As a team, select an industry to analyze (industry lists can be found at www.marketguide.com/mgi/

INDUSTRY/INDUSTRY.html and www.hoovers.com, click on companies and industries). Each team member should acquire the annual report or 10-K for one publicly traded company in the industry, with each member selecting a different company. (Library files, the SEC EDGAR service at www.sec.gov, Compustat CD, or the company websites are good sources.) On an individual basis, each team member should then write a short report answering the following questions about the selected company. 1. What inventory costing method is applied to U.S. inventories? What do you think motivated this choice? 2. If the company used LIFO, how much higher or lower would net income before taxes be if it had used FIFO or a similar method instead? 3. What is the inventory turnover ratio? 4. What was the effect of the change in inventories on cash flow from operations? Explain your answer.

Discuss any patterns across the companies that you as a team observe. Then, as a team, write a short report comparing and contrasting your companies using these attributes. Provide potential explanations for any differences discovered.