During the summer of 2008, people living near the PinedaleMesa (sometimes called the Pinedale Anticline) inWyoming were anxiously waiting for the Bureau of LandManagement (BLM) to issue a decision regarding whetherQuestar and other energy companies would be allowedto drill thousands of ugly natural gas wells all over theserene wilderness that lay atop the mesa. The PinedaleMesa is a 40-mile-long, 300-square-mile plateau extendingnorth and south along the eastern side of Wyoming’sGreen River Basin, an area that is famous as the gateway tothe hunting, fishing, and hiking treasures of the Bridger-Teton wilderness. The city of Pinedale, which sits belowthe mesa, a short distance from its northern end, was alreadysurrounded by hundreds of recently drilled wellsthat ceaselessly pumped natural gas from the vast pocketsthat are buried underneath the region and which are estimatedto contain 25 trillion cubit feet of gas worth billionsof dollars.Questar Corporation, an energy company with assetsvalued at about $4 billion, is the main developer of the gaswells around the city and had already drilled several wellsup on the mesa that overlooked the city. Occasionally elk,mule deer, pronghorn antelope, and other wildlife, includingthe imperiled greater sage grouse, descend from theirhabitats atop the mesa and gingerly pick their way aroundand between the wells Questar drilled around Pinedale.Not surprisingly, environmentalists were at war with Questarand the other energy companies, whose plans to expandtheir operations on the mesa, they claimed, wouldhave serious negative effects on the wildlife on the mesa aswell as on the beauty of the area.The federal government’s Bureau of Land Management(BLM) was responsible for deciding what was donewith the acreage on the mesa. Of 198,034 acres on themesa, the federal government owns 158,000, Wyoming owns 9,800, and 29,800 are privately owned. In 2000, the BLM had authorized limited drilling on the mesa, but hadimposed several restrictions that protected wildlife fromthe full impact of the drilling. In 2008, the Bureau was beingasked by Questar and the other companies who wantedto drill on the mesa to remove its limits on drilling by allowingmore than 4,300 additional wells, as well as to liftone of the restrictions that cushioned the drilling’s impacton wildlife but had proven very costly to the companies.Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Questar Corporationdrilled its first successful test well on the PinedaleMesa in 1998. Extracting the gas under the mesa wasnot feasible earlier because the gas was trapped in tightlypacked sandstone that prevented it from flowing to thewells and no one knew how to get it out. It was not untilthe mid-1990s that the industry developed techniquesfor fracturing the sandstone and freeing the gas. Full-scaledrilling had to await the completion of an environmentalimpact statement, which the Bureau of Land Management(BLM) finished in mid-2000 when it approved drilling upto 900 wells on the federally owned acreage on the PinedaleMesa. By the beginning of 2004, Questar had drilled76 wells on the 14,800 acres it leased from the federal governmentand from the state of Wyoming and the companyhad plans to eventually drill at least 400 more wells. Energyexperts around the country welcomed the new supplyof natural gas, which, because of its simple molecularstructure (CH 4 ), burns much more cleanly than any otherfossil fuels. Moreover, because natural gas is extracted inthe United States, its use reduces U.S. reliance on foreignenergy supplies. Businesses in and around Pinedale alsowelcomed the drilling activity, which brought numerousbenefits, including jobs, increased tax revenues, anda booming local economy. Wyoming’s state governmentlikewise supported the activity since 60 percent of the statebudget is based on royalties the state receives from coal,gas, and oil operations.Questar’s wells on the mesa averaged 13,000 feetdeep and cost $2.8 to $3.6 million each, depending onthe amount of fracturing that had to be done. 1 Drilling awell typically required clearing and leveling a 2- to 4-acre“pad” to support the drilling rig and other equipment.One or two wells could be drilled at each pad. Access roadshad to be run to the pad, and the well had to be connectedto a network of pipes that drew the gas from the wells andcarried it to where it could be stored and distributed. Eachwell produced waste liquids that had to be stored in tanksat the pad and periodically hauled away on tanker trucks.The BLM, however, had imposed a significant restrictionon Questar’s operations on the mesa. Largeareas of the mesa provide habitat for mule deer, pronghornsheep, sage grouse, and other species, and the BLMimposed drilling rules that were designed to protect this.Chief among these species was the sage grouse.The sage grouse is a colorful bird that today survivesonly in scattered pockets in 11 states. The grouse, whichlives at elevations of 