The hull petroleum company and inverted v are retail gasoline franchises that compete in a local market to sell gasoline to consumers. hull and inverted v are located across the street from each other and can observe the prices posted on each other’s marquees. demand for gasoline in this market is q = 70 -9p, and both franchises obtain gasoline from their supplier at $3.40 per gallon. on the day that both franchises opened for business, each owner was observed changing the price of gasoline advertised on its marquee more than 10 times; the owner of hull lowered its price to slightly undercut inverted v’s price, and the owner of inverted v lowered its advertised price to beat hull’s price. since then, prices appear to have stabilized. under current conditions, how many gallons of gasoline are sold in the market, and at what price?

The gilbert instrument corporation is considering replacing the wood steamer it currently uses to shape guitar sides. the steamer has 6 years of remaining life. if kept,the steamer will have depreciaiton expenses of $650 for five years and $325 for the sixthyear. its current book value is $3,575, and it can be sold on an internet auction site for$4,150 at this time. if the old steamer is not replaced, it can be sold for $800 at the endof its useful life. gilbert is considering purchasing the side steamer 3000, a higher-end steamer, whichcosts $12,000 and has an estimated useful life of 6 years with an estimated salvage value of$1,500. this steamer falls into the macrs 5-year class, so the applicable depreciationrates are 20.00%, 32.00%, 19.20%, 11.52%, 11.52%, and 5.76%. the new steamer is fasterand allows for an output expansion, so sales would rise by $2,000 per year; the newmachine's much greater efficiency would reduce operating expenses by $1,900 per year.to support the greater sales, the new machine would require that inventories increase by$2,900, but accounts payable would simultaneously increase by $700. gilbert's marginalfederal-plus-state tax rate is 40%, and its wacc is 15%.a. should it replace the old steamer? b. npv of replace = $2,083.51