Major automobile brands such as ford, toyota, gm, and honda are interested in consumers’ interest in "smart" technology in new automobiles. Gm recently studied consumers’ interest in buying self-driving vehicles. The automobile brands must stay abreast of changing technology as well as consumer trends regarding the use of technology. The automobile company’s collection of this type of information is referred to as .

Atlas manufacturing produces a unique valve, and has the capacity to produce 50,000 valves annually. currently atlas produces 40,000 valves and is thinking about increasing production to 45,000 valves next year. what is the most likely behavior of total manufacturing costs and unit manufacturing costs given this change? a. total manufacturing costs will increase and unit manufacturing costs will also increase. b. total manufacturing costs will stay the same and unit manufacturing costs will stay the same. c. total manufacturing costs will increase and unit manufacturing costs will decrease. d. total manufacturing costs will increase and unit manufacturing costs will stay the same.

Profits from using currency options and futures.on july 2, the two-month futures rate of the mexican peso contained a 2 percent discount (unannualized). there was a call option on pesos with an exercise price that was equal to the spot rate. there was also a put option on pesos with an exercise price equal to the spot rate. the premium on each of these options was 3 percent of the spot rate at that time. on september 2, the option expired. go to the oanda.com website (or any site that has foreign exchange rate quotations) and determine the direct quote of the mexican peso. you exercised the option on this date if it was feasible to do so. a. what was your net profit per unit if you had purchased the call option? b. what was your net profit per unit if you had purchased the put option? c. what was your net profit per unit if you had purchased a futures contract on july 2 that had a settlement date of september 2? d. what was your net profit per unit if you sold a futures contract on july 2 that had a settlement date of september 2

On december 31, 2013, coronado company issues 173,000 stock-appreciation rights to its officers entitling them to receive cash for the difference between the market price of its stock and a pre-established price of $10. the fair value of the sars is estimated to be $5 per sar on december 31, 2014; $2 on december 31, 2015; $10 on december 31, 2016; and $8 on december 31, 2017. the service period is 4 years, and the exercise period is 7 years. prepare a schedule that shows the amount of compensation expense allocable to each year affected by the stock-appreciation rights plan.