APA format
 
 
Assignment 1: Discussion Assignment
Respond to both discussion prompts, and submit your responses to this
Discussion Area
. Start reviewing and responding to your classmates as early in the week as possible. You should review and critique the work of at least two other students in each discussion question.
For assistance with any problems you may have when completing this assignment—OR—to offer your assistance to classmates, please use the
Problems and Solutions Discussion
area located through the left side navigation link.
 

   
Select a discussion question from the topics menu below and click the question to begin. Use the

Respond
link to post responses and materials that pertain to
that question
. To respond to an existing posting use the

Respond
link beneath it.
Topics
Topic
Topic 1
Topic 2
 
Topic 1
Select one of the following companies:
Southwest Airlines
Delta Airlines
United Airlines
Continental Airlines
Go to
http://money.com
or
http://finance.yahoo.com
and enter the company symbol and then find the financial statements. For your company, analyze the liability section of the balance sheet. For each liability, write a short description. Use information from the notes to help you. Then, calculate the debt-to-equity ratio for the current year with the available information. What tentative conclusions can you draw about the debt position of your airline? Do owners or creditors have more claims on the company’s assets? How can you tell? What types of financial risks apply to your company?
 
Topic 2
 
When the stock market is going up over a long period of time, investors can become complacent about the risks of being a stockholder. After the significant decline of the stock market in 2008, people have begun to rethink the risk involved in owning stock. What kinds of risks do the owners of publicly-traded companies face? What could you do, as an investor, to continue to invest in the market but minimize your risk? Select two companies that you would invest in if you had the money. Find their financial statements on the Internet and examine the shareholders’ equity section of their balance sheets. What does your analysis tell you about each firm? Is this a good investment? Explain your findings and conclusion.