Kendra massey is trying to decide how to invest a recent windfall inheritance. because she considers herself a fashionista, her first thought was to look at two of her favorite stores, nordstrom and macy's. kendra visited each company's website and calculated the following ratios based on the financial statements she found there. she also found some industry averages to use as a comparison.

macy's

nordstrom

industry average

2015

2014

2015

2014

2015

2014

current ratio

1.34

1.69

1.04

1.87

1.90

1.70

acid-test ratio

0.29

0.53

0.27

1.12

0.50

0.60

accounts receivable turnover

55.2 times

65.2 times

11.3 times

5.9 times

40.8 times

56.4 times

average collection period

6.6 days

5.6 days

32.3 days

61.9 days

8.9 days

6.5 days

inventory turnover

3.02 times

3.07 times

4.99 times

5.15 times

3.20 times

4.10 times

average days to sell inventory

120.9 days

118.9 days

73.1 days

70.9 days

114.1 days

88.8 days

required

(a) which of the two companies has the stronger liquidity position?

(b) how do the companies' positions compare to the industry averages?

On january 1, 2017, fisher corporation purchased 40 percent (90,000 shares) of the common stock of bowden, inc. for $980,000 in cash and began to use the equity method for the investment. the price paid represented a $48,000 payment in excess of the book value of fisher's share of bowden's underlying net assets. fisher was willing to make this extra payment because of a recently developed patent held by bowden with a 15-year remaining life. all other assets were considered appropriately valued on bowden's books. bowden declares and pays a $90,000 cash dividend to its stockholders each year on september 15. bowden reported net income of $400,000 in 2017 and $348,000 in 2018. each income figure was earned evenly throughout its respective year. on july 1, 2018, fisher sold 10 percent (22,500 shares) of bowden's outstanding shares for $338,000 in cash. although it sold this interest, fisher maintained the ability to significantly influence bowden's decision-making process. prepare the journal entries for fisher for the years of 2017 and 2018. (if no entry is required for a transaction/event, select "no journal entry required" in the first account field. do not round intermediate calculations. round your final answers to the nearest whole dollar.)