1. State the potential benchmarks that an analyst could use to compare a company’s financial ratios, and discuss the advantages and limitations of each of these alternatives.
2. Explain how, in a period of rising prices, would the following ratios be affected by the accounting decision to select LIFO, rather than FIFO, for inventory valuation?
a. Gross profit margin
b. Current ratio
c. Asset turnover ratio
d. Debt-to-equity ratio