Your child's orthodontist offers you two alternative payment plans. The first plan requires a $4,000 immediate up-front payment. The second plan requires you to make monthly payments of $137.41, payable at the end of each month for 3 years. What nominal annual interest rate is built into the monthly payment plan? a. 12.31%

b. 12.96%

c. 13.64%

d. 14.36%

e. 15.08%

Why is efficiency an important economic goal?

Carey company is borrowing $225,000 for one year at 9.5 percent from second intrastate bank. the bank requires a 15 percent compensating balance. the principal refers to funds the firm can effectively utilize (amount borrowed − compensating balance). a. what is the effective rate of interest? (use a 360-day year. input your answer as a percent rounded to 2 decimal places.) b. what would the effective rate be if carey were required to make 12 equal monthly payments to retire the loan?

The gilbert instrument corporation is considering replacing the wood steamer it currently uses to shape guitar sides. the steamer has 6 years of remaining life. if kept,the steamer will have depreciaiton expenses of $650 for five years and $325 for the sixthyear. its current book value is $3,575, and it can be sold on an internet auction site for$4,150 at this time. if the old steamer is not replaced, it can be sold for $800 at the endof its useful life. gilbert is considering purchasing the side steamer 3000, a higher-end steamer, whichcosts $12,000 and has an estimated useful life of 6 years with an estimated salvage value of$1,500. this steamer falls into the macrs 5-year class, so the applicable depreciationrates are 20.00%, 32.00%, 19.20%, 11.52%, 11.52%, and 5.76%. the new steamer is fasterand allows for an output expansion, so sales would rise by $2,000 per year; the newmachine's much greater efficiency would reduce operating expenses by $1,900 per year.to support the greater sales, the new machine would require that inventories increase by$2,900, but accounts payable would simultaneously increase by $700. gilbert's marginalfederal-plus-state tax rate is 40%, and its wacc is 15%.a. should it replace the old steamer? b. npv of replace = $2,083.51