4,000 to 9,000 feet and is dependenton increasingly rare old-growth sagebrush for food and toscreen itself from predators, is extremely sensitive to humanactivity. Houses, telephone poles, or fences can drawhawks and ravens, which prey on the ground-nesting grouse.It is estimated that 200 years ago the birds—known fortheir distinctive spring “strutting” mating dance—numbered2 million and were common across the westernUnited States. By the 1970s, their numbers had fallen toabout 400,000. A study completed in June, 2004 by theWestern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies concludedthat there were only between 140,000 and 250,000of the birds left and that “we are not optimistic about thefuture.” The dramatic decline in their number was blamedprimarily on the destruction of 50 percent of their sagebrushnesting and mating grounds (called leks ), which inturn was blamed on livestock grazing, new home construction,fires, and the expanding acreage being given over togas drilling and other mining activities. Biologists believethat if its sagebrush habitats are not protected, the birdwill be so reduced in number by 2050 that it will neverrecover. According to Pat Deibert, a U.S. Fish and WildlifeService biologist, “they need large stands of unbrokensagebrush” and anything that breaks up those stands suchas roads, pipelines, or houses, affects them. 2In order to protect the sage grouse, whose last robustpopulation had nested for thousands of years on theideal sagebrush fields up on the mesa, the BLM requiredthat Questar’s roads, wells, and other structures had tobe located a quarter mile or more from grouse breedinggrounds, and at least 2 miles from nesting areas duringbreeding season. Some studies, however, concluded thatthese protections were not sufficient to arrest the declinein the grouse population. As wells proliferated in the area,they were increasingly taking up land on which the grouseforaged and nested and were disturbing the sensitive birds.Conservationists said that the BLM should increase thequarter-mile buffer areas around the grouse breedinggrounds to at least 2-mile buffers.In May, 2004, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Serviceannounced that it would begin the process of studyingwhether the sage grouse should be categorized asan endangered species, which would bring it under theprotection of the Endangered Species Act, something conservationistshad been urging the Service to do since 2000.Questar and other gas, oil, and mining companies adamantlyopposed having the grouse listed as an endangeredspecies because once listed, the grouse would make largeareas of federal land off-limits to drilling, mining, and development.Since 80 percent of Wyoming is consideredsage grouse habitat, including much of the Pinedale Mesa,Questar’s drilling plans would be severely compromised.ETHICS AND THE ENVIRONMENT 299Questar and other companies formed a coalition—thePartnership for the West—to lobby the Bush administrationto keep the grouse off the endangered species list. Ledby Jim Sims, a former communications director for PresidentGeorge W. Bush’s Energy Task Force, the coalitionestablished a web site where they called on members tolobby “key administration players in Washington” and to“unleash grass-roots opposition to a listing, thus providingsome cover to the political leadership at Department of Interiorand throughout the administration.” The coalitionalso suggested “funding scientific studies” that would bedesigned to show that the sage grouse was not endangered.According to Sims, the attempt to categorize the grouse asan endangered species was spearheaded by “environmentalextremists who have converged on the American Westin an effort to stop virtually all economic growth and development.They want to restrict business and industry atevery turn. They want to put our Western lands off-limitsto all of us.” 3 Dru Bower, vice president of the PetroleumAssociation of Wyoming, said, “[endangered species] listingsare not good for the oil and gas industry, so anythingwe can do to prevent a species from being listed is goodfor the industry. If the sage grouse is listed, it would havea dramatic effect on oil and gas development in the state ofWyoming.” 