In addition to the information in exercise 29 on the S&P 500 and core bonds, J.P. Morgan Asset Management reported that the expected return for real estate investment trusts ( REITs) during the same time period was 13.07% with a standard deviation of 23.17% (J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Guide to the Markets). The correlation between the S&P 500 and REITs is .74 and the correlation between core bonds and REITs is −.04. You are considering portfolio investments that are composed of an S&P 500 index fund and REITs as well as portfolio investments composed of a core bonds fund and REITs. a. Using the information provided here and in exercise 29, determine the covariance between the S&P 500 and REITs and between core bonds and REITs. b. Construct a portfolio that is 50% invested in an S&P 500 fund and 50% invested in REITs. In percentage terms, what are the expected return and standard deviation for such a portfolio? c. Construct a portfolio that is 50% invested in a core bonds fund and 50% invested in REITs. In percentage terms, what are the expected return and standard deviation for such a portfolio? d. Construct a portfolio that is 80% invested in a core bonds fund and 20% invested in REITs. In percentage terms, what are the expected return and standard deviation for such a portfolio? e. Which of the portfolios in parts (b), (c), and (d) would you recommend to an aggressive investor? Which would you recommend to a conservative investor? Why?
> Comcast Corporation is a global telecommunications company headquartered in Philadelphia, PA. Generally known for reliable service, the company periodically experiences unexpected service interruptions. When service interruptions do occur, Comcast custom
> The time between arrivals of vehicles at a particular intersection follows an exponential probability distribution with a mean of 12 seconds. a. Sketch this exponential probability distribution. b. What is the probability that the arrival time between ve
> Battery life between charges for a certain mobile phone is 20 hours when the primary use is talk time, and drops to 7 hours when the phone is primarily used for Internet applications over a cellular network. Assume that the battery life in both cases fol
> Consider the following exponential probability density function. a. Write the formula for P(x ≤ x0). b. Find P(x ≤ 2). c. Find P(x ≥ 3). d. Find P(x ≤ 5). e. Find P(2 â
> Consider the following exponential probability density function. a. Find P(x ≤ 6). b. Find P(x ≤ 4). c. Find P(x ≥ 6). d. Find P(4 ≤ x ≤ 6).
> Rocky Mountain National Park is a popular park for outdoor recreation activities in Colorado. According to U.S. National Park Service statistics, 46.7% of visitors to Rocky Mountain National Park in 2018 entered through the Beaver Meadows park entrance,
> Suppose that of those individuals who play video and computer games, 18% are under 18 years old, 53% are 18–59 years old, and 29% are over 59 years old. Use the normal approximation of the binomial distribution to answer the questions below. a. For a sam
> OutdoorGearLab is an organization that tests outdoor gear used for climbing, camping, mountaineering, and backpacking. Suppose that the following data show the ratings of hardshell jackets based on the breathability, durability, versatility, features, mo
> According to a Yale program on climate change communication survey, 71% of Americans think global warming is happening (American Psychological Association website). a. For a sample of 15 Americans, what is the probability that at least 12 believe global
> Although studies continue to show smoking leads to significant health problems, 20% of adults in the United States smoke. Consider a group of 250 adults, and use the normal approximation of the binomial distribution to answer the questions below. a. What
> Assume a binomial probability distribution has p = .60 and n = 200. a. What are the mean and standard deviation? b. Is this situation one in which binomial probabilities can be approximated by the normal probability distribution? Explain. c. What is the
> A binomial probability distribution has p = .20 and n = 100. a. What are the mean and standard deviation? b. Is this situation one in which binomial probabilities can be approximated by the normal probability distribution? Explain. c. What is the probabi
> According to Money magazine, Maryland had the highest median annual household income of any state in 2018 at $75,847 (Time.com website). Assume that annual household income in Maryland follows a normal distribution with a median of $75,847 and standard d
