Hydro Systems Engineering Associates, Inc., provides consulting services to city water authorities. The consulting firm’s contribution-margin ratio is 30 percent, and its annual fixed expenses are $220,000. The firm’s income-tax rate is 45 percent. Required:

1. Calculate the firm’s break-even volume of service revenue.
2. How much before-tax income must the firm earn to make an after-tax net income of $128,000?
3. What level of revenue for consulting services must the firm generate to earn an after-tax net income of $128,000?
4. Suppose the firm’s income-tax rate changes to 35 percent. What will happen to the break-even level of consulting service revenue?

Suppose that: 1. malaysia requires 1 hour of labor to produce 1 pound of rice and 2 hours of labor to produce 1 pencil; 2. indonesia requires 2 hours of labor to produce 1 pound of rice and 4 hours of labor to produce 1 pencil; 3. each country has 10,000 hours of labor to allocate between the production of rice and pencils; and 4. in autarky, malaysia consumes 5,000 pounds of rice and 2,500 pencils. which country has an absolute advantage in rice production? in pencil production? which country has a comparative advantage in rice production? in pencil production? will trade between the two countries be mutually beneficial?

Suppose that xtel currently is selling at $40 per share. you buy 500 shares using $15,000 of your own money, borrowing the remainder of the purchase price from your broker. the rate on the margin loan is 8%. a. what is the percentage increase in the net worth of your brokerage account if the price of xtel immediately changes to (a) $44; (b) $40; (c) $36? (leave no cells blank - be certain to enter "0" wherever required. negative values should be indicated by a minus sign. round your answers to 2 decimal places.) b. if the maintenance margin is 25%, how low can xtel’s price fall before you get a margin call? (round your answer to 2 decimal places.) c. how would your answer to requirement 2 would change if you had financed the initial purchase with only $10,000 of your own money? (round your answer to 2 decimal places.) d. what is the rate of return on your margined position (assuming again that you invest $15,000 of your own money) if xtel is selling after one year at (a) $44; (b) $40; (c) $36? (negative values should be indicated by a minus sign. round your answers to 2 decimal places.) e. continue to assume that a year has passed. how low can xtel’s price fall before you get a margin call? (round your answer to 2 decimal places.)

Creation landscaping has 1,000 bonds outstanding that are selling for $1,280 each. the company also has 2,000 shares of preferred stock outstanding, currently priced at $27.20 a share. the common stock is priced at $37.00 a share and there are 28,000 shares outstanding. what is the weight of the debt as it relates to the firm's weighted average cost of capital?