Based on analysis the operating and competitive characteristics of the balance sheets and some key financial ratios of five different industries, we can make a conclusion that A is the electric utility, B is the discount general merchandise retailer, C is the upscale apparel retailer, D is the Japanese automobile manufacturer, and E indicates the automated test equipment/systems company.

According to the column A, the data indicates a highest property and equipment percentages (74.5%) and lowest sales/net property & equipment ratios (0.43) among all industries which means this particular industry requires a relative high cost for the property and equipment purchase and the sale prices is relatively lower. However, if we look at the net profit/net sales ratio, we found that this industry has the higher value (10.3%) compared to other industries, which indicates that the demand of this industry is pretty high and the economic crisis didn’t affect the overall customer purchase. Based on this analysis, the electric utility is the best choice, which needs a highest cost for the equipment and property set-up but the electricity is still an indispensable product and demands for it is hardly to be shrunk even during the economic crisis year. From column B, the percentage of receivables is 3.8% and the days of inventory is 4, which are the lowest values among other industries. These two numbers indicate that customers have strong purchase power to buy products quickly and this industry requires customers to pay the money as soon as possible as they purchase the product. Usually, the discounted product will attract more customers because they are affordable, which indicates the discount general merchandise retailer. The industry in column C has the highest ratio of return on equity (28.1%) and current assets/current liabilities (2.01). This means the industry has a high