> The time needed to complete a final examination in a particular college course is normally distributed with a mean of 80 minutes and a standard deviation of 10 minutes. Answer the following questions. a. What is the probability of completing the exam in
> Suppose that the mean daily viewing time of television is 8.35 hours. Use a normal probability distribution with a standard deviation of 2.5 hours to answer the following questions about daily television viewing per household. a. What is the probability
> Suppose that the average price for a gallon of gasoline in the United States is $3.73 and in Russia is $3.40. Assume these averages are the population means in the two countries and that the probability distributions are normally distributed with a stand
> Automobile repair costs continue to rise with an average 2015 cost of $367 per repair (U.S. News & World Report website). Assume that the cost for an automobile repair is normally distributed with a standard deviation of $88. Answer the following questio
> Martinez Auto Supplies has retail stores located in eight cities in California. The price they charge for a particular product in each city varies because of differing competitive conditions. For instance, the price they charge for a case of a popular br
> The average return for large-cap domestic stock funds over the three years was 14.4%. Assume the three-year returns were normally distributed across funds with a standard deviation of 4.4%. a. What is the probability an individual large-cap domestic stoc
> Males in the Netherlands are the tallest, on average, in the world with an average height of 183 centimeters (cm) (BBC News website). Assume that the height of men in the Netherlands is normally distributed with a mean of 183 cm and standard deviation of
> Given that z is a standard normal random variable, find z for each situation. a. The area to the right of z is .01. b. The area to the right of z is .025. c. The area to the right of z is .05. d. The area to the right of z is .10.
> Given that z is a standard normal random variable, find z for each situation. a. The area to the left of z is .2119. b. The area between −z and z is .9030. c. The area between −z and z is .2052. d. The area to the left of z is .9948. e. The area to the r
> Given that z is a standard normal random variable, find z for each situation. a. The area to the left of z is .9750. b. The area between 0 and z is .4750. c. The area to the left of z is .7291. d. The area to the right of z is .1314. e. The area to the l
> Given that z is a standard normal random variable, compute the following probabilities. a. P(−1.98 ≤ z ≤ .49) b. P(.52 ≤ z ≤ 1.22) c. P(−1.75 ≤ z ≤ −1.04)
> Given that z is a standard normal random variable, compute the following probabilities. a. P(0 ≤ z ≤ .83) b. P(−1.57 ≤ z ≤ 0) c. P(z > .44) d. P(z ≥ −.23) e. P(z < 1.20) f. P(z ≤ −.71)
> Given that z is a standard normal random variable, compute the following probabilities. a. P(z ≤ −1.0) b. P(z ≥ −1) c. P(z ≥ −1.5) d. P(−2.5 ≤ z) e. P(−3 < z ≤ 0)
> The probability distribution for the random variable x follows. a. Is this probability distribution valid? Explain. b. What is the probability that x = 30? c. What is the probability that x is less than or equal to 25? d. What is the probability that x
> The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), passed by the U.S. Congress in October 2008, provided $700 billion in assistance for the struggling U.S. economy. Over $200 billion was given to troubled financial institutions with the hope that there would be a
> The following data show the number of rental cars in service (in thousands) for three rental car companies: Hertz, Avis, and Dollar over a three-year period (Auto Rental News website). a. Construct a time series graph for the years 2007 to 2010 showing
> Axline Computers manufactures personal computers at two plants, one in Texas and the other in Hawaii. The Texas plant has 40 employees; the Hawaii plant has 20. A random sample of 10 employees is to be asked to fill out a benefits questionnaire. a. What
> Blackjack, or twenty-one as it is frequently called, is a popular gambling game played in casinos. A player is dealt two cards. Face cards (jacks, queens, and kings) and tens have a point value of 10. Aces have a point value of 1 or 11. A 52-card deck co
> Suppose N = 10 and r = 3. Compute the hypergeometric probabilities for the following values of n and x. a. n = 4, x = 1. b. n = 2, x = 2. c. n = 2, x = 0. d. n = 4, x = 2. e. n = 4, x = 4.
