Assignment

Instructions: Do not combine topics. Answer each letter separately. All answers must be at least five (5) sentences.Label each answer individually. Include any references.

1) "Trending Now" Watch the video below and then respond to the questions that follow:

Go to Google Trends and search for one of your favorite brands as well as two or three of its competitors.

• Analyze the trends that you observed with each company. To what could you attribute the increases or decreases in each company's trend(s)?

• What recommendations would you give to the brand managers of your favorite brand to increase the trend line for the future?

2) "Cash Flows" Please respond to the following:

• Use the 2017 Wal-Mart annual report (Walmart 2017 Annual Report ) to discuss the Statement of Cash Flows (SCF). Discuss the cash flow result/ net used or provided for each of the three activities summarized in the SCF, identifying the largest use or source for Investing and Financing. Demonstrate your understanding of the SCF in your writing. Include the amount of the Free Cash Flow for WMT 2017 (formula provided in Ch 12) and discuss possible effects on WMT ability to finance new investments and pay additional dividends.

3) Apple's Cash Coffers to Swell to $250 Billion

Read the article, "Apple's Cash Coffers to Swell to $250 Billion". Explain the essence of the tax holiday and its probable impact on the US economy. You must demonstrate an understanding of an understanding of repatriated earnings and the proposed tax holiday. You may use this article or others as references. You do not have touse precise APA formatting, but you must indicate the source by at least the url. You may use sources to support your conclusion, again with at least the url given as a reference. DO NOT COPY ANY INFORMATION VERBATIM OR WITH MINOR CHANGES. You must understand the topic and write originally to show your understanding.

BEST COMPANIES

Apple's Cash Coffers to Swell to $250 Billion

Apple's cash coffers continue to grow and could reach new heights when the company announces its earnings on Tuesday.

The iPhone maker on Tuesday is expected to announce that its cash stockpile has now exceeded $250 billion, further cementing its position as the richest company in the world. According to The Wall Street Journal, which earlier reported on Apple's cash hoard, reaching a quarter of a trillion dollars last quarter means Apple doubled its cash on-hand in less than five years.

Apple (AAPL, -0.17%) will announce its fiscal second quarter earnings after the bell on Tuesday. Most analysts believe Apple will report strong performance in its iPhone division and ongoing softness in the iPad unit. Apple's Services business was also believed to be a strong performer last quarter.

The company's growing cash balance has been a source of debate for years, and now that it's expected to reach a new milestone, Apple's cash policy could again be called into question.

Apple has over the last several quarters engaged in stock buybacks and dividends to return some of its cash to shareholders. Still, each quarter its cash balance grows, causing analysts in each earnings call to question what the company's executive team has planned.

For his part, Apple CEO Tim Cook said during Apple's last earnings call in February that he would consider acquisitions and even some big purchases that could force the company to dip deep into its cash reserves. However, Apple has yet to announce any such deal, despite reports the company could be looking at major media companies and content creators. Time Warner (TWX, +0.10%) and Disney (DIS, +1.06%) were briefly floated as possible targets, through Apple hasn't confirmed it's even considered any such buy.

Meanwhile, the company's cash has also become a point of political debate. More than 90% of Apple's cash sits overseas and is safeguarded from American tax laws. While Apple has said that it pays billions of dollars each year in taxes, some have called on the company to repatriate its cash and pay the 35% tax levied on American corporations. In an interview in 2015 with Charlie Rose, Cook said that he would consider repatriating the cash, but doing so under existing law would cost his company too much.

Last week, however, President Donald Trump revealed a tax plan that, among other things, includes a one-time holiday on repatriated cash. Soon after it was announced, political pundits debated whether Apple would, or even could, bring back its cash under the Trump proposal.
Apple has remained silent on its cash plans and typically shies away from any concrete discussion on what it might do with it. But given its growth and Trump's proposal, it might play a prominent role during the company's earnings call on Tuesday.