2024 – Cash Flow Statement Discussion Board Your Initial Thread Must Contain All 8 Items listed in the Assignment below for

Cash Flow Statement Discussion Board – Your Initial Thread Must Contain All 8 Items listed in the Assignment below for Full Credit – 1 Point Deducted for Each Item Missing From Your Initial Thread:

Background

The course syllabus outlines the Statement of Cash Flows Analysis and Free Cash Flow requirements for your corporate paper

Preparation

This discussion board highlights the Statement of Cash Flows using the four videos below. These videos will guide each student in providing an analysis of the Statement of Cash Flows and also the Free Cash Flow. I recommend that you read the assignment questions below before watching the videos in order to write down the answers as they appear in the videos.

The first two videos are from Warren Buffets free investing website, http://www.buffettsbooks.com.  These two videos cover the Statement of Cash Flows.  Although not a requirement for this course, I highly recommend that you watch the entire Buffett free video series if you ever plan to trade or invest in stocks on your own.  

Videos 3 and 4 are much shorter but just as important.  They contain very useful information for calculating and interpreting the Free Cash Flow required for your paper.

Assignment for Initial Thread – Use Company Name as Thread Title – Due Thursday of Week 6 at 11:59PM.

After viewing the below videos, find your corporation’s Statement of Cash Flows online. You can use your uploaded annual report to get the data.  You can also use morningstar.com to get the data. For manufacturing corporations you will see Free Cash Flow at the bottom of the Morningstar “Cash Flow” webpage in the Financials section (i.e., http://beta.morningstar.com/stocks/xnys/vlo/quote.html). For your initial discussion board post (a) answer the following six questions, (b) provide the Part 7 table requested and (c) provide at least one page APA for Part 8 as requested.  Insert your company name as the thread title.   Your initial post must contain all 8 items to receive full credit.

1. As noted in the Buffett videos, what year was the Cash Flow Statement first required?
2. As noted in the Buffett videos, which row of the Cash Flow Statement is the only section of the Cash Flow statement that has longevity?
3. As noted in the Buffett videos, which row of the Cash Flow Statement should be positive in a strong corporation?
4. As noted in the Buffett videos, which two rows of the Cash Flow Statement should be negative in a strong corporation?
5. Which four companies were discussed in the second Buffett video?  Which two companies were strong?  Which two companies were weak?
6. As noted in the Free Cash Flow videos, what are the ways that companies can influence their free cash flow?
7. Create a table (example attached) with at least the three most recent years (five years preferred) of Cash Flow data for your corporation (top part similar to the one presented for “Company A” in the Buffet video, bottom part similar to the one presented at the end of the Motley Fool video) as follows. This will be included in the Statement of Cash Flows portion of your paper, therefore thorough work is encouraged.
8. Using the insights presented in the videos regarding positive and negative values, and any other properly referenced sources, write one-page APA of text that discusses the overall trend assessment of your company’s Statement of Cash Flows for the last three years minimum.  According to the Statement of Cash Flows, is your corporation performing well?  Why or why not?  Also discuss the trends of your company’s Free Cash Flow.  You may also use this same post as the “one-page minimum” requirement for your corporation paper, therefore thorough work is encouraged.  Your initial post is due by Thursday of Week 6 at 11:59PM.

After making your initial discussion board post, read the other posts and provide financially insightful comments.  Comments are due by Sunday of Week 6 at 11:59PM. To be sure you get full credit see the requirements of the discussion board grading rubric in the syllabus.  You must comment on three other students’ discussion board posts with clear original thought.  You must respond to two students who commented on your discussion board posting.  If you are concerned that people have not commented on your posting, therefore you may not be able to respond to two people, then comment on at least two additional students’ postings (minimum total of five).  This does not mean that you do not need to respond to people who comment on yours, it is merely some insurance in case you don’t get enough comments to respond to two.

Videos:

• Video 1- What is a Cash Flow Statement- 18 Minutes
• Video 2- Cash Flow Statement Examples- 12 Minutes
• Video 3- Free Cash Flow- 3 Minutes
• Video 4- What is Free Cash Flow- 2 Minutes