This document discusses various investment rules used in capital budgeting decisions, including the net present value (NPV) rule and alternative rules. It provides the following key points: - The preferred rule is NPV, which accepts projects with positive NPV and rejects those with negative NPV. - Common alternative rules include payback period, accounting rate of return, internal rate of return, and profitability index. These rules are easier to calculate but have limitations. - A survey found that three-quarters of companies use IRR and nearly three-quarters use NPV when evaluating projects. Payback period and accounting rate of return are also commonly used. - Alternative rules can be biased against long-