Assignments
|
|
| You must submit your assignments to me in class. You should always keep an electroni, or paper copy of anything
you submit as proof you did the assignment. NOTE: All assignments should be submitted on a single sheet of paper (smooth edges please.) |
|
| Assignment One (due Thur, Sep.6) |
Do a web search and find the answers to the following questions: |
| Assignment
2 (due Thur, Sep 13) |
Financial assets (stocks, bonds, real estate, metals, etc.) produce varying annualized returns over different periods of time. Some perform well in the short run, while others do better over periods of decades. Write a one page essay identifying which asset class has returned the highest annualized rate of return over the past 25 years. |
|
Assignment
3 |
The "yield curve" indicates the relationship between annual return and term period (time to maturity) of US government debt issued by the Treasury. Plot (draw a graph) this curve for debt instruments of 90-days to 30 years, and discuss the resulting relationship. |
| Assignment
4 (due Thur, Sept 27) |
Both individual stocks, and portfolios of investments in stocks have a characteristic (or measure) called BETA. Discover what this beta is and write a ONE page summary of your findings. Be sure to include how an individual investor might use beta when choosing a stock to include in a portfolio. |
|
Assignment
