Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with factor

Need formula to calculate a lease rate factor from a %.

thinktwice — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:05:45 -0800

Need formula to calculate a lease rate factor from a %. I'm not quite sure why I can't get a straight answer on this. So here goes.
Equipment lease have some variables.
Term in months/yrs i.e. 24, 26, 48, 60, 72
Advance payments 0,1,2 (mostly first month or first and last)
end of lease term option $1 Purchase Option, FMV, 10 PUT etc...
Rate factor (usually expressed as a 4-6 digit decimal)

For the purposes of discussion of this specific problem we will be using a 36 month lease, $1 Purchase option, 2 advance payment lease, and 11% rate. Equipment price will be $10,000 as when we get the monthly payment the rate factor can easily be obtained by moving the decimal 4 places to the left. i.e. $300.00 gives a rate factor of .0300.

Using a FinLease calculator from ParanzaSoft we get a monthly payment of $318.91 or rate factor of .0319

Using the FinKit calculator from the same company we get a payment of $321.57 or .0322 factor.

Whatever calculation FinKit is using seems to more closely model the bank's actual rate sheet.

I am wondering why there are such large discrepancies, even within the same software company's different products, and if there is more straightforward method using Excel. (read not with a HP17b - if so is there a HP 17b emulation method in Excel or, more importantly, for OS X)

I would interested in the following formulas
$1 purchase option, FMV @ 10% and 20% residuals.

I have asked several people about this and get wildly differing responses. No wonder we have a financial crisis on our hands.

Should non-hemophilic women with a factor VII deficiency have children?

brokekid — Mon, 18 May 2009 09:01:03 -0800

Should non-hemophilic women with a mild factor VII deficiency have children? Are the risks too serious to chance child birth?

Principal components factor analysis and scale construction (PCFASCfilter) again

proj — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 17:43:30 -0800

Principal components factor analysis and scale construction (filter) again. When constructing a scale based on results of principle components factor analysis and components have differing signs, yet there is a theoretical reason for the variables to be coded as they are, what to do?

Example. I have four variables. For each of the three variables, higher scores indicate more "desirable" scores for societies on measures of development. The fourth variable is a macro-level variable that indicates the percent of a society that is comprised of people with a certain characteristic. The factor loadings look like this:

Var1: .7588
Var2: -.8355
Var3: .7138
Var4: -.7984

When constructing the scale, do I need to recode the variables with negative signs so that all items have positive loadings?

Small Form Fact PC needed in my living room

Napierzaza — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 18:23:44 -0800

I am tired of the P4 Intellistation that picked out of the trash. For some reason all my hard disks keep breaking. I am really tired of having to constantly open up my computer and buying new disks. I'm in the market for a cheap, small Linux PC that can stream HD content over the network. Is there such a thing? Kind of like a Mac mini but not so expensive or powerful. It needs gigabit ethernet, USB2, and a P4 processor.

After that I'm just going to go with some sort of USB drive, like those "MyBooks" instead of wasting my time with all the ebay IDE drives that don't seem to last at all.

Could it be shipped to Canada?

Who sponsors "The Factor"?

pantheON — Wed, 16 May 2007 23:40:18 -0800

How can I find out what products and services sponsor "The O'Reilly Factor" on Fox? I'm planning to organize a targeted boycott of "The Factor" and need accurate, up-to-date information about what products and services sponsor the show. However, I live in Canada and don't get Fox News and online clips of The Factor don't usually include the commercials. Google turned up an article that lists some sponsors as of January 2007, but I'd like to be able to verify that information and keep tabs on new sponsors and those who drop out.

O'Reilly Parodies.

gregb1007 — Mon, 08 May 2006 21:03:29 -0800

Have you noticed anyone parodying Bill O'Reilly on TV? Ever Since Stephen Colbert's show premiered, I noticed that he parodied Bill O'Reilly's style on the O'Reilly Factor. I would really be interested in finding out if anyone else (comedian or otherwise) parodies Bill O'Reilly on television. Once I learn who parodies Bill, I'll try to catch a clip of it on TV, internet, or video.

Factor of Covariate

duck — Tue, 21 Jun 2005 13:33:40 -0800

I'm trying to run an ordinal regression in SPSS. Are my independent variables factors or covariates? I just want the ordinal regression equivilant of taking a bunch of variables and throwing them in a regression. Variables have different levels of measurement. (some dichotomous, some continuous etc.). Which box do I throw them into?

How did you decide what to do with your life?

4easypayments — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 20:54:43 -0800

I find it hard to believe that no one has asked this yet but...
How did you decide what to do with your life? What questions did you ask yourself? When you have many ideas and none are "right", what factors should weigh more heavily than others when it comes time to decide? I'm 25, have wandered in the land of various office jobs since college, and feel like the time to strike out in a particular direction, but my mind is just swirl of thoughts that spend the day smacking each other down.

ANOVA Modelling

freebird — Thu, 01 Jul 2004 16:36:31 -0800

What's a good rule of thumb for the maximum number of 'varieties' and 'factors' you can have in an ANOVA model? That is, where does the computation get intractable? How much data needed for a given layout? Stuff like this. I realize the question is somewhat ill-posed, just curious if anyone has practical experience from real-world application they'd like to share.