In March 2010, Hertz Pain Relievers bought a massage machine that provided a return of 8 percent. It was financed by debt costing 7 percent. In August, Mr. Hertz came up with a heating compound that would have a return of 14 percent. The chief financial officer, Mr. Smith, told him it was impractical because it would require the issuance of common stock at a cost of 16 percent to finance the pur-chase. Is the company following a logical approach to using its cost of capital?

When using the Cost of Capital approach, it is best that the company use the Weighted Average Cost of Capital(WACC). This would require considering the various capital sources available to the company and their cost instead of the cost of one capital source.

This is because, the availability of various sources of capital are sometimes contingent on others and this is the underlying principle of WACC. When the cost of this equity to be issued and other sources of capital are weighted, the heating compound might then give a better return than the cost.