What is an exchange rate?

Overview
In this discussion topic, we will be discussing exchange rates.
Instructions
In your post, address the following questions:
What is an exchange rate? What is the exchange rate currently for the US dollar and the euro? for the dollar and the yen? for any other currency of your choice?
Where appropriate, cite examples from your text or other readings.
Rubric says:
Post includes substantial and thoughtful content with appropriate terms and concepts learned in the course utilized. Post addresses fully the topic question.
References cited as needed.

What are some of the possible questions raised by the cash flows analysis?

OPTION #1: SECURITIES FRAUD INVESTIGATION
Review the following Excel spreadsheet containing the financial statements of Cloudy Company, Inc., a publicly traded company. The financial statements are adapted from a company that was involved in securities fraud. The alleged perpetrator of the fraud was the founder/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company.
Cloud Company, Inc. Financial StatementsDownload Cloud Company, Inc. Financial Statements
Leading up to the fraud allegation, the company had been in existence for a few years. Hence, the attached financial statements include: income statements for years ended 4, 5, and 6; balance sheets or years 5 and 6; and a statement of cash flows for year ended 6.
You’ve been hired as the forensic accountant to investigate whether or not fraud has occurred, and if so, the extent of the fraud. Use the financial statements and information provided in the instructions below to create a detailed fraud investigation report by responding to the following questions/topics:
Compute and interpret the common-size analysis for the income statement and balance sheet for each year provided.
Compute and interpret the trend analysis for the income statement and balance sheet for each year provided.Compute the cash flows analysis; that is, indicate the major uses and sources of cash, and the relationship of net income to accruals.
What are some of the possible questions raised by the cash flows analysis?
Which items on the cash flows analysis would you investigate further and why?
Compute and interpret the ratios analyses for years 4, 5, and 6 for the income statements; for years 5 and 6 for the balance sheets; and for year 6 for the statement of cash flows. The ratios must include at least the following:Liquidity (current and net working capital)
Profitability (gross margin, return on sales, return on assets, and return on equity)
Efficiency (total assets turnover, accounts receivable turnover, and accounts receivable days)
Leverage (debt to assets, equity to assets, debt to equity, and equity multiplier)
What do the above analyses indicate about the relationships between the income statements and balance sheets?
Based on your understanding of the financial data, which areas of each financial statement need further attention? Be sure to provide rationale and support for your assertions.
CPA firms audited the attached financial statements; a local CPA firm audited years 4 and 5, while an out-of-state CPA firm audited year 6. Although year 7 statements were not provided to you, one of the big CPA firms reviewed the interim financial statements for year 7. Discuss the following about the audits and reviews:The nature of assurances on the financial statements.
Accounting principles and concepts violated by Cloudy Company.
The context of the financial statements’ presentation. Who were the primary users of the financial statements?
In addition to the financial statements provided, indicate what other evidence you will use in the course of your investigation. In addition to the CEO, who is the primary suspect, which organizational positions will you interview and in what order you will conduct the interviews? Examples of such positions or representatives include the accountant, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), clerks, and secretary.
Your 8- to 10-page report must be accurate, clear, and detailed. You must include a summary of your findings and support the summary with answers to the above questions. You must cite at least six credible sources to support your points.

Explain why a firm should shut down immediately when it can no longer cover their variable.

Indicate if the following questions are True or False. Explain “Why” your answer is True or False.

1. Firms exist to produce and sell as much as possible. Why?
2. Employing economic cost/profit instead of accounting cost/profit when making business decisions tends to generate more efficient or superior economic results. Why?
3. For a monopoly, the marginal revenue declines as they sell more. Why?
4. Some oligopolistic firms try to collude to fix market prices. Why?
5. Market concentration measures fail to accurately assess the industry market power. Why?

The following questions are short answer questions. Clearly “explain” your ideas.
1. Explain why a firm should shut down immediately when it can no longer cover their variable.
2. Calculate the average total, fixed and marginal costs for a “competitive” firm with the following production cost schedule.
q Total Cost ATC AFC MC
0 10
10 12
20 16
30 26
40 38
50 75
60 120
What output or q (in the units of 10) is the most efficient production level?
If the market price is $1.00 then what output or q (in the units of 10) is the most profitable production level?
5. Explain why natural monopolies are regulated.
Explain why Economics is so cool. (Really)

What are the best times to post on Social Media Platforms? Why?

After reading the following article(s) or watching the following video(s), use this forum to contribute to the discussion.

Writing Prompt/Question:

What are the best times to post on Social Media Platforms? Why?

before submitting your posts to maximize the points you will earn. Your initial post should be at least 200 words. Remember to only use the information provided from the article that is linked on the assignment.

Explain how these strategies improve the quality of writing samples.

