The profit margin ratio is the only ratio that makes up ROE that can be negative (except in relatively rare cases). Describe how the interpretation of the Asset Turnover Ratio and the Financial Leverage Ratio change based on whether the Profit Margin Ratio is positive or negative.

The leading producer of cell phone backup batteries, jumpstart, has achieved great success because they produce high-quality battery backups that are not too expensive. even so, another company that produces lower-quality batteries at the same price has also achieved some success, but not as much as jumpstart. also, in general, the price of backup batteries has declined because of economies of scale and learning. in addition, jumpstart has added complementary assets, such as a carrying case. considering all of these factors, the backup battery industry is most likely in the introduction stage. growth stage. shakeout stage. maturity stage.

Guardian inc. is trying to develop an asset-financing plan. the firm has $450,000 in temporary current assets and $350,000 in permanent current assets. guardian also has $550,000 in fixed assets. assume a tax rate of 40 percent. a. construct two alternative financing plans for guardian. one of the plans should be conservative, with 70 percent of assets financed by long-term sources, and the other should be aggressive, with only 56.25 percent of assets financed by long-term sources. the current interest rate is 12 percent on long-term funds and 7 percent on short-term financing. compute the annual interest payments under each plan.

What is the difference between total utility and marginal utility? a. marginal utility is subject to the law of diminishing marginal utility while total utility is not. b. total utility represents the consumer optimum while marginal utility gives the total utility per dollar spent on the last unit. c. total utility is the total amount of satisfaction derived from consuming a certain amount of a good while marginal utility is the additional satisfaction gained from consuming an additional unit of the good. d. marginal utility represents the consumer optimum while total utility gives the total utility per dollar spent on the last unit.