Deliverable Length:  3 pages (body of paper)

Select a publicly-traded United States corporation and analyze its funds acquisition techniques.

1. Brief history or background information on selected corporation.
2. The selected corporation’s funds acquisition and investment strategies.
3. The selected corporation’s bond and credit ratings and the ratings’ effects on acquisition of funds and rates paid on debt.
4. Domestic and international capital structure employed by the corporation including debt securities, equity securities, and private equity, among others.
5. Based on your analysis of the types, risks, and returns of funds, determine whether or not the corporation utilizes optimal capital structure or funding acquisition techniques. If not, provide appropriate recommendations.

To conduct your analysis, you may find the following resources useful:

1. The corporation’s most recent 10-K (annual report) filing with the Security Exchange Commission (SEC). The Form 10-K report, which each corporation annually files with the SEC, may be the best place to learn about your selected corporation’s history, strategy about corporate funding and obtain reported financial statements and notes which include information about the corporation’s securities. The report is accessible at http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml. An alternative means to obtain the report is by clicking on the SEC filings link on the company’s website to obtain the latest Form 10-K filing.
2. Current information about the company’s securities from financial portals such as Yahoo finance, Google finance, and Reuters.
3. The corporation’s debt ratings: http://www.moodys.com/, http://www.standardsandpoors.com/ and http://www.fitchratings.com/.
4. Journals, articles, and other credible sources in the library that provide relevant information about the corporation and its funds acquisition methods.