4The sage grouse was not the only species affectedby Questar’s drilling operations. The gas fields to whichQuestar wanted additional drilling rights was an area8 miles long and 3 miles wide, located on the northern endof the mesa. This property was located in the middle ofthe winter range used by mule deer and pronghorn antelope,some of which migrate to the mesa area from as far awayas the Grand Teton National Park, 170 miles to the north.Although the mesa was elevated and winters there wereharsh, it was much lower than the mountains where themule deer and pronghorn antelope lived in spring andsummer, and the mesa provided large fields of sagebrushthat fed the animals. Migration studies conducted between1998 and 2001 revealed that the pronghorn antelope herdsmake one of the longest annual migrations among NorthAmerican big game animals. The area around Pinedale islaced with migration corridors used by thousands of muledeer and pronghorn every fall as they make their way southto their winter grounds on the mesa and the Green RiverBasin. Traffic on Highway 191 which cuts across some ofthe migration corridors sometimes has to be stopped tolet bunched-up pronghorn herds pass. 5 Environmentalistsfeared that if the animals were prevented from reachingtheir winter ranges or if the winter ranges became inhospitable,the large herds would wither as the animals died off.Unfortunately, drilling operations create a great deal ofnoise and require the constant movement of many trucksand other large machines, all of which can severely impactanimals during the winter when they are already physicallystressed and vulnerable due to their low calorie intake.Some studies had suggested that even the mere presenceof humans disturbed the animals and led them to avoid anarea. Consequently, the BLM required Questar to cease alldrilling operations on the mesa each winter from November15 to May 1. In fact, to protect the animals the BLM prohibitedall persons, whether on foot or on automobile, fromventuring into the area during winter. The BLM, however,made an exception for Questar trucks and personnel whohad to continue to haul off liquid wastes from wells that hadalready been drilled and that continued to operate duringthe winter (the winter moratorium prohibited only drillingoperations, and completed wells were allowed to continueto pump gas throughout the year).Being forced to stop drilling operations during thewinter months was extremely frustrating and costly to Questar.Drilling crews had to be laid off at the beginning ofwinter, and new crews had to be hired and retrained everyspring. Every fall the company had to pack up several tonsof equipment, drilling rigs, and trucks and move them offthe mesa. Because of the seasonal interruption in its drillingschedule, the full development of its oil fields was projectedto take 18 years, much longer than the company wanted.In 2004, Questar submitted a proposal to the Bureauof Land Management. Questar proposed to invest in anew kind of drilling rig that allowed up to 16 wells to bedug from a single pad, instead of the traditional 1 or 2.The new technology (called directional drilling ) aimed thedrill underground at a slanted angle away from the pad,so that by placing wells around the perimeter of the pad,all at an underground slant leading away from the pad—like the outstretched tentacles on an octopus—multipledistant locations could be tapped by several wells branchingout from a single pad. This minimized the surface landoccupied by the wells: while traditional drilling required16 separate 2–4 acre pads to support 16 wells, the new“directional drilling” technology allowed a single pad tohold 16 wells. The technology also reduced the numberof required roadways and distribution pipes since a singleaccess road and pipe could now service the same numberof wells that traditionally required 16 different roads and16 different pipes. Questar also proposed that instead ofcarrying liquid wastes away from operating wells on noisytanker trucks, the company would build a second pipe systemthat would pump liquid wastes away automatically.These innovations, Questar pointed out, would substantiallyreduce any harmful impact that drilling and pumpinghad on the wildlife inhabiting the mesa. Using thenew technology for the additional 400 wells the companywanted to drill would require 61 pads instead of 150, andthe pads would occupy 533 acres instead of 1,474.The new directional drilling technology added about$500,000 to the cost of each well and required investingin several new drilling rigs. The added cost for the 400300 BUSINESS AND ITS EXTERNAL EXCHANGES: ECOLOGY AND CONSUMERSadditional wells Questar planned would total $185 million.Questar noted, however, that “the company anticipatesthat it can justify the extra cost if it can drill and completeall the wells on a pad in one continuous operation” thatcontinued through the winter. 6 If the company was allowedto drill continuously through the winter, it wouldbe able to finish drilling all its wells in 9 years instead of18, thereby almost doubling the company’s revenues fromthe project over those 9 years. This acceleration in its revenues,coupled with other savings resulting from putting16 wells on each pad, would enable it to justify the addedcosts of directional drilling. In short, the company wouldinvest in the new technology that reduced the impact onwildlife, but only if it was allowed to drill on the mesa duringthe winter months.In addition, Questar had requested that it be allowed toincrease the number of wells it was allowed to drill on themesa. By now, several other energy companies were tryingto get permission to drill on the mesa, including