Stocks, Inc. sells weight-lifting equipment. The sales and inventory records of the company for January through March 2000 were as follows:

\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|}

\hline & Weight Sets & Unit Cost & Total Cost \\

\hline Beginning inventory, Jan. 1 . . . . . . . . . . . & 460 & $\$ 30$ & $\$ 13,800$ \\

\hline Purchase, Jan. 16. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . & 110 & 32 & 3,520 \\

\hline Sale, Jan. 25 (\$45 per set) . . . . . . . . . . . . & 216 & & \\

\hline Purchase, Feb. 16. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . & 105 & 36 & 3,780 \\

\hline Sale, Feb. 27 (\$40 per set) . . . . . . . . . . & 307 & & \\

\hline Purchase, March 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . & 150 & 28 & 4,200 \\

\hline Sale, March 30 ( $\$ 50$ per set). . . . . . . . . . & 190 & & \\

\hline

\end{tabular}

Required:

Periodic Inventory Cost Flow Method 1. Determine the amounts for ending inventory, cost of goods sold, and gross margin under the following costing alternatives. Use the periodic inventory method, which means that all sales are assumed to occur at the end of the period no matter when they actually occurred. Round amounts to the nearest dollar.

a. FIFO

b. LIFO

c. Average cost 2. Interpretive Question: Which alternative results in the highest gross margin? Why?