Stronx Consulting tests its salespeople on listening skills and then implements a training program to teach all of them to be better listeners. At the conclusion of the last training session, it conducts a posttest to measure listening skills again. Based on the results, the training manager reports that the training program increased listening skills by a significant amount. Which of the following statements represents the main weakness in the manager's conclusion?
The actual impact of the training can only be evaluated by comparing the performance of employees who underwent training and those who did not.

Richardson hired j. c. flood company, a plumbing contractor, to correct a stoppage in the sewer line of her house. the plumbing company's 'snake' device, used to clear the line leading to the main sewer, became caught in the underground line. to release it, the company excavated a portion of the sewer line in richardson's backyard. in the process, the company discovered numerous leaks in a rusty, defective water pipe that ran parallel with the sewer line. to meet public regulations, the water pipe, of a type no longer approved for such service, had to be replaced either then or later, when the yard would have to be excavated again. the plumbing company proceeded to repair the water pipe. though richardson inspected the company's work daily and did not express any objection to the extra work involved in replacing the water pipe, she refused to pay any part of the total bill after the company completed the entire operation. j. c. flood company then sued richardson for the costs of labor and material it had furnished. (c) for what, if anything, should richardson be liable? explain."

On september 1, 2016, steve loaned brett $2,000 at 12% interest compounded annually. steve is not in the business of lending money. the note stated that principal and interest would be due on august 31, 2018. in 2018, steve received $2,508.80 ($2,000 principal and $508.80 interest). steve uses the cash method of accounting. what amount must steve include in income on his income tax return?

Rate of return douglas keel, a financial analyst for orange industries, wishes to estimate the rate of return for two similar-risk investments, x and y. douglas's research indicates that the immediate past returns will serve as reasonable estimates of future returns. a year earlier, investment x had a market value of $27 comma 000; and investment y had a market value of $46 comma 000. during the year, investment x generated cash flow of $2 comma 025 and investment y generated cash flow of $ 6 comma 770. the current market values of investments x and y are $28 comma 582 and $46 comma 000, respectively. a. calculate the expected rate of return on investments x and y using the most recent year's data. b. assuming that the two investments are equally risky, which one should douglas recommend? why?