UltraResources, Shell, BP, Stone Energy, Newfield Exploration,Yates Petroleum, and Anschutz. Together, the companiesasked the BLM that they be allowed to drill an additional4,399 natural gas wells on the mesa. And all of them were alsorequesting they be allowed to drill through the winter.Although environmentalists welcomed Questar’s willingnessto invest in directional drilling, they strongly opposedallowing it or the other companies to operate on themesa during the winter when mule deer and antelope werethere foraging for food and struggling to survive. The UpperGreen River Valley Coalition, a coalition of environmentalgroups, issued a statement that read: “The company shouldbe lauded for using directional drilling, but technologicalimprovements should not come at the sacrifice of importantsafeguards for Wyomings’s wildlife heritage.”In order to allow Questar to test the feasability ofdirectional drilling and to study its effects on winteringdeer herds, the Bureau of Land Management decided tolet Questar drill wells at a single pad through the winterof 2002–2003 and again through the winter of 2003–2004.The Bureau would launch a 5-year study of the impactof the drilling which would continue until 2007 (laterextended beyond 2010). Questar was glad it was at leastbeing given the chance to show that drilling through thewinter was compatible with the wildlife living on the mesa.Two of the other companies, Shell and Ultra were also allowedto test winter drilling in 2005.Before the Bureau made a final decision aboutwhether it would approve the companies’ requests to drillthousands of additional wells and to drill them through thewinters, it had to again prepare an environmental impactstatement, this one called a “supplemental environmentalimpact statement” or SEIS. 7 The Bureau therefore begancollecting information about the impact of increasingthe number of wells and allowing year-round drilling. Its5-year study of the impact of winter drilling was expandedto include on-going monitoring of wildlife on the mesa.In a preliminary 2004 report on the results of its study,the Bureau of Land Management said that it had found“no conclusive data to indicate quantifiable, adverse effectsto deer” due to drilling. The Bureau was clearly anxiousto avoid the public dismay that it had created when it hadfirst opened up the mesa to drilling by Questar and it wastrying to be as open as possible. During the winter of2005 and the spring of 2006, the Bureau held several openmeetings at which the public was invited to comment onthe requests of Quesar and the other companies. In December,2006, the Bureau completed the first draft of itsenvironmental statement and released it to the public formore comments. Based on this additional input, a secondpreliminary draft was issued for public comment in December,2007 and the Bureau held additional public meetingson the second draft during early 2008.Finally, on September 12, 2008, the Bureau issued itsdecision on the requests of the drilling companies, alongwith the final draft of its environmental impact statement.Its decision assumed that future drilling would use the newdrilling technology Quesar had proposed. According tothe Bureau, it had studied the impact of five main alternativedecisions it could render: (1) continue to prohibit winterdrilling and allow no additional wells; (2) allow winterdrilling and allow 4,399 more wells on a maximum of 600drilling pads all located within a large “core area” in thecentral part of the mesa; (3) allow winter drilling and 4,399more wells on a maximum 600 pads plus : confine drillingto specific parts of the “core area” and prohibit drilling ordisturbance of any areas that were “crucial winter ranges”for mule deer and pronghorn antelope, or mating andnesting areas of the sage grouse; (4) allow winter drillingand 4,399 wells on 600 pads, confine drilling to parts ofthe core area, prohibit drilling or disturbance of winterranges of mule deer or pronghorn antelope or mating andnesting areas of sage grouse, plus: prohibit drilling on thethousands of acres (the “flank area”) surrounding the “corearea” where drilling was allowed, require annual review ofwildlife impacts, and require the companies to establish afund (with an initial contribution of $4.2 million and annualpayments of $7,500 per well) to monitor wildlife andto pay for the costs of mitigating any impacts on wildlifethat monitoring detected; (5) Allow drilling only withinthe “core area” and prohibit drilling in the area around theperiphery, but: permit fewer than 4,399 wells and less than600 pads and limit the total acreage devoted to wells.The BLM admitted that under all alternatives but(1), the deer and antelope “would continue to be adverselyaffected,” and “decreased habitat” would result for thesage grouse. Also “surface disturbance is expected to adverselyaffect migratory birds,” and sediment from drillingthat entered rivers could lead to “decreased reproductiveETHICS