FINC 3032-01 Financial Management
SPRING 2019
Wall Street Journal Project
Finance is one subject in which you, the student, can participate actively, at least on paper, in the content of the course. The following project runs for the duration of this course and is divided into three parts.
PART 1
You are required to collect daily data on assigned statistics. The data needed to complete this part of the project are readily available in the Wall Street Journal. Each day during the course term (starting Tuesday, January 22, 2019 and ending Tuesday, April 16, 2019) you should go to http://online.wsj.com.
The project requires you to complete the following data sheet during the semester. The first section is devoted to stocks. I have selected one stock for you to watch. My choice is (see “Announcement”). The capital letters that appear after the firm’s name are ticker symbols that are used to identify each firm whose shares are traded on New York or American stock exchanges or through the National Security Dealers Automated Quotation system (NASDAQ). If you follow specific securities for an extended period of time, you may start to remember them in terms of the symbol instead of the company’s name.
THE DATA SHEET:
_______________________________________________________________________
Date 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
- S & P 500
- Stock
- Yield on Six
Month Treasury
Bills
- Barclays Capital U.S. Corporate Index
U.S. Corporate Yield (%), 52 Week Range
- EURO
(In US Dollars)
- Gold (Cash Price)
London p.m. fixing
On the first row, record the value in Standard & Poor’s 500 Stock Index, which is aggregate measure of the stock market. If the market rises during the semester, the value of the index will rise. Conversely, if the market declines, the value of the index will fall.
The S&P 500 index is available in the Wall Street Journal and is found by entering “online.wsj.com”. Value of S&P 500 is listed at very “top”.
On the next line, record the closing price of the stock chosen for you. This is found by moving cursor to “Markets” (below large Heading “The Wall Street Journal”) and find “Quote Lookup”. Enter your stock symbol in “ Quotes & Companies”. The Journal is published six (6) days a week while the Stock Market trades five (5) days a week. Statistics for Monday to Friday are found in Tuesday to Saturday paper.
On row 3, record the yield on six-month treasury bills. Enter “Markets >” (above Quotes Lookup) then, “Rates”. This is found by clicking on “Bonds, Rates & Credit Markets”. In upper left is “Treasury’s”. Record Yield for 6-Month Bill.
On row 4, record the Barclays Capital U.S. Corporate Rate Yield. It is found by entering “Bonds, Rates & Credit Markets”. Under Complete Bonds, Rates & Credit Markets Data, enter “Bond & Index Benchmarks”. Record the Yield (%) for Latest 52 Week Range (Barclays Aggregate).
On row 5, record the price of the Euro in U S Dollars. In “Market Data” enter “Currencies”. Record Last (bid) for Euro.
On row 6, record the cash price of Gold. In “Market Data” enter either “Futures” or “Commodities & Futures”. Record the last price.
Remember: If interest rates rise during the semester, the yields on the treasury bills will rise and the price of your stock should fall.
Part II:
To further follow your assigned stock, refer to your stock listing obtained in Row 2 above. Print out two (2) Articles per week. One source of Articles can be reached by entering www.yahoo.com. Click on “Finance” (top left). Place your Company stock symbol in Quote Lookup (on right). At the end of the course, organize the articles and create a “scrapbook”.
Part III:
Additional questions must be typewritten or equivalent.
Determine what the BETA is for your assigned company. State the date and source of your information. BETA may be found in Value Line (La Roche College Library Reserve Desk) or through Yahoo on-line.
What happened to interest rates during the semester (as indicated by the yield on the six month treasury bills and by the Barclays Capital U.S. Corporate Yield? Did stock prices move in the opposite direction? Would you invest in the assigned company? Why? As part of your analysis, calculate the following statistics for your assigned company:
- Profit Margin
- Return on Assets
- Return on Equity
- Revenue
- Total Debt
- Current Ratio
Ratios and Beta are available at www.yahoo.com. Click on “Finance” (top left). Place your Company stock symbol in the “Quote Lookup” box (on right) and click. Click “Statistics”. Find ratios and Beta.
Failure to complete Part III can result in the loss of up to 50 points of your Project Grade.