> Airline passengers arrive randomly and independently at the passenger-screening facility at a major international airport. The mean arrival rate is 10 passengers per minute. a. Compute the probability of no arrivals in a one-minute period. b. Compute the
> In a one-year period, New York City had a total of 11,232 motor vehicle accidents that occurred on Monday through Friday between the hours of 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. (New York State Department of Motor Vehicles website). This corresponds to mean of 14.4 accide
> Phone calls arrive at the rate of 48 per hour at the reservation desk for Regional Airways. a. Compute the probability of receiving three calls in a 5-minute interval of time. b. Compute the probability of receiving exactly 10 calls in 15 minutes. c. Sup
> Consider a Poisson distribution with a mean of two occurrences per time period. a. Write the appropriate Poisson probability function. b. What is the expected number of occurrences in three time periods? c. Write the appropriate Poisson probability funct
> Suppose a sample of 20 Americans is selected as part of a study of the state of the nation. The Americans in the sample are asked whether or not they are satisfied with the way things are going in the United States. a. Compute the probability that exactl
> Suppose that a random sample of fifteen 18- to 34-year-olds living with their parents is selected and asked if they contribute to household expenses. a. Is the selection of the fifteen 18- to 34-year-olds living with their parents a binomial experiment?
> Market-share-analysis company Net Applications monitors and reports on Internet browser usage. According to Net Applications, in the summer of 2014, Google’s Chrome browser exceeded a 20% market share for the first time, with a 20.37% share of the browse
> In automobile mileage and gasoline-consumption testing, 13 automobiles were road tested for 300 miles in both city and highway driving conditions. The following data were recorded for miles-per-gallon performance. Use the mean, median, and mode to make
> Military radar and missile detection systems are designed to warn a country of an enemy attack. A reliability question is whether a detection system will be able to identify an attack and issue a warning. Assume that a particular detection system has a .
> According to a 2018 survey by Bankrate.com, 20% of adults in the United States save nothing for retirement (CNBC website). Suppose that 15 adults in the United States are selected randomly. a. Is the selection of the 15 adults a binomial experiment? Expl
> When a new machine is functioning properly, only 3% of the items produced are defective. Assume that we will randomly select two parts produced on the machine and that we are interested in the number of defective parts found. a. Describe the conditions u
> The Center for Medicare and Medical Services reported that there were 295,000 appeals for hospitalization and other Part A Medicare service. For this group, 40% of first-round appeals were successful (The Wall Street Journal). Suppose 10 first-round appe
> For its Music 360 survey, Nielsen Co. asked teenagers and adults how each group has listened to music in the past 12 months. Nearly two-thirds of U.S. teenagers under the age of 18 say they use Google Inc.’s video-sharing site to listen to music and 35%
> Consider a binomial experiment with n = 20 and p = .70. a. Compute f (12). b. Compute f (16). c. Compute P(x ≥ 16). d. Compute P(x ≤ 15). e. Compute E(x). f. Compute Var (x) and σ.
> Consider a binomial experiment with n = 10 and p = .10. a. Compute f (0). b. Compute f (2). c. Compute P(x ≤ 2). d. Compute P(x ≥ 1). e. Compute E(x). f. Compute Var(x) and σ.