AND THE ENVIRONMENT 301success in spring-spawning native salmon species.” Nevertheless,the BLM decided to choose alternative (4), sayingthat it provided the best balance between protectingthe natural environment and allowing access to the naturalgas that was so valuable to the United States. In its officialstatement of its decision, the BLM added, in an important“appendix B,” that if the number of mule deer or antelopedeclined by 15 percent in any one year or from their levelsin 2005/2006, or if the number of sage grouse declinedby 30 percent in any two-year period, then the BLM wasrequired, and had the right, to take a number of “mitigationresponses.” Specifically, the BLM had to first try toexpand the habitat of the declining species by removing allhuman disturbances from the large “flank area” surroundingthe “core” and by enhancing these areas so they couldprovide additional habitat by, for example, planting moresagebrush and other edible vegetation. But if this did notwork, then the BLM could change where wells were allowedand how fast new wells could be added, as needed toprotect wildlife.Questar and the other companies were pleased withthe outcome. They had, essentially, gotten what they hadasked for, even if there were limits to where they coulddrill their wells. The companies quickly moved into the“core areas” and began building and drilling, and continuedthrough the winter of 2009. But on October 28, 2010,Western Ecosystems Technology, the group monitoringwildlife on the Pinedale Mesa, announced that in 2009mule deer on the mesa had declined by 60 percent comparedto their numbers in 2001, and by 28 percent compared totheir number in 2005. 8 The Western Ecosystem Technologystudy also found that in 2009 less than 70 percent ofadult female mule deer survived the winter on the mesa,compared to a normal survival rate of 85 percent. A representativeof Shell, one of the companies drilling onthe mesa, reacted by saying more research was needed:“Let’s see what the results are before we start reacting toomuch to what could be naturally caused variation.” Buta local Bureau official responded that since the declinein deer numbers had passed the threshold of 15 percent,“aggressive and positive action” on mitigation measureswas required.Questions1. What are the systemic, corporate, and individual issuesraised in this case?2. How should wildlife species like grouse or deer be valued,and how should that value be balanced againstthe economic interests of a society or of a companylike Questar? What principles or rules would youpropose we use to balance the value of wildlife speciesagainst economic interests?3. In light of the fact that natural gas reduces the U.S.’sundesirable dependence on foreign oil and the factthat natural gas produces less greenhouse gases thancoal, oil, and other fuels, should Questar continue itsdrilling operations? Does the environmental impactof Questar’s drilling operations imply that Questar ismorally obligated to stop drilling wells on the PinedaleMesa? Explain.4. What, if anything, should Questar and the other companiesbe doing differently?5. From an ethical point of view, was alternative (4) thebest option among those from which the BLM chose?Is another alternative better from an ethical point ofview? Explain your answer.6. Should the loss of species produced by the drillingoperations of Questar be considered a problemof pollution or a problem of conservation? Can theloss of species by evaluated as an “external cost”?Explain.

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Neede in 24 hours RESEARCH PROJECT ——- (25% of the course grade)The students have to complete an individual or group (determined by your professor) financial research project. The purpose of this assignment is to test the students’ ability to research, analyze and present financial information. The students will be required to research key financial data, analyze the information, apply the appropriate financial concepts and formulas and prepare a credible management level financial report.Students have to complete an individual or group (determined by your professor) financial research project.The Financial Research Project, as described below, will be assigned on-line on the beginning of week 1 of the course. This project is due, submitted online via LEO, not later than the date indicated in the course schedule.Your specific assignment for the project is stated in the section “Project Description” of the Syllabus.This report should be about 8-10 double-spaced typewritten pages (without tables and graphs).Format of the Research Project:The Data Exercise must be posted to the LEO Student Assignments as a Attachments are limited to a maximum two files in doc, docx., xls. xlsx., or rtf. formats. OTHER FORMATS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE, will not be reviewed or graded.Please note that hand-written and scanned works, pdf. files, jpg. files, as well as files posted in google drive, will not be accepted or graded.The paper should be written in APA style Research Paper format.Please note that Use of APA Citation Methodology is required for the assignment.All works must be Word processed. Handwritten and scanned work will not be accepted and graded.This Written Assignment is valued at 25% of your final course grade. This report will require (1) financial data research, (2) the application of a wide range of financial theories, and (3) quantitative analysis to prepare a professionally-sound and supported recommendation. The report will be evaluated based on the following three factors:–30%—-The quality of the supporting research and references.