Final Project Guidelines Students should select a company that has issued bonds in the last 3 years so that the information sources can provide sufficient financial data for analysis. The selection is subject to faculty approval: the company and bond chosen should be posted no later than Week 6 to the Q&A Forum where the professor will indicate approval/disapproval of the selection before research should commence. Post the following: Your company choice The security chosen (select an individual bond, not a bond fund) When that security was issued The Final Project is made up of several sections, each listed below. Each section should be a minimum of two pages (excluding charts, graphs, etc.). You will submit your Final Project in Week 8. Papers should be 7-10 written pages in length, 10-point font, and double spaced. The paper should include a cover page, table of contents, introduction, body of the report (Sections 1-5), summary/conclusion, and works cited. Graphs, tables, and appendices should be added when necessary, however, these items are not part of the total page count. Even though this is not a scientific-type writing assignment and is mostly creative in nature, references are still very important. At least three authoritative, outside references are required (anonymous authors or web pages are not acceptable). These should be listed on the last page titled "Works Cited." Appropriate citations are required utilizing the APA standard. This paper is worth 230 total points and will be graded on quality of research topic and paper information, use of citations, grammar, and sentence structure. See the grading rubric below. Milestones and Final Project Introduction: ( 10 ) Please construct a comprehensive introduction that lays out your project. Section 1: Company Background: (20 points) This section should include what industry the firm is in, its products, its competitors, and the stated main reason for needing capital (to fund receivables, capacity expansion, retire older debt, etc.). If you can't find a specific discussion about this, then use your judgment as to why you think the funds were needed and explain your reasoning. Section 2: Balance Sheets: (20 points) What did the balance sheet look like in the quarter just prior to issuing the bonds? Include both a copy from before the issue and after the issue. Calculate at least three of the ratios shown in the Moody’s Bond Rating Chart contained in the Week 2 Lesson both before and after the bonds were issued, and discuss why you think they are important to your report. Section 3: Trends in YTM and Price: (20 points) At what price and YTM was the initial offering sold? Tabulate the price and YTM of the issue at the end of each calendar quarter for the last six quarters. Then, plot the tabulated values to visualize the trends in YTM and prices. Section 4: Rate of Return: (20 points) If you were one of the original investors in this issue and you had invested $10,000, what would your total return be if you sold the securities at today's market price? Compute the current duration of the bond and add a brief discussion about your calculations and what the results indicate. Section 5: WACC: (20 points) Compute the firm's current WACC assuming the total debt of the firm is in the issue that you analyzed. This means that if the company has more than one debt issue outstanding with a total face value of $X million and your chosen issue involves $Y million, then assume that all $X million is in your issue. This will simplify the calculations without diminishing learning value. Add a brief discussion about your calculations and what the results indicate. Conclusion: (10 points) Based on your research in Sections 1-5, discuss at least three overall conclusions about this offering. In your conclusion, please recap your analysis so that a reader can draw upon your expertise in order to make an educated investment decision. The conclusion should draw together all that you have researched and analyzed. Overall: Organize your project with a title page, table of contents, and reference list. Clearly label each section and ensure pages are numbered. Show all calculations. If calculations involve more than one line, put them in an appendix and show only the results in the main paper. Sections should flow smoothly from one to another to ensure continuity. Please edit your report so that it is something that makes you proud.