> Consider a binomial experiment with two trials and p = .4. a. Draw a tree diagram for this experiment (see Figure 5.3). b. Compute the probability of one success, f (1). c. Compute f (0). d. Compute f (2). e. Compute the probability of at least one succe
> J.P. Morgan Asset Management publishes information about financial investments. Between 2002 and 2011, the expected return for the S&P 500 was 5.04% with a standard deviation of 19.45% and the expected return over that same period for a core bonds fund w
> The Hawaii Visitors Bureau collects data on visitors to Hawaii. The following questions were among 16 asked in a questionnaire handed out to passengers during incoming airline flights. ●● This trip to Hawaii is my: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. ●● The primary
> PortaCom has developed a design for a high-quality portable printer. The two key components of manufacturing cost are direct labor and parts. During a testing period, the company has developed prototypes and conducted extensive product tests with the new
> The Chamber of Commerce in a Canadian city has conducted an evaluation of 300 restaurants in its metropolitan area. Each restaurant received a rating on a 3-point scale on typical meal price (1 least expensive to 3 most expensive) and quality (1 lowest q
> A person is interested in constructing a portfolio. Two stocks are being considered. Let x = percent return for an investment in stock 1, and y = percent return for an investment in stock 2. The expected return and variance for stock 1 are E(x) = 8.45% a
> Given below is a bivariate distribution for the random variables x and y. a. Compute the expected value and the variance for x and y. b. Develop a probability distribution for x + y. c. Using the result of part (b), compute E(x + y) and Var (x + y). d.
> The J. R. Ryland Computer Company is considering a plant expansion to enable the company to begin production of a new computer product. The company’s president must determine whether to make the expansion a medium- or large-scale projec
> In Gallup’s Annual Consumption Habits Poll, telephone interviews were conducted for a random sample of 1014 adults aged 18 and over. One of the questions was, “How many cups of coffee, if any, do you drink on an averag
> The following probability distributions of job satisfaction scores for a sample of information systems (IS) senior executives and middle managers range from a low of 1 (very dissatisfied) to a high of 5 (very satisfied). a. What is the expected value o
> The probability distribution for damage claims paid by the Newton Automobile Insurance Company on collision insurance follows. a. Use the expected collision payment to determine the collision insurance premium that would enable the company to break eve
> New legislation passed in 2017 by the U.S. Congress changed tax laws that affect how many people file their taxes in 2018 and beyond. These tax law changes will likely lead many people to seek tax advice from their accountants (The New York Times). Backe
> The following data has been collected on the number of times that owner-occupied and renter-occupied units had a water supply stoppage lasting 6 or more hours in the past 3 months. a. Define a random variable x = number of times that owner-occupied uni
> TripAdvisor is one of many online websites that provides ratings for hotels throughout the world. Ratings provided by 649 guests at the Lakeview Hotel can be found in the file HotelRatings. Possible responses were Excellent, Very Good, Average, Poor, and
> During the summer of 2018, Coldstream Country Club in Cincinnati, Ohio, collected data on 443 rounds of golf played from its white tees. The data for each golfer’s score on the twelfth hole are contained in the DATAfile Coldstream12. a. Construct an empi
> The following table provides a probability distribution for the random variable y. a. Compute E( y). b. Compute Var( y) and σ.
> The following table provides a probability distribution for the random variable x. a. Compute E(x), the expected value of x. b. Compute s2, the variance of x. c. Compute s, the standard deviation of x.
> The following table is a partial probability distribution for the MRA Company’s projected profits (x = profit in $1000s) for the first year of operation (the negative value denotes a loss). a. What is the proper value for f (200)? Wha
> The percent frequency distributions of job satisfaction scores for a sample of information systems (IS) senior executives and middle managers are as follows. The scores range from a low of 1 (very dissatisfied) to a high of 5 (very satisfied). a. Devel
> In the city of Milford, applications for zoning changes go through a two-step process: a review by the planning commission and a final decision by the city council. At step 1 the planning commission reviews the zoning change request and makes a positive
> The National Center for Health Statistics, housed within the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), tracks the number of adults in the United States who have health insurance. According to this agency, the uninsured rates for Americans in
> ParFore created a website to market golf equipment and golf apparel. Management would like a special pop-up offer to appear for female website visitors and a different special pop-up offer to appear for male website visitors. From a sample of past websit
> According to a 2018 article in Esquire magazine, approximately 70% of males over age 70 will develop cancerous cells in their prostate. Prostate cancer is second only to skin cancer as the most common form of cancer for males in the United States. One of
> The prior probabilities for events A1, A2, and A3 are P(A1) = .20, P(A2) = .50, and P(A3) = .30. The conditional probabilities of event B given A1, A2, and A3 are P(B ∣ A1) = .50, P(B ∣ A2) = .40, and P(B ∣ A3) = .30. a. Compute P(B ∩ A1), P(B ∩ A2), and
> The Bureau of Transportation Statistics Omnibus Household Survey is conducted annually and serves as an information source for the U.S. Department of Transportation. In one part of the survey the person being interviewed was asked to respond to the follo
> Consider a finite population with five elements labeled A, B, C, D, and E. Ten possible simple random samples of size 2 can be selected. a. List the 10 samples beginning with AB, AC, and so on. b. Using simple random sampling, what is the probability tha
> Weatherly Lumber Company processes wood pulp for manufacturing various paper products. The company employs a process costing system for its manufacturing operations. All direct materials are added at the beginning of the process, and conversion costs are
> What is the main difference between activity-based costing and the theory of constraints? When is it appropriate to use each one?