–50%—-The analysis of the data, presented in the report. The student demonstrates understanding and application of economic concepts and formulas.–20%—-The presentation approach, professionalism, logic and persuasiveness of your recommendation In accordance with the UMUC Academic Policy, notes taken for papers and research projects should accurately record sources of material to be cited, appropriately quoted, paraphrased or summarized, and papers and research projects should acknowledge these sources in the appropriate places in the text of the paper as well as in a reference list at the end of the paper, in accordance with accepted citation practices. No more than 30% of the text of the project should be made up of quotes.The resubmission of research projects from previous classes (whether or not taken at UMUC), partially or in its entirety, is unacceptable, and will result in a grade of zero for the graded exercise.*****************************************************************************—- FINANCIAL RESEARCH PROJECT ——-Worth 25% of the course grade.Due date is stated in the course schedule.THE PROJECT IS DESIGNED TO BE COMPLETED INDIVIDUALLY BY THE STUDENT (OR A GROUP) AS ASSIGNED BY YOUR PROFESSOR.OBJECTIVEThe specific objective of this graded written research exercise is to prepare an ‘executive level financial report’ to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of a mythical company in which you are employed as a financial analyst. This report will pertain to the financial evaluation of a real, publicly-traded, company. It will require independent research (web-based or library), careful financial analysis, and the proper application of key financial theories and formulas.The company that is to be analyzed for this project is to be a company selected by instructor.Alternatively, you can request approval of another publicly traded company. This request must be submitted before the end of the first week of the course. The request must include• identification of the company by ticker symbol and name• a reasonable and appropriate explanation of why you want to examine the alternative company• the source of the analyst’s report that will be used in the analysis (which must be submitted to me)• acknowledgement by you that all of the specific elements of the assignment (see below) will be prepared by you and included in the final research project reportSITUATIONYou are a financial analyst with the mythical High Technology Corporation (‘HTC’). HTC is an established manufacturer of a line of electronic components, which services an international market. HTC is currently a new fully-integrated wireless communication service for world-wide use. A competitive technical and economic product evaluation has determined that THE COMPANY THAT IS TO BE ANALYZED FOR THIS PROJECT (General Electric – GE) (a real publicly-traded company) is the best potential candidate for a long-term commitment. THE COMPANY (COMPANY SELECTED BY INSTRUCTOR) is offering a competitively favorable deal. However, based on some serious general concerns about the fallout of companies in the industry in general, the CEO has asked your CFO to conduct a financial analysis of THE COMPANY (General Electric – GE) to determine if it is prudent to commit to this company’s communication system. The cost of cutting over to the new communications system is significant and any interruption in support during the next few years would adversely affect HTC’s performance and profit. Specifically, the primary question is: will THE COMPANY be financially viable over the next two to three years?YOUR SPECIFIC ASSIGNMENT Your specific assignment is to research, analyze, and prepare a report for the CFO on the actual financial performance of THE COMPANY THAT IS TO BE ANALYZED FOR THIS PROJECT (General Electric – GE). In addition to reviewing the traditional financial performance indicators, you are also to review THE COMPANY’S past and current stock performance. Your report includes three parts:(1) An evaluation of THE COMPANY’S financial performance for the last three years. (See detailed description below) (2) An evaluation of THE COMPANY’S stock performance for the last one year. (See detailed description below) (3) Finally, a specific recommendation, with supporting