In a finance firm, there are 7 back-end financial analysts serving requests of traders to perform detailed financial analysis. On average, the traders send a request to the analysts in every 5 minutes. It takes one analyst half an hour to finish the analysis for a request. Every minute the trader waits for the analysis results costs the company $10,000 because of delay in trading.

a. On average, how many requests are there waiting to be served by the analysts?

b. How long does it take, on average, for a trader to receive detailed analysis for his/her request?

c. On average, what is the hourly cost to the company because of traders awaiting analysis results?

[Each question worth 5 points]

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