Over the last few months, Jose and his colleagues have analyzed the current business situation and identified target markets for his firm's personal care products. Finally, they developed the products, prices, distribution, and promotion that should appeal to each of those target markets. In doing so, Jose has also identified what he believes is an advantage his competitors cannot match. Jose and his colleagues have been developing?

How can a poor housing market put home buyers in a financially unstable position? a. changing property values means it’s easier to find homes with low rental costs. b. when the home value decreases, property taxes and insurance costs increase. c. houses are valued lower than their purchase prices, so the home equity decreases. d. home buyers lose all tax benefits and tax incentives when the housing market goes down. e. mortgage payments can increase even though the home value decreases.

The gilbert instrument corporation is considering replacing the wood steamer it currently uses to shape guitar sides. the steamer has 6 years of remaining life. if kept, the steamer will have depreciaiton expenses of $650 for five years and $325 for the sixthyear. its current book value is $3,575, and it can be sold on an internet auction site for$4,150 at this time. if the old steamer is not replaced, it can be sold for $800 at the endof its useful life. gilbert is considering purchasing the side steamer 3000, a higher-end steamer, whichcosts $12,000 and has an estimated useful life of 6 years with an estimated salvage value of$1,500. this steamer falls into the macrs 5-year class, so the applicable depreciationrates are 20.00%, 32.00%, 19.20%, 11.52%, 11.52%, and 5.76%. the new steamer is fasterand allows for an output expansion, so sales would rise by $2,000 per year; the newmachine's much greater efficiency would reduce operating expenses by $1,900 per year. to support the greater sales, the new machine would require that inventories increase by$2,900, but accounts payable would simultaneously increase by $700. gilbert's marginalfederal-plus-state tax rate is 40%, and its wacc is 15%.a. should it replace the old steamer? b. npv of replace = $2,083.51

Exercise 2-12 cost behavior; high-low method [lo2-3, lo2-4] speedy parcel service operates a fleet of delivery trucks in a large metropolitan area. a careful study by the company’s cost analyst has determined that if a truck is driven 120,000 miles during a year, the average operating cost is 11.6 cents per mile. if a truck is driven only 80,000 miles during a year, the average operating cost increases to 13.6 cents per mile. required: 1.& 2. using the high-low method, estimate the variable and fixed cost elements of the annual cost of truck operation. (round the "variable cost per mile" to 3 decimal places.)