Calculate the required rate of return for Mercury Inc., assuming that investors expect a 5% rate of inflation in the future. The real risk-free rate is 3% and the market risk premium is 5%. Mercury has a beta of 2.0, and its realized rate of return has averaged 15% over the last 5 years. a. 20% b. 17% c. 18% d. 16% e. 15%

The winston company estimates that the factory overhead for the following year will be $1,250,000. the company has decided that the basis for applying factory overhead should be machine hours, which is estimated to be 50,000 hours. the total machine hours for the year were 54,300. the actual factory overhead for the year were $1,375,000. determine the over- or underapplied amount for the year.

Which of the following statements is correct? a. two firms with identical sales and operating costs but with different amounts of debt and tax rates will have different operating incomes by definition. b. free cash flow (fcf) is, essentially, the cash flow that is available for interest and dividends after the company has made the investments in current and fixed assets that are necessary to sustain ongoing operations. c. retained earnings as reported on the balance sheet represent cash and, therefore, are available to distribute to stockholders as dividends or any other required cash payments to creditors and suppliers. d. if a firm is reporting its income in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, then its net income as reported on the income statement should be equal to its free cash flow. e. after-tax operating income is calculated as ebit(1 - t) + depreciation.

Match the steps for conducting an informational interview with the tasks in each step.