Choose two firms that compete within the same industry (e.g., J.C. Penney and Sears, Johnson & Johnson and Merck, Ford and GM).

Go to each firm's website, and then access and download their annual reports (financial statements).

Using the accounting data from the firms' financial statements and the ratios studied in Chapter 9 of the textbook, calculate all ratios for each firm (liquidity ratios, activity ratios, profitability ratios, leverage ratios, and coverage ratios).

Analyze and compare your calculations for the two firms.

In Discussion Forum 1, report to the class on your figures and analysis by the date indicated in the Course Calendar. Please title your thread "Ratio Analysis/[Your Name]." Be sure to include the web addresses (URLs) of the firms whose websites you visited.