Assessment Description

Oral language forms the foundation of reading comprehension and affects our understanding of the symbol systems that are used for reading and writing. Teachers have opportunities to promote reading and writing through various activities that involve oral language such as group activities that engage students in conversations about what they read and write.

Review the following case study to inform the assignment below:

Student: Raymond

Age: 6.1

Grade: K

Raymond is having difficulty mastering basic reading skills and his teacher is concerned. Most of the students are able to rhyme CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words. However, Raymond is having difficulty identifying rhyming words. He can match all upper and lower case letters and can identify all upper case letters. Raymond has trouble with lower case letters, he mixes up /b/ and /d/, /g/ and /j/, /m/ and /n/, and /p/ and /q/.

His teacher is also concerned about Raymond’s comprehension skills. He enjoys listening to stories and is able to identify the characters and setting of the story. He is able to identify what happened at the beginning and at the end of the story, but has difficulty sequencing the middle of a story.

His teacher has spoken with his parents about the possible need for additional support and his parents have agreed to help at home with any activity the teacher sends home. The following are goals for Raymond to achieve:

  • Given a list of CVC words, Raymond will match the rhyming words.
  • Given a CVC word, Raymond will produce rhyming words.
  • Identify lower case letters.
  • After listening to a story, Raymond will identify the main ideas.
  • After listening to a story, Raymond will sequence three or four events.

Case study adapted from:

Sayeski, K., Paulsen, K., & the IRIS Center. (2003). Early reading. Retrieved from http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/pdf_case_studies/ics_earrd.pdf  All rights reserved.

In a 500-750 words, describe the effect of oral language on decoding, reading comprehension, and written expression.  In addition, describe communicative strategies that teachers can use to improve Raymond’s reading and written expression skills.  include:

  • A discussion with examples about how oral language affects decoding, reading comprehension, and written expression.
  • Describe at least two communicative strategies that can be used to develop Raymond’s reading skills. Explain how these strategies improve decoding and comprehension.
  • Describe at least two communicative strategies that can be used to develop Raymond’s written expression skills. Explain how these strategies improve the quality of writing samples.
  • At least two examples of assistive technology that could be used to support the development of Raymond’s reading and writing skills.

Include at least three scholarly sources to support.

Is it possible to reconcile these two competing ends?

In Chapter 4, Dr. Atlas points out that the United States has a more diverse population than most other countries and that this diversity in population significantly influences overall health outcomes. Recall Mrs. Rodriguez’s response to her illness and ultimate diagnosis with liver cancer in Week 2’s case study. Is the need to respect cultural beliefs when, as with Mrs. Rodriguez, it can result in the delay or rejection of what is otherwise accepted as sound medical treatment antagonistic to the pursuit of higher health system ranking? Restated, does one end (culturally competent care) effectively undercut the other (maximized ranking)? Is it possible to reconcile these two competing ends?

Is it ethical to keep the types of liabilities discussed in this article off the balance sheet, or is this a type of financial statement fraud?

