INTERMEDIATE The Hurricane Lamp Company forecasts that next years sales will be $6 million. Fixed operating costs are estimated to be $800,000, and the variable cost ratio (that is, variable costs as a fraction of sales) is estimated to be 0.75. The firm has a $600,000 loan at 10 percent interest. It has 20,000 shares of $3 preferred stock and 60,000 shares of common stock outstanding. Hurricane Lamp is in the 40 percent corporate income tax bracket.

Calculate Hurricane Lamps degree of combined leverage (DCL) using the following:

1. The definitional formula (Equation 14.5)

2. The simpler computational formula (Equation 14.7)

3. The degree of operating and financial leverage calculated in Parts b and c

4. What is the economic interpretation of this value?