Essays and Research Papers on Finance

A 2 page narrative explaining figures contained in an accompanying spreadsheet. Two companies are available for possible acquisition; the price of each is $250,000. The purpose is to assess NPV, IRR, FV, payback and discounted payback to choose which company would be the better investment. Includes 2 tables. Bibliography lists 2 ...

This 8 page paper examines the capital structure of Next and compares it to Marks and Spencer and Wal-Mart, who operate as Asda in the UK. The paper looks at the debt to asset ratio, the debt to equity ratio, the impact on earnings per share and the weighted average cost of capital. The bibliography ...

This 8-page paper focuses on the differences between tax accounting and GAAP accounting (financial reporting). Bibliography lists 5 sources.

This 6 page paper examines the changes in the owners' equity and cash flow in the Payless Shoe Source company. There paper looks at the changes and quantifies them and then considers the potential of these changes as well as the way they these results may have been analysed and used by management. The bibliography ...

A 3 page paper discussing the process of finding an annual report for a publicly traded company and then finding other measures aside from only those reported by the company. The paper recommends Yahoo!Finance as the source for that kind of information. Performance measures can provide the informational basis necessary for making sound ...

This 11 page paper is based on a case study supplied by the student. The first part is an assessment of Brown Forman's financial performance in 1977 and 1978. The second part considers if the company should purchase the Southern Comfort Corporation for between 20 and 100 million. The bibliography cites 8 sources.

This 19 page paper examines the US company Adaptec, the paper gives a brief background to the company before an in-depth examination the financial performance between 2003 – 2005, the stock performance over the same period and then considering how the company may perform over in following years. The bibliography cites 11 sources.

This 7-page paper provides an overview of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, its impact on the accounting profession and historical perspective. Bibliography lists 6 sources.

This 12 page paper considers the impact of FDI. The paper argues that foreign direct investment was a major influence in the development of many Asian countries attained developed nation status as well as a factor in the Asian currency crisis of the 1990's. The paper then considers the impact of FDI in Morocco ...

A 9 page paper using Coca-Cola’s annual report for 2004 to examine a long-term financing decision and assess it in terms of the economic, business and competitive environments at the time it was made. The paper also discusses the company’s risk management policies and proposes Cott, the leading supplier of private-label soft drinks, as ...

A 5 page paper applying the principles of activity-based costing (ABC) to Wilkerson Smokers, a two-location manufacturer of barbecue smokers. Similar to grills in that they do cook food and use an open fire, the grills are constructed to provide the greatest exposure to wood smoke possible, delivering at the same time an infusion ...

This 7 page paper answers question set by the student, showing the calculation of current and long term assets, contribution levels, break even points, the calculation of ratios and how ratios can be interpreted.

This 16 page paper in a financial analysis of Cisco using the annual reports from 2001 – 2004. The paper uses a range of ratios to consider the performance of the company and relate the interpretation of the results to shareholders, management and creditors. The bibliography cites 5 sources.

This 8 page paper argues that the use of hedging, when used correctly can be of great value to the owners of a company, reducing risk and reducing potential volatility of returns. However, the tool has to be used correctly for the benefit to outweigh the costs. The paper discusses these hedging issues and considers ...

This 12 page paper considers is there is such as thing as corporate social responsibility and then looks at the ways in which the results of this approach can be measured. The paper focuses on environmental measurements. The bibliography cites 14 sources.

This 3 page paper explains the major characteristics of bonds and common stock, their valuation formulas and their relative advantages and disadvantages from the shareholders perspective. The bibliography cites 2 sources.

A 3 page paper discussing beta and the Capital Asset Pricing Model. Includes calculated required rate of return for investment in Apple and Microsoft, as well as a definition of beta. Bibliography lists 7 sources.

A 12 page paper discussing Gap’s present position for the purpose of determining whether Gap’s stock is a good investment at present. Investors are bemoaning Gap’s decline in stock price, but industry analysts urge patience. The company suffered a setback of much the same kind in the early 1990s, and Gap appears to ...

This 4 page paper considers a case supplied by the student where a company has t decide if they want to outsource production of goods or carry on making them internally. Outsourcing is cheaper initially but will also incur other costs. The paper performs the calculations.

This 3 page paper considers the difficulties of Polaroid between 2000 – 2001, the reason behind the problems and the impact on the creditors. The bibliography cites 4 sources.

A 4 page paper defining fundamental analysis and several approaches to valuation. Valuation models discussed are book value; discounted dividend, discounted free cash flow, residual income and abnormal earnings growth models. Bibliography lists 7 sources.

A 4 page paper discussing risk associated with a potential new product. Assessing the project risk is difficult in that we cannot know all conditions that will apply by the time the product reaches the market. It does appear that there is less risk than originally believed, however, based on the results of ...

A 9 page paper discussing Southwest’s history, corporate culture, capital structure, management and financial results for the purpose of performing investment analysis. Still boasting that it has had 54 consecutive profitable quarters, Southwest would have lost money in 1Q2003 and 1Q2004 without its successful fuel-hedging activities. It still clings to the never-a-losing-quarter mantra, ...

The number of global banks is increasing. This 10 page paper considers the role and purpose of the main divisions within these banks and the impact of legislative changes. It is argued that there are two main divisions resulting a commercial banking division and an investment division. These are examined individually. The bibliography cites 6 ...

A 12 page paper discussing Harvard case 289-045, discussing Philip Morris' attempted takeover of Kraft in October 1988. Philip Morris would be successful before the year was out, but at a cost of $12.9 billion rather than the $11 billion it initially offered for all of Kraft's stock. Capital budget analysis at $11 ...