Please provide an answer to the following:
The following discussion is found in the US Bankruptcy Report on Lehman Bros. Holdings dated March 22, 2010:
Lehman employed off-balance sheet devices, known within Lehman as “Repo 105” and “Repo 108” transactions, to temporarily remove securities inventory from its balance sheet, usually for a period of seven to ten days… in late 2007 and 2008. Repo 105 transactions were nearly identical to standard repurchase and resale (“repo”) transactions that Lehman (and other investment banks) used to secure short-term financing, with a critical difference: Lehman accounted for Repo 105 transactions as “sales” as opposed to financing transactions…By recharacterizing the Repo 105 transaction as a “sale” Lehman removed the inventory from its balance sheet.
Lehman regularly increased its us of Repo 105 transactions in the days prior to reporting periods to reduce its publicly reported net leverage and balance sheet. Lehman’s periodic reports did not disclose the cash borrowing from the Repo 105 transactions… Lehman used the cash from the Repo 105 transaction to pay down other liabilities, thereby reducing both the total liabilities and the total assets reported on its balance sheet and lowering its leverage ratios…A few days after the new quarter began, Lehman would borrow the necessary funds to repay the cash borrowings plus interest, repurchase the securities, and restore the assets to its balance sheet.
Lehman never publicly disclosed its use of Repo 105 transactions, its accounting treatment for these transactions, the considerable escalation of its total Repo 105 usage in late 2007 and into 2008, or the material impact these transactions had on the firm’s publicly reported net leverage ratio. According to former Global financial Controller Martin Kelly, a careful review of Lehman’s Form 10-K and 10-Q would not reveal Lehman’s use of Repo 105 transactions.
Lehman filed to disclose its Repo 105 practice even though Kelly believed “that the only purpose or motive for the transactions was reduction in balance sheet:” felt that “there was no substance to the transactions:” and expressed concerns with Lehman’s Chief financial officers…advising them that the lack of economic substance to Repo 105 transactions meant “reputational risk” to Lehman if the firm’s use of the transactions became known to the public. In addition to its material omission, Lehman affirmatively misrepresented in its financial statements that the firm treated all repo transactions as financing transactions-ie not sales-for financial reporting purposes.
Starting in mid-2007, Lehman faced a crisis: market observers began demanding that investment banks reduce their leverage. The inability to reduce leverage could lead to a ratings downgrade, which would have had an immediate, tangible monetary impact on Lehman…In mid-to-late 2007, top Lehman executive from across the firm felt pressure to reduce the firm’s leverage for quarterly and annual reports…
By January 2008, Lehman CEO Fuld ordered a firm-wide deleveraging strategy, hoping to reduce the firm’s positions in commercial and residential real estate and leveraged loans in particular by half. IN the words of one internal Lehman presentation, “reducing leverage is necessary to remove refinancing risk and win back the confidence of the market, lenders, and investors.” Fuld recalled that Lehman had to improve its net leverage ratio by selling inventory… Selling inventory, however, proved difficult in late 2007 and into 2008 because, starting in mid-2007, many of Lehman’s inventory positions had grown increasingly “sticky” I.e. difficult to sell without incurring substantial losses… In light of these factors, Lehman relied at an increasing pace on Repo 105 transactions at each quarter-end in late 2007 and early 2008…
Notably, during Lehman’s 2008 earnings call in which it touted its leverage reduction, analysts frequently inquired about the means by which Lehman was reducing its leverage… CFO Callan told analysts that Lehman… was reducing its leverage through the sal of less liquid asset categories but said nothing about the firm’s use of Repo 105 transactions. Is it ethical to keep the types of liabilities discussed in this article off the balance sheet, or is this a type of financial statement fraud?

Describe strategies that caretakers can implement to promote the child’s ability to regulate emotions as he or she develops.

(Only use textbook, scholarly, and peer reviewed for references.)
Attachment and Emotional Development in Infancy; Autonomy in Toddlerhood
The purpose of this discussion is to consider the stages of attachment from birth to one year and emotional development and psychosocial crisis in infancy. Toddlerhood is marked with an array of emotions, behavior, and a search for autonomy.
Briefly discuss attachment patterns and what you see as the most significant impact on the development of attachment.
Describe strategies that caretakers can implement to promote the child’s ability to regulate emotions as he or she develops.
Considering the psychosocial crisis in toddlerhood of autonomy versus shame and doubt, explain how caregivers can encourage healthy toddler development.
Remember to appropriately cite any resources, including the textbook, that you use to support your thinking in your initial post.
Readings
Infancy and Toddlerhood
Use your Counseling Individuals Through the Lifespan text to read the following:
Chapter 4, “Infancy (Birth to 24 months),” pages 71–87.
Chapter 5, “Toddlerhood (Ages 1 to 3 Years),” pages 91–114.
These chapters focus on psychosocial development in infancy and toddlerhood.

Describe specific ways of helping the student, family, or individual client from your professional perspective.

Early School Age and Middle Childhood Through the Lenses of Counseling Specializations
The purpose of this discussion is to consider how different specializations within counseling might address issues of school-age development. Use the readings in this unit, along with the ones you found in your own independent research, to help you think through and write about these issues.
For your initial post, choose one of the cases below and address the following in relation to that case:
Identify the challenges that the student, family, or individual client may be experiencing, based on your specialization.
Identify any psychosocial conflicts that may be present, and the transitions related to early school age or middle childhood that may be considered.
Choose one theory of personality development and explain how that theory helps you understand this student’s behavior.
Describe specific ways of helping the student, family, or individual client from your professional perspective.
Tracy, 6-Year-Old Student
Tracy is a 6-year-old student who is heavily influenced by the use of technology. It is known that the family experienced some major stressors last year that resulted in Tracy’s parents contemplating divorce. The pressure that he is receiving at home has caused him to withdraw from all activities at school, including recess and friends. He has disengaged from regular activities and sits alone when he is not required to participate in group activities. Since his parents are working long hours, he is under the care of his elderly grandmother who also works part-time. When she is not available, he is with teenage cousins. At home, he is engaged nonstop in video games to fill his idle time. He focuses on these games at dinnertime and rarely goes outside to play independently or with friends.
Readings
School Age Development
Use your Counseling Individuals Through the Lifespan text to read the following:
Chapter 6, “Early School Age (3 to 6 Years),” pages 117–140.
Chapter 7, “Middle Childhood (6 to 12 Years),” pages 143–163.
(Only use textbook, scholarly, and peer reviewed for references.)