You have risen through the ranks of a coffee comany, from the lowly green-apron barista to the coveted black apron, and all the way to CFO. A quick internet check shows that your company's beta is 0.6. The risk-free rate is 4.1% and you believe the market risk premium to be 5.2%. What is your best estimate of investors' expected return on your company's stock (its cost of equity capital)?

Phoenix guitars is interested in pursuing backward integration to take greater ownership of the extraction of raw materials and production of components used in its signature line of guitars. although this approach would lower the overall cost of producing a guitar, the costs associated with producing electronic pickupsfor sound amplification are far greater than those associated with sourcing pickups from a reliable supplier. which of the following approaches is likely to produce superior results? a) invest in vertical integration despite the cost of producing pickups. b) abandon the idea of vertical integration entirely. c) pursue taper integration. d) introduce a budget line of guitars to diversify the firm's offerings.