Instructions on Research Paper

This note is for the research paper. This assignment is designed to foster critical thinking and the ability to communicate your ideas in written forms. As I mentioned in the syllabus, Effective Writing, by May and May is a good reference for the assignment, especially Chapter 7 & 8. Read those two chapters before you start writing.

Your topic would better be related to class materials we covered in the class(bonds, lease, pension, income tax, stockholders' equity). Do not write on topics you already wrote for other classes such as ethics or fraud. Also, do not write on accounting practices for a company you work for.

Start with the background information and identify all issues involved (the question of "what it is."). If your topic is treasury stock, then you may include the nature of treasury stock, historical background, effects on financial statements, benefits and costs of the transactions, advantages and disadvantages, related APB or FASB pronouncements, etc.

You need to focus on the question of why, rather than what. Why treasury stock? Is it really worthwhile? Why not invest in some other projects, instead of the buy-back? There may be many reasons for this. You may also include some actual transactions. Did the company's stock price actually go up as much as expected? If not, why? Sometimes companies resell the treasury stock at a price less than its cost in the stock market. Why can't some companies wait until the stock price goes up?

Lastly, draw some conclusions and add your own opinions /thoughts. What would you do if you are a CFO or CEO in the company? If your company has $1,000,000, would you invest that money to buy back your own common stock? Do you think the current accounting standards for the treasury stock transactions make sense? If not, how should the standards be changed? Do your think more (or less) companies will engage in this transaction in the future? Why? Is there any relation between the buy-back and macro-or micro-economic factors?

Web search is a good way of start. If you type "treasury stock" after accessing the Auraria Library homepage, you will see tons of related articles. You can do the same thing at any other web site such as Yahoo!.

Do not explain too much about what we already studied in the class or what we commonly know such as advantages and disadvantages of lease vs. purchase. I expect something new or something we did not cover in the class. Also, there must be at least 5 references other than our textbook.