How taxation and legislation impact positively and negatively on a company?

The market for corn in country a is highly competitive. at the current market price of $5/bushel there is a shortage of 100,000 bushels of corn in this country. media reports claim that the price of corn will rise drastically in the near future. according to these reports, the neighboring country b had witnessed a similar situation recently. at the same price, the shortage in country b was also 100,000 bushels and eventually the equilibrium price in b went up to $10/bushel. both countries are known to have equal number of corn producers and the market supply of corn is identical at all prices. this, combined with the fact that consumers in the two countries also have similar tastes and preferences, led the media to conclude that the price of corn in country a would soon be as high as $10/bushel. the new equilibrium price turns out to be below $10/bushel, what inferences can be drawn?

Cash flows during the first year of operations for the harman-kardon consulting company were as follows: cash collected from customers, $385,000; cash paid for rent, $49,000; cash paid to employees for services rendered during the year, $129,000; cash paid for utilities, $59,000. in addition, you determine that customers owed the company $69,000 at the end of the year and no bad debts were anticipated. also, the company owed the gas and electric company $2,900 at year-end, and the rent payment was for a two-year period.

Rossdale co. stock currently sells for $68.91 per share and has a beta of 0.88. the market risk premium is 7.10 percent and the risk-free rate is 2.91 percent annually. the company just paid a dividend of $3.57 per share, which it has pledged to increase at an annual rate of 3.25 percent indefinitely. what is your best estimate of the company's cost of equity?