Paper Writing Services 2008 Sales $700 $650 $550 Cost of goods sold 350 325 275 Gross profit 350 325 275 Operating Expenses: Administrative 100 100

Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Refer to the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric under the Settings icon above for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated. Income statements are presented in the table below for the Elf Corporation for the years ending December 31, 2010, 2009, and 2008. Write a one-paragraph analysis of Elf Corporation’s profit performance for the period. Create a common-sized income statement for the three years. What conclusions can you draw from the different parts of the statement? What are the causes and effects of Elf’s performance for those three years? (in millions) 2010 2009 2008 Sales $700 $650 $550 Cost of goods sold 350 325 275 Gross profit 350 325 275 Operating Expenses: Administrative 100 100 100 Advertising and marketing 50 75 75 Operating profit $200 $150 $100 Interest expense 70 50 30 Earnings before tax $130 $100 $  70 Tax expense (50%) 65 50 35 Net income $  65 $  50 $  35 Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts.