Metalfab Pump and Filter Inc. estimates that the cost of steel bodies for pressure valves will increase by $2 every 3 months. If the cost for the first quarter is expected to be $80. What is the present worth of the costs for a 5-year time period at an interest rate of 1.1% per quarter?

Jameson manages a well-known cell phone company. this company has been voted as having the best cell-phone service. consumers appreciate the fact that they can call from almost anywhere in the world and the service still gets through. jameson knows that the company's product far surpasses that of the competition. one thing has been bothering him, though. in order to put so many resources into ensuring the best service, jameson has cut back on employees at the firm's customer call center. recently, consumers have begun complaining about long wait times when they call in with a problem or concern. although its cell phone service is still considered one of the best, customer satisfaction with the firm's customer service has plummeted. jameson does not understand why consumers are getting so upset. he believes the exceptional cell phone service more than makes up for long waiting periods and other issues with its customer service. "after all," he says, "they can't have it all. if i invest more in customer service, that means less investment on ensuring the quality of our product offering."refer to scenario. jameson has asked you, a marketing consultant, to give him advice. he cannot understand how a cell-phone company with the best product offering in the cell-phone service industry could get such low satisfaction ratings simply because the customer service is not up to par. you suggest that jameson has a narrowly defined view of the company's product offering. you tell jameson that successful marketers should define their products as what they

Peninsula products has just applied for a loan at your bank. when reviewing peninsula's books for the year that just ended, you notice that the firm uses the fair value option for its bonds payable. you also see that the firm recorded a $55,000 debit in its bonds payable account and a $55,000 credit in its unrealized holding gain or loss"income account. over that same period, interest rates decreased by about 0.5 percent. how should this information affect the bank's decision as to whether to grant peninsula a loan? a : the bank should strongly consider giving a loan to peninsula because the changes in firm's bonds payable and unrealized holding gain or loss"income accounts suggest that peninsula has seen an increase in its credit rating over the past year. b : the bank should put little emphasis on the changes in peninsula's bonds payable and unrealized holding gain or loss"income accounts because these changes are likely the result of the rise in interest rates. c : the bank should hesitate before giving a loan to peninsula because the changes in firm's bonds payable and unrealized holding gain or loss"income accounts suggest that peninsula has seen a decline in its credit rating over the past year. d : the bank should put little emphasis on the changes in peninsula's bonds payable and unrealized holding gain or loss"income accounts because these changes are likely unrelated to either interest rates or the firm's credit rating.

Oceanside marine company manufactures special metallic materials and decorative fittings for luxury yachts that require highly skilled labor. oceanside uses standard costs to prepare its flexible budget. for the first quarter of the year, direct materials and direct labor standards for one of their popular products were as follows: direct materials: 2 pound per unit; $ 11 per pound direct labor: 2 hours per unit; $ 19 per hour oceanside produced 2 comma 000 units during the quarter. at the end of the quarter, an examination of the direct materials records showed that the company used 7 comma 500 pounds of direct materials and actual total materials costs were $ 98 comma 100. what is the direct materials cost variance? (round any intermediate calculations to the nearest cent, and your final answer to the nearest dollar.)