1. Refer back to what you've learned in your VHL Central Portales lessons. 2. Go to the Pen-Pal 1 Discussion Topic, and post a new thread: Your pen-pal is coming to visit you and is interested in finding out about your everyday life.  Write an e-mail to your pen-pal describing your daily routine, your likes and dislikes. Your email should include at least 4 reflexive verbs and 2 verbs like “gustar”. This post should be at least 6 sentences.  3. Return to the Pen-Pal 1 Discussion Topic after you've completed step 2, and post a reply to one of your classmates' new threads in which you: Find a classmate's initial post that does not have any replies yet. Post a question to another classmate about his/her daily routine.  Attention! The initial posting and question should be done by the Thursday of the second week of lesson 7 at 11:59 pm. If a question is not posted below your initial posting by Thursday at 11:59 pm, your instructor will post a question.  You will not be able to get credit for the question if it is not posted on time.  4. Return to your initial thread (from step 2) in the Pen-Pal 1 Discussion Topic, and read the question posted to you on your thread by a classmate. Then, post a reply to this question in which you: Respond to the question of another classmate using full sentence. Hi, This is your friend Larisa. I am excited that you are coming to visit. I normally wake up and make breakfast for the day because I work two jobs. I like to get coffee on my way to both jobs and also like to pick up dinner on my way home. On the weekends, I work my extra job where I sing karaoke. I usually have a great time there because it doesn't feel like work. I usually usually have to find time in between to work on school so that is challenging for me but looking forward to see you.

DISCUSSION 1For this Discussion, imagine the following scenario:You are the director of operations for your company, and your vice president wants to expand production by adding new and more expensive fabrication machines. You are directed to build a business case for implementing this program of capacity expansion. Assume the company's weighted average cost of capital is 13%, the after-tax cost of debt is 7%, preferred stock is 10.5%, and common equity is 15%. As you work with your staff on the first cut of the business case, you surmise that this is a fairly risky project due to a recent slowing in product sales. As a matter of fact, when using the 13% weighted average cost of capital, you discover that the project is estimated to return about 10%, which is quite a bit less than the company's weighted average cost of capital. An enterprising young analyst in your department, Harriet, suggests that the project be financed from retained earnings (50%) and bonds (50%). She reasons that using retained earnings does not cost the firm anything, since it is cash you already have in the bank and the after-tax cost of debt is only 7%. That would lower your weighted average cost of capital to 3.5% and make your 10% projected return look great.Prepare your reactions to the following questions and concerns:What is your reaction to Harriet's suggestion of using the cost of debt only? Is it a good idea or a bad idea? Why? Do you think capital projects should have their own unique cost of capital rates for budgeting purposes, as opposed to using the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) or the cost of equity capital as computed by CAPM? What about the relatively high risk inherent in this project? How can you factor into the analysis the notion of risk so that all competing projects that have relatively lower or higher risks can be evaluated on a level playing field?ReferecesBrigham, E. F. , & Houston, J. F. (2019). Fundamentals of financial management (15th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.Chapter 10, "The Cost of Capital" (pp. 356-384) DISCUSSION 2To prepare for this Discussion: Review the evaluation methods utilized by organizations for decision making. Consider your professional experience, knowledge gained from this week's resources, and/or additional research.Prepare the following:~ Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the various decision-making tools listed (e.g., regular payback, discounted payback, net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), and modified internal rate of return).~ Describe a project scenario in which you would recommend one method, or a combination of methods, as being more effective than others. Draw from your professional experience and/or additional research, and provide a rationale for your recommendation.ReferencesBrigham, E. F. , & Houston, J. F. (2019). Fundamentals of financial management (15th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.Chapter 8, "Risk and Rates of Return" (Review Section 8-3, "Risk in a Portfolio Context: CAPM" on pp. 283-285)Chapter 11, "The Basics of Capital Budgeting" (pp. 385-416)

When working on your article critique, please keep the following requirements in mind. The article must be a scholarly journal article. The topic must be appropriate for the course or the audience. You should identify whether you are in support of the article’s premise or not and why. You should then apply a proper analysis, which is predicated upon some knowledge of the topic, and a review of the contravening arguments made by other researchers or experts. This is followed by you putting forth your critical evaluation of the premise(s) of the article and your position, supported by the literature. Some of the questions you should ask about the article include the following: What biographical data about the author of the article is important? What is the purpose, tone, and format of the article? How can the work be interpreted? Based upon your review of the literature, is there any information in the article that is inaccurate or incomplete? In what way was the article successful? Did the author succeed in what he or she was trying to accomplish? How does the author fail? What did you find in your review of the literature that brings you to that conclusion? Are there any historical, psychological, geographical, gender, racial, cultural, religious, or sexual considerations that have an impact on the article?