Type Your Name Here:
Today you will be doing work that will help you with your stock project.
You will be doing your work by typing them on this sheet (note: this is the one AND ONLY time where you can cut and paste DEFINITIONS from the web page into your document. For the questions that you have to explain something, this needs to be in your own words).
First, go to Fileà Save As and save this sheet to your My Documents as “Lastname-Period#-StockResearch”. [If using GoogleDocs, save it in your Google Drive using the same file name.]
Today you will need to be using Word/Docs and Explorer/Chrome (the Internet) simultaneously. To switch back and forth between the two programs hit Alt+Tab. To find a particular word or phrase, use Ctrl-F.
1. Go to http://www.fool.com/School/ThePERatio.htm
A. Define the P/E Ratio:
B. Why is this an important number when buying a stock (that is, what does it measure)?
2. Go to http://www.fool.com/school/Glossary/glossarya.htm and define Earnings Per Share (EPS):
3. Use the Motley Fool Glossary to define the following terms:
A) Diversification:
B) Mutual Fund:
C) Dow Jones Industrial Average:
D) NASDAQ:
E) Growth stock:
F) Income fund:
G) Money Market fund:
4. Go to Yahoo Finance and look up the Vanguard 500 Index Mutual Fund (symbol: VFINX).
A) Go to Holdings. What are the fund’s 3 largest company holdings?
B) What are the fund’s 3 largest sector holdings?
C) Go to the Profile. What is the minimum initial investment?
D) What is the annual report expense ratio?
5. Go to Bigcharts.com and then to Industries at the top of the page.
A) Which is the top performing industry for the last 3 months?
B) For the last 5 years?
C) Which is the best performing stock within the best performing industry for the last 5 years?
D) Which is the worst performing industry for the last 3 months?
E) Which is the worst performing industry for the last 5 years?
F) Which is the worst performing stock within the worst performing industry for the last 5 years?
Okay, that’s some jargon and background, but now let’s look at one of your potential investments (this doesn’t have to be one of your final choices, just choose a company/fund you might be interested in; if you have no idea, try using Yahoo Finance’s Screener
6. Name of company/mutual fund:
Stock symbol of this company/mutual fund:
Market traded on:
7. Go to Google Finance and search for this company (not all are applicable for Mutual Funds).
A. What are 3 of the “Related Companies”:
B. What, if any, is its dividend:
C. What is its Beta:
D. What is its P/E Ratio:
8. Go to the News section (top right of the page) and find a recent article about this company. For Mutual Funds: find an article about one of the top 3 holdings of the fund.
A) What is the title of this article and who is the author?
B) Write a one sentence summary about what this article has to say about your company’s performance:
9. Go to the Historical Prices section and change the date range to get the closing price of this company for the dates of:
3/28/08:
3/20/09:
3/19/10:
3/18/11:
3/23/12:
3/22/13:
When you have finished, save the file as “Lastname-Period#-StockResearch”. Open your School Loop. Open a New Message, address it to Mr. Davis. In the Subject, write “Your Last Name, Period X-Stock Research.” Copy and paste the text of this document (Ctrl-A then Ctrl-C) into the body of your email and also attach the document; send it. You’re done! Start working on your initial presentation to the client, Steven Oliver.