> What is the role of the flow diagram in the theory of constraints analysis?
> What does the term constraints mean in the theory of constraints analysis?
> What is target costing? briefly explain.
> “The net present value (NPV) method weighs early receipts of cash much more heavily than more distant receipts of cash.” Do you agree? Why?
> List at least three important behavioral issues related to the capital budgeting process.
> What should be the decision criterion when using the NPV method to evaluate capital investments? Does the IRR method use the same criterion?
> Does the accounting (book) rate of return (ARR) method provide a valid (or meaningful) measure of the return on investment? How about the investment’s internal rate of return (IRR)?
> What are the limitations of the payback period method for making capital budgeting decisions (e.g., whether to accept or reject a proposed investment)? Does the present value payback period overcome these limitations?
> In capital budgeting analysis, what is meant by the income tax effect? Give three examples of the tax effect pertaining to the acquisition of new factory (manufacturing) equipment.
> Given an asset with a net book value (NBV) of $25,000, what are the after-tax proceeds for a firm in the 34% tax bracket if this asset is sold for $35,000 cash? What are the after-tax proceeds for this same firm if the asset is sold for $15,000 cash?
> What is the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), and how can it be used in making capital budgeting decisions?
> In what ways can accountants add value to the capital budgeting process?
> How does the size of the initial investment affect the indicated internal rate of return (IRR) and net present value (NPV) of a proposed investment?
> When analyzing a proposed capital investment, what conditions or factors may lead the results to differ between the net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR) decision models?
> What decision criterion should be used to choose investment projects for a firm with unlimited funds available at a weighted-average cost of 10% (after tax)? Can the firm use the same decision criterion if it has only a limited amount of available funds,
> Provide a short explanation of the modified internal rate of return (MIRR) financial performance metric. How does MIRR differ from IRR? (In addition to the discussion in the text, see, for example, www.journalofaccountancy.com/issues/2017/feb/calculate-i
> Should the firm accept the independent projects described below? Why or why not? (a) The firm’s cost of capital is 10% and the estimated internal rate of return (IRR) of the project is 11%. (b) A capital project requires a $150,000 initial investment.
> “Depreciation expenses have no effect on cash flows and, therefore, are not relevant in capital expenditure analysis.” Do you agree? Why or why not?
> What are the distinguishing characteristics of capital budgeting decisions?
> How does the presence of one production constraint affect the relevant cost analysis model? Two or more production constraints?
> A company purchases an asset that costs $10,000. This asset qualifies as 3-year property under MACRS. The company uses an after-tax discount rate of 12% and faces a 40% income tax rate. (a) Use the appropriate present value factors found in Appendix C,
> List some of the behavioral, implementation, and legal problems to be anticipated in the use of relevant cost analysis.
> How do strategic factors affect the proper use of relevant cost analysis?
> List for or five important limitations of relevant cost analysis.
> How do short-term evaluations affect a manager's incentives and performance?
