The weighted average cost of capital of a firm represents the: a. minimum dividend yield a firm must pay to its preferred stockholders. b. maximum interest rate a firm should pay on the debt it uses. c. maximum rate of return a firm can expect to earn on its investments. d. minimum rate of return a firm must earn on average-risk investments to maintain its current value. e. required rate of return that should be used to evaluate capital budgeting projects that have above-average risk.

The state in which the manufacturing company you work for is located regulates the presence of a particular substance in the environment to concentrations ≤ x. recently-released, reliable research endorsed by the responsible federal agency conclusively demonstrates that the substance poses no risks at concentrations up to 5x. your company has asked you to consider designing a new process with a waste discharge stream containing up to 2x of the substance. based on the stated conditions, describe this possible.