rationale, as to whether or not THE COMPANY’S recent trend in financial and stock performance is of sufficient financial strength to warrant entering into a long-term commitment.To assist you in your task, the CFO has provided the following general guidance. Since it is recognized that the industry is undergoing a major contraction, it is very important to comparatively evaluate THE COMPANY’S financial and stock performance trends against its Industry or major competitor.SUGGESTED WEBSITESwww.marketwatch.com -To find the information for your company you need to type the stock symbol in the Search window to get into the company’s page.www.morningstar.com – To find the information for your company you need to type the stock symbol in the Quotes window to get into the company’s page.www.money.cnn.com -To find the information for your company you need to type the stock symbol in the Search window to get into the company’s page.www.finance.yahoo.com – To find the information for your company you need to type the stock symbol in the Search window to get into the company’s page.www.nyse.com – Click on Data, then click on Stocks (under Quotes), and type the name of the company or the stock symbol in the window “Keyword or symbol” to get into the company’s page.www.nasdaq.com – To find the information for your company you need to type the stock symbol in the Search window to get into the company’s page.Company’s websitesYOUR SPECIFIC ASSIGNMENTUsing the information from the websites the students have to develop evaluation of the financial and stock performance for THE COMPANY (General Electric – GE). (Totally 85% of the assignment grade) -1—Background and Industry (one short paragraph). -2—Analysis of the most significant financial performance results. (15% of the project grade)a. Select of most significant financial performance results for the company. Create a table that contains the THE COMPANY’S financial performance results for the last three years and for the major competitor or industry for the last year: Revenue, net income, working capital, and other financial performance results of your choice. Present the table with this information in your report.b. Write about 1 page of the trend analysis of these financial performance results.-3— Financial ratio analysis. (15% of the project grade)Find financial ratios for the company for the last 1-3 years and its major competitor for the last year in the Internet.a. Present the ratios as the table(s) in your project.b. Write about 2 pages of analysis of the ratio results that you found. Compare the ratio results against the industry or main competitor. In your analysis you should answer the following questions:• How liquid is the company?• How is the company financing its assets?• Is management generating a substantial profit on the company’s assets?-4- Evaluate Return on Equity for the company for the last three years using the DuPont analysis. (10% of the project grade)a. Taking the information from the Income statements and the Balance sheets, calculate the company’s net profit margin, total assets turnover equity multiplier, and return on equity using the DuPont formula for the company for three years. Show your calculation!ROE = Net profit margin x Total assets turnover x Equity multiplier= Net income/Sales x Sales/Total assets x Total assets/Common equityYou can use Revenue instead of Sales.b. Compare the results to main competitor. For the major competitor, you can use ratios from the Internet or calculate them for the last year.Write about 1 page of analysis of the results that you received. In your report please answer the question: If the management of the company would like to improve their return on equity, what should the management of these companies do? -5- Evaluate other areas of financial analysis: capital spending, Beta values, credit rating service valuations (if possible), bond rating valuations (if possible), etc. (10% of the project grade)1) Find the data for capital spending. How much did THE COMPANY spend on research, development, and engineering in the most recent year? How did this compare with the previous year?2) Find the current beta for the company and its major competitor in the Internet.a. Present beta results as the table in your project.b. Write about 0.5 page of analysis of beta values that you found. Compare the beta values against the main competitor. In your report please answer the question: How risky the company is?