The Overstock-Grant Thornton dispute was publicly aired via disclosure statement filed with the SEC. What impact do you believe those disclosures had on the investing public's confidence in the financial reporting domain and the independent audit function? Were the interactions between Overstock and Grant Thornton unprofessional or other wise inappropriate? Explain.

John novosel was employed by nationwide insurance company for fifteen years. novosel had been a model employee and, at the time of discharge, was a district claims manager and a candidate for the position of division claims manager. during novosel's fifteenth year of employment, nationwide circulated a memorandum requesting the participation of all employees in an effort to lobby the pennsylvania state legislature for the passage of a certain bill before the body. novosel, who had privately indicated his disagreement with nationwide's political views, refused to lend his support to the lobby, and his employment with nationwide was terminated. novosel brought two separate claims against nationwide, arguing, first, that his discharge for refusing to lobby the state legislature on behalf of nationwide constituted the tort of wrongful discharge in that it was arbitrary, malicious, and contrary to public policy. novosel also contended that nationwide breached an implied contract guaranteeing continued employment so long as his job performance was satisfactory. what decision as to each claim?

Afinancial institution, the thriftem bank, is in the process of formulating its loan policy for the next quarter. a total of $12 million is allocated for that purpose. being a full-service facility, the bank is obligated to grant loans to different clientele. the following table provides the types of loans, the interest rate charged by the bank, and the possibility of bad debt as estimated from past experience. type of loaninterest rateprobability of bad debtpersonal.140.10car.130.07home.1 20.03farm.125.05commercial.100.02 bad debts are assumed unrecoverable and hence produce no interest revenue either. competition with other financial institutions in the area requires that the bank allocate at least 40% of the total funds to farm and commercial loans. to assist the housing industry in the region, home loans must equal at least 50% of the personal, car, and home loans. the bank also has a stated policy specifying that the overall ratio for bad debts on all loans may not exceed .04. formulate this problem as a linear program. define your variables clearly and write all the constraints explaining the significance of each.

Jennifer purchased a house in a brand new development in the outskirts of town. when her house was built, the nearest fire department was nearly 20 miles away. as her neighborhood developed, the density of the community called for a new fire department 1.5 miles away. what effect will the new fire station have on her homeowners insurance premium? a. a new fire department will be more demanding on local taxes. her annual premium will go up. b. the location of a fire department has no bearing on the value of her house. her annual premium will stay the same. c. the new fire department will reduce the risk of financial loss in her home. her annual premium should decrease. d. with a fire department so close (less than 5 miles), financial risk on jennifer’s home practically disappears. she will not need to pay insurance anymore.