It’s Just a Matter of Timing Case StudyReview the It’s Just a Matter of Timing Case Study (pp. 133-134) and answer the three discussion questions. Responses to each question should range from 100-200 words. Your paper should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards (12 point Times New Roman font, double-spacing, 1" margins, title and reference pages). Be sure to use the text and/or other sources to support your responses and properly cite the use of such.What did Teresa learn?Other than quitting, what can Teresa do to resolve the problem? What learning and perception factors should she consider as she analyzes the situation? If you were an outside consultant to the firm, could you recommend solutions that might not occur to Teresa or Vegas? What would they be?View your assignment rubric. Here is the article belowIt’s Just a Matter of TimingTeresa Alvarez ate dinner slowly and without enthusiasm. Mike, her husband of only a few months, had learned that Teresa’s “blue funks” were usually caused by her job. He knew that it was best to let her work out the problem alone. He excused himself and went to watch TV. Teresa poked at her dinner, but the large knot in her stomach kept her from eating much.She had been very excited when Vegas Brown had approached her about managing his small interior-decorating firm. At the time, she was a loan officer for a local bank and knew Vegas through his financial dealings with the bank. As Vegas explained to her, his biggest problem was in managing the firm’s financial assets, mostly because the firm was undercapi- talized. It was not a severe problem, he assured her. “Mostly,” he had said, “it’s a cash flow problem. We have to be sure that the customers pay their accounts in time to pay our creditors. With your experience, you should be able to ensure a timely cash flow.”Teresa thought this was a good opportunity to build her managerial skills, since she had never had full responsibility for a company. It also meant a substantial raise in salary. After explor- ing the opportunity with Mike, she accepted the job.During her first week with Vegas, she discovered that the financial problems were much more severe than he had led her to believe. The firm’s checking account was overdrawn by about $40,000. There was a substantial list of creditors, mostly compa- nies that sold furniture and carpeting to the firm on short-term credit. She was astonished that this financial position did not seem to bother Vegas.“All you have to do, Teresa, is collect enough money each day to cover the checks we have written to our creditors. As you’ll see, I’m the best sales rep in the business, so we have lots of money coming in. It’s just a matter of timing. With you here, we should turn this problem around in short order.”Teresa, despite her misgivings, put substantial effort into the new job. She worked late almost every day and began to real- ize that it was more than simple cash-flow timing. For example, if the carpet layers made an error or if the furniture came in dam- aged, the customer would refuse to pay. This would mean that the customer’s complaint must be serviced. However, the carpet layers disliked correcting service complaints, and furniture reor- ders might take several weeks.Thus, Teresa personally began to examine all customer orders at crucial points in the process. Eventually, this minimized problems with new orders, but there remained a large number of old orders still awaiting corrections.Teresa also arranged a priority system for paying creditors that eased some financial pressures in the short run and that would allow old, noncritical debts to be repaid when old cus- tomer accounts were repaid. After six months, the day arrived when the checking account had a zero balance, which was sub- stantial progress. A few weeks later, it actually had a $9,000 positive balance. During all this time Teresa had made a point of concealing the financial status from Vegas. But with the $9,000 positive balance, she felt elated and told Vegas.Vegas was ecstatic, said she had done a remarkable job, and gave her an immediate raise. Then it was Teresa’s turn to be ecstatic. She had turned a pressure-packed job into one of promise. The future looked exciting, and the financial pressures had developed into financial opportunities. But that was last week. This morning Vegas came into Teresa’s office and asked her to write him a check for $30,000. Vegas said everything was looking so good that he was buying a new home for his fam- ily ($30,000 was the down payment). Teresa objected violently. “But this will overdraw our account by $21,000 again. I just got us out of one hole, and you want to put us back in. Either you delay the home purchase or I quit. I’m not going to go through all the late nights and all the pressure again because of some stu- pid personal decision you make. Can’t you see what it means for the business to have money in the bank?” “No, I can’t!” Vegas said sternly. “I don’t want to have money in the bank. It doesn’t do me any good there. I’ll just go out and keep selling our services, and the money will come in like always. You’ve proved to me that it’s just a matter of timing. Quit if you want, but I’m going to buy the house. It’s still my company, and I’ll do what I want.” Discussion Questions 1. What did Teresa learn? 2. Other than quitting, what can Teresa do to resolve the problem? What learning and perception factors should she consider as she analyzes the situation? 3. If you were an outside consultant to the firm, could you rec- ommend solutions that might not occur to Teresa or Vegas? What would they be?

Promotion AnalysisSubmit your analysis for the final P (promotion) for your chosen company's product/service. Your analysis should cover all the aspects related to promoting the product, including to the customer, as well as to other promotional audiences: What is the communication strategy? What are the communication channels/media? Who represents the product? What is the sales approach? What examples of sales techniques can you provide? Include in your analysis an evaluation of their promotion strategy: What works? How could they improve? Resources Promotion Analysis Scoring Guide.