Nichols Enterprises has an investment in 26,000 bonds of Elliott Electronics that Nichols accounts for as a security available for sale. Elliott bonds are publicly traded, and The Wall Street Journal quotes a price for those bonds of $16 per bond, but Nichols believes the market has not appreciated the full value of the Elliott bonds and that a more accurate price is $18 per bond. Nichols should carry the Elliott investment on its balance sheet at:

a. $442,000, the midpoint of Nichols' range of reasonably likely valuations of Elliott.

b. $468,000

c. $416,000

d. Either $416,000 or $468,000 as either are defensible valuations.