• To determine how well an investment is doing, it is important to take into account its return and risk. Rational investors seek to obtain the highest amount of return from an investment with the least amount of risk. The CAPM and the arbitrage pricing theory are alternative methods of identifying the risk and return relationship in an investment or groups of investments. What are the similarities and differences between the two models? In your opinion, which model would be most appropriate for evaluation of a portfolio of investments? Why? Which method would you recommend for a single investment project? Why? Provide your rationale using examples.
• When a firm uses debt in its capital structure, it is referred to as a leveraged firm and this concept is referred to as financial leverage. Operating leverage refers to a firm's fixed costs of production. The higher the fixed costs, the greater the degree of operating leverage that is being employed. How does the degree of operating and financial leverage affect the beta of a firm? For a firm just beginning operations, what recommendations would you make about the use of debt in the capital structure? How would these recommendations affect the company's beta coefficient and the investors' required rate of return? Would your recommendations change if the firm were a long-established operation? Why or why not?