Why might individuals want to participate in the financial market?

Suppose you win a small lottery and have the choice of two ways to be paid: you can accept the money in a lump sum or in a series of payments over time. if you pick the lump sum, you get $2,950 today. if you pick payments over time, you get three payments: $1,000 today, $1,000 1 year from today, and $1,000 2 years from today. 1) at an interest rate of 6% per year, the winner would be better off accepting the (lump sum / payments over time), since it has the greater present value. 2) at an interest rate of 9% per year, the winner would be better off accepting the (lump sum / payments over time), since it has the greater present value. 3) years after you win the lottery, a friend in another country calls to ask your advice. by wild coincidence, she has just won another lottery with the same payout schemes. she must make a quick decision about whether to collect her money under the lump sum or the payments over time. what is the best advice to give your friend? a) the lump sum is always better. b) the payments over time are always better. c) it will depend on the interest rate; advise her to get a calculator. d) none of these answers is good advice.

In june 2009, at the trough of the great recession, the bureau of labor statistics announced that of all adult americans, 140,196,000 were employed, 14,729,000 were unemployed and 80,729,000 were not in the labor force. use this information to calculate: a. the adult population b. the labor force c. the labor-force participation rate d. the unemployment rate

The master manufacturing company has just announced a tender offer for its own common stock. master is offering to buy up to 100% of the company's stock at $20 per share contingent on at least 64% of the outstanding shares being tendered. after the announcement of the offer, the stock closed on the nyse up 2.50 at $18.75. a customer has 100 shares of master stock in his cash account. the customer tells you that he wishes to "cash out" his position. you should recommend that the customer: