Read the Chapter 19 Mini Case (Mini Case 8)on pages 796-797 inFinancial Management: Theory and Practice. Using complete sentences and academic vocabulary, please answer questions a through f.

MINI CASE Lewis Sealrities an. has decided to acquire a new market data and quotation system for its Richmond home oice. The system receives current market prices and other informa- tion from several online data services and then either displays the information on a screen or stores it for later retrieval by the nn's brokers. The system also permits customers to call up current quotes on terminals in the lobby. The equipment costs $1,000,000 and, if it were purchased, Lewis could obtain a term loan for the full purchase price at a 10% interest rate. Although the equipment has a 6- year useful life, it is classied as a special- purpose computer and therefore falls into the MACRS 3-year class. If the system were purchased, a 4-year maintenance contract could be obtained at a cost of $20,000 per year, payable at the beginning of each year. The equipment would be sold after 4 years, and the best estimate of its residual value is $200,000. However, because real-time display system technology is changing rapidly, the actual residual value is uncertain. As an alternative to the borrow-and-buy plan, the equipment manufacturer informed Lewis that Consolidated Leasing would be willing to write a 4-year guideline lease on the equipment, including maintenance, for payments of $260,000 at the beginning of each year. Lewis's marginal federal-plus-state tax rate is 40%. You have been asked to analyze the lease-versus-purchase decision and. in the process, to answer the following questions. a. (1] Who are the two parties to a lease transaction? (2] What are the ve primary types of leases. and what are their characteristics? (3] How are leases classied for tax purposes? (4] What effect does leasing have on a rm's balance sheet? (5] What effect does leasing have on a rm's capital structure? 1:. (1] What is the present value cost of owning the equipment? (Hint: Set up a time line that shows the net cash ows over the period t = 0 to t = 4, and then nd the PV of these net cash ows or the PV cost of owning.) (2] Explain the rationale for the discount rate you used to nd the PV. c. What is Lewis's present value cost of leasing the equipment? (Hint: Again, construct a time line.) d. What is the net advantage to leasing (HAL)? Does your analysis indicate that Lewis should buy or lease the equipment? Explain. e. Now assume that the equipment's residual value could he as low as $0 or as high as $400,000. but $200,000 is the expected value. Because the residual value is riskier than the other relevant cash ows this differential risk should be incorporated into the analysis. Describe how this could be accomplished. (No calculations are necessary. but explain how you would modify the analysis if calculations were required.) What effect would the residual values increased uncertainty have on Lewis's lease-versus- purchase decision? f. The lessee compares the cost of owning the equipment with the cost of leasing it. Now put yourself in the lessor's shoes. In a few sentences, how should you analyze the decision to write or not to write the lease