A firm commitment arrangement with an investment banker occurs when: a. when the investment banker buys the securities for less than the offering price and accepts the risk of not being able to sell them. b. the syndicate is in place to handle the issue. c. the spread between the buying and selling price is less than one percent. d. the issue is solidly accepted in the market evidenced by a large price increase. e. when the investment banker sells as much of the security as the market can bear without a price decrease. Thornley Machines is considering a 3-year project with an initial cost of $618,000. The project will not directly produce any sales but will reduce operating costs by $265,000 a year. The equipment is depreciated straight-line to a zero book value over the life of the project. At the end of the project the equipment will be sold for an estimated $60,000. The tax rate is 38 percent. Should this project be implemented if Thornley's requires a 9 percent rate of return? Why? a. yes; The NPV is $28, 680.23. b. no; The NPV is -$2, 646.00. c. yes; The NPV is $32, 593.78 yes; d. yes; The NPV is $43, 106.54 yes; e. yes; The NPV is $24, 766.69