Here is a Rubric for your final Paper. It should be 5-7 pages long, not counting titles, abstract, references, table of contents, charts and balance sheets. It should be 1500 words of your own writing. Extensive quotes will not count, if you add them make your paper longer.

You must cover topics 1-5. You must include an abstract, table of contents, references. It should be well written. Organize your work under following headings (1-5 and include sub-headings under #5 a-f)

1. Business and Financial Risks:

Business and financial risks related to capital-structure such as operating risks, leverage and debt risks. A company's business risk is the risk of the firm's assets when no debt is used. Business risk is the risk inherent in the company's operations. Some of those factors are as follows: Sales risk - Sales risk is affected by demand for the company's product as well as the price per unit of the product. Input-cost risk - Input-cost risk is the volatility of the inputs into a company's product as well as the company's ability to change pricing if input costs change.

2. Modigliani and Miller's [MM] capital-structure theory.

3. Criticisms of the MM model and assumptions.

4. Capital-structure evidence:

Capital-structure evidence and implications and problems with other Capital Structure Theories.

5. Estimating Optimal Capital Structure:

Estimating your firm's optimal capital-structure. A firm's optimal capital structure is that mix of debt and equity that maximizes the stock price.

a. Discuss the following and relate it to the optimal structure:

b. Business risk. 5/5.

c. Tax position. 5/5.

d. Need for financial flexibility. 5/5.

e. Managerial conservativeness. 5/5.

f. Growth opportunities. 5/5.

6. Abstract.

7. Table of Contents.

8. Well written in APA style without spelling, syntax or grammar errors.

9. A minimum of four references are required, excluding the textbook. Sources should be from academic, scholarly reviewed journals.