Dermody Snow Removal's cost formula for its vehicle operating cost is $3,010 per month plus $331 per snow-day. For the month of December, the company planned for activity of 13 snow-days, but the actual level of activity was 15 snow-days. The actual vehicle operating cost for the month was $7,585. The spending variance for vehicle operating cost in December would be closest to:

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.

Which of the following statements about brand names is true? brand names give the seller an incentive to provide consistently high-quality products and services in order to protect the reputation of the brand. brand names are always economically wasteful since they dupe consumers into buying more expensive goods and services that are no different from generic versions. it is always rational to prefer brand names over generic substitutes. read the following example and determine whether it illustrates a common critique or defense of advertising. musashi sees a commercial for a brand x clothing company that depicts the wearers of the clothes out having a good time with friends. although he doesn't particularly need new clothes, the commercial prompts him to buy a brand x t-shirt.

Suppose that xtel currently is selling at $40 per share. you buy 500 shares using $15,000 of your own money, borrowing the remainder of the purchase price from your broker. the rate on the margin loan is 8%. a. what is the percentage increase in the net worth of your brokerage account if the price of xtel immediately changes to (a) $44; (b) $40; (c) $36? (leave no cells blank - be certain to enter "0" wherever required. negative values should be indicated by a minus sign. round your answers to 2 decimal places.) b. if the maintenance margin is 25%, how low can xtel’s price fall before you get a margin call? (round your answer to 2 decimal places.) c. how would your answer to requirement 2 would change if you had financed the initial purchase with only $10,000 of your own money? (round your answer to 2 decimal places.) d. what is the rate of return on your margined position (assuming again that you invest $15,000 of your own money) if xtel is selling after one year at (a) $44; (b) $40; (c) $36? (negative values should be indicated by a minus sign. round your answers to 2 decimal places.) e. continue to assume that a year has passed. how low can xtel’s price fall before you get a margin call? (round your answer to 2 decimal places.)