statements is correct? a. most sinking funds require the issuer to provide funds to a trustee, who saves the money so that it will be available to pay off bondholders when the bonds mature. b. a sinking fund provision makes a bond more risky to investors at the time of issuance. c. if interest rates have increased since a company issued bonds with a sinking fund, the company is less likely to retire the bonds by buying them back in the open market, as opposed to calling them in at the sinking fund call price. d. sinking fund provisions sometimes turn out to adversely affect bondholders, and this is most likely to occur if interest rates decline after the bond has been issued. e. sinking fund provisions never require companies to retire their debt; they only establish "targets" for the company to reduce its debt over time.

Jameson manages a well-known cell phone company. this company has been voted as having the best cell-phone service. consumers appreciate the fact that they can call from almost anywhere in the world and the service still gets through. jameson knows that the company's product far surpasses that of the competition. one thing has been bothering him, though. in order to put so many resources into ensuring the best service, jameson has cut back on employees at the firm's customer call center. recently, consumers have begun complaining about long wait times when they call in with a problem or concern. although its cell phone service is still considered one of the best, customer satisfaction with the firm's customer service has plummeted. jameson does not understand why consumers are getting so upset. he believes the exceptional cell phone service more than makes up for long waiting periods and other issues with its customer service. "after all," he says, "they can't have it all. if i invest more in customer service, that means less investment on ensuring the quality of our product offering."refer to scenario. jameson has asked you, a marketing consultant, to give him advice. he cannot understand how a cell-phone company with the best product offering in the cell-phone service industry could get such low satisfaction ratings simply because the customer service is not up to par. you suggest that jameson has a narrowly defined view of the company's product offering. you tell jameson that successful marketers should define their products as what they

Annuity payments are assumed to come at the end of each payment period (termed an ordinary annuity). however, an exception occurs when the annuity payments come at the beginning of each period (termed an annuity due). what is the future value of a 13-year annuity of $2,800 per period where payments come at the beginning of each period? the interest rate is 9 percent. use appendix c for an approximate answer, but calculate your final answer using the formula and financial calculator methods. to find the future value of an annuity due when using the appendix tables, add 1 to n and subtract 1 from the tabular value. for example, to find the future value of a $100 payment at the beginning of each period for five periods at 10 percent, go to appendix c for n = 6 and i = 10 percent. look up the value of 7.716 and subtract 1 from it for an answer of 6.716 or $671.60 ($100 × 6.716)

(05.04 mc) a 2012 report from the u. s. surgeon general stated: "another common practice is strategically locating tobacco-related marketing materials where young children will be exposed to them. tobacco industry executives acknowledge that products and advertising should be placed at eye level (pollay 2007), but in california, 48% of stores had at least one cigarette marketing item at or below 3 feet from the floor (feighery et al. 2001)." it was also noted that 25% of cigarette displays were next to candy. in addition, a national study found that about one-third of the stores had tobacco ads at low heights. after california banned counter displays, some stores place cigarettes in transparent displays so product brands could still be seen. why did some stores use transparent units to display the cigarettes? (3 points) to comply with the new rules while still encouraging cigarette purchases via visual exposure to ensure children and minors are not exposed to cigarettes and their eye-catching packaging to minimize exposure to humidity, extending the shelf life of the cigarettes' tobacco to reduce the occurrence of shoplifting, since cigarettes are high-revenue items