-6- Collect and evaluate the data about stock performance of the assigned company’s for the last one year. (20% of the project grade).6.1) Find the market ratios for the company for the last 1-3 years and its major competitor for the last year in the Internet.a. Present the market ratios as the table(s) in your project.b. Write about 1 page of analysis of the market ratio results that you found. Compare the market ratio results against the industry or main competitor. In your report please answer the question: Are the common stockholders receiving an adequate return on their investment?6.2) Analysis of the historical stock prices trend for the last year.a. Collect and evaluate the data about stock prices of the assigned company’s for the last one year for the company and its major competitor.b. Create the chart(s) using the stock price chart tools on the websites or Excel. Present the chart(s) in your project.c. Write about 0.5 page of analysis the historic stock prices trend for the last year.6.3) Apply the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) Security Market Line to estimate the required return on THE COMPANY stock. Note that you will need the risk-free rate and the market return. Show this information in your project.a. To get the current yield on 10-year Treasury securities go to Finance! Yahoo’s at www.finance.yahoo.com -click on Market Data – Bonds. You will use the current yield on 10-year Treasury securities as the risk-free rate to estimate the required rate of return on stocks. Show this information in your project.b. To get the market return go to money.cnn.com , Click on Market, then click on S&P 500.You will use 52-weeks change for S&P500 listed as “Year-to-Date” percentage change. Show this information in your project.c. Calculate the required return on THE COMPANY stock using the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) Security Market Line. Please show your work.d. Find on the Internet the 52-weeks change of the stock price. Compare the required return on the stock calculated using CAPM against it’s historical return over the last 52 weeks, found on the Internet. Is there a difference between these returns? Is THE COMPANY’S stock overvalued, undervalued, or properly valued? Why? Explain your answer.-7- Develop a specific recommendation, with supporting rationale, as to whether or not the assigned company’s recent trend in financial and stock performance is of sufficient financial strength to warrant entering into a long-term commitment (about 1 page) (15% of the project grade).PRESENTATION OF PAPER AND WRITING (15%) of the project grade):-Organization, Format and Presentation of Paper including the Title page, Introduction, Body, and Summary (4% of the project grade)Use of Tables, Figures and Other Graphics to Summarize and Support Analysis Presented in the Paper (3% of the project grade)Logical and Smooth Flowing Transitions and Relationships among Sections of the Written Report (3% of the project grade)Research Sources and Significance of Research Information and Data, Use of APA Citation Methodology (5% of the project grade)Your final report is to be an executive-level financial report, directed to the CFO. This report should be about 8-10 double-spaced typewritten pages (without tables and graphs). Include suitable comparative, quantitative and qualitative analyses and conclude with a specific and supported recommendation on the projected financial viability of THE COMPANY THAT IS TO BE ANALYZED FOR THIS PROJECT (COMPANY SELECTED BY INSTRUCTOR) for the next several years.Essential research data, financial calculations and other documentation as necessary to support your recommendation should be referred to in summary form in your report and attached in detail as enclosures. All major sources should be referenced. There is no set limit to the size of the enclosures, but it is recommended that only essential enclosures be attached. You should use references and bibliography to identify any remaining supporting documents you wish to include.Format of the Research Project:The Data Exercise must be posted to the LEO Student Assignments as a Attachments are limited to a maximum two files in doc, docx., xls. xlsx., or rtf. formats. OTHER FORMATS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE, will not be reviewed or graded.Please note that hand-written and scanned works, pdf. files, jpg. files, as well as files posted in google drive, will not be accepted or graded.The paper should be written in APA style Research Paper format.Please note that Use of APA Citation Methodology is required for the assignment.All works must be Word processed. Handwritten and scanned work will not be accepted and graded.This report is an individual effort and must be researched, developed and prepared by you. All questions related to this assignment, should be referred to the mythical CFO (i.e., your instructor). In accordance with the UMUC Academic Policy, notes taken for papers and research projects should accurately record sources of material to be cited, appropriately quoted, paraphrased or summarized, and papers and research projects should acknowledge these sources in the appropriate places in the text of the paper as well as in a reference list at the end of the paper, in accordance with accepted citation practices. No more than 30% of the text of the project should be made up of quotes

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