Title: Research Assignments 1-3

Research Assignment 1

Q.1. Explain how each of the following individuals might use the information provided by financial accounting about the Nguyen Company, which is located in Falls Church, Virginia.

 a. Bank loan officer considering loaning money to Nguyen Company

b. Current employee of Nguyen Company

c. Potential employee of Nguyen Company

d. Current investor in Nguyen Company

e. Potential investor in Nguyen Company

f. A credit analyst of company wanting to sell inventory to Nguyen Company

Q.2. Mark each of the following with an (F) to indicate if it is financial information or an (N) to indicate if it is nonfinancial information.

Metro Corporation has the following:

 a.____ Cash of $4,000,000

b.____ A building that cost $50,000,000

c.____ 2,000 employees

d.____ Inventory with a cost of $16,000,000

e.____ 500 shares of capital stock

f.____ 1,000 trucks

g.____ Sales of merchandise for $45,000,000

h.____ 2,000 cans of beans for resale purposes

i.____ 2,000 cans of beans to be used in the employee cafeteria 

 Q.3. Assume that a person you know tells the following story: “I inherited $3,000 from a distant uncle. I took that money and invested it all in the capital shares of Ford Motor Co. I had looked at several other corporations including Intel, PepsiCo, Microsoft, and Google. Eventually, though, I put my money into Ford.”

Answer the following questions:

a. What is meant by “the capital shares of Ford Motor Co.?”

b. Why would a person spend $3,000 to buy the capital shares of any business?

c. Provide some possible reasons for this person to have invested in Ford rather than in those other corporations.

d. In what way might the annual report of Ford Motor Co. have helped the person to make this decision?

 Research Assignment 2                             

Q1. A great amount of financial information is available on the Internet about most business corporations of any significant size. For example, visit http://www.google.com/finance/. In the “Get Quotes” box, type in “Starbucks Corporation”

Answer each of the following questions based on the information provided at this site:

a. For what price is the capital stock issued by Starbucks currently selling?

b. On what stock market or exchange are the shares of Starbucks bought and sold?

c. For convenience, the names of corporations that are listed on stock markets have a ticker symbol. This symbol is a shorthand method of identifying the business. What is the ticker symbol for Starbucks?

d. Investors are often interested in the movement of the price of a share of stock during recent months. What is the fifty-two week range in the price of Starbucks’ stock? Is the current price closer to the high or to the low in that range?

e. Investors are also interested in comparing a business operation to other businesses in the same or related industry. Investors want to know how the company does in comparison to its chief competitors. List three corporations that may be competitors of Starbucks.

f. Read the description of this business and list three things that you found most interesting.

g. Provide the names of three officers and three members of the board of directors

Q2-Mark each of the following with an (A) to indicate it is an asset, an (L) to indicate it is a liability, an (R) to indicate it is revenue, or an (E) to indicate it is an expense.

 a.____ Cash

b.____ Building

c.____ Loan due to the bank

d.____ Inventory (A)

e.____ Salary expense

f.____ Rent expense

g.____ Amounts owed to employees for work done

h.____ Equipment

i.____ Amounts owed to suppliers

j.____ Sales

Q3-For each of the following, indicate at least one area of uncertainty that would impact the financial reporting of the balance

 a. Inventory

b. Receivable from a customer

c. Equipment.

d. Income taxes payable

e. Liability from lawsuit

Q4.-The Winslow Corporation operates a jewelry store in Topeka, Kansas. The business has recently issued a set of financial statements. One asset, inventory, was reported at $1.5 million. Later, it was determined that this balance was misstated. Describe several reasons why this misstatement might have happened.

Q4. For each of the following events, indicate whether the net assets of the reporting company increase, decrease, or remain the same.

 a. The company owes $1,000 for some purchases made last month and pays   that amount now.

b. The company borrows $220,000 from a bank on a loan.

c. The company sells a service to a customer for $30,000 with payment made immediately.

d. The company sells a service to a customer for $40,000, but payment will not be made for several months.

e. The company pays $8,000 in cash for several pieces of equipment.

f. The company rented a large truck for one day for $500, which it paid at the end of the work day.

Research Assignment 3

1. Go to http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/. At the McDonald’s Web site, click on “Investors” at the left of the page. Click on “Annual Reports” on the right of the next screen. Finally, click on “2010 Annual Report” to download. Answer the following questions:

 A-On page 26 of the 2010 annual report for McDonald’s, you will see a list of revenues and expenses. What is the largest revenue and what is the amount? What is the largest expense and what is the amount?

B-On page 27 of the 2010 annual report for McDonald’s, you will see a list of assets and liabilities. What is the largest asset and what is the amount? What is the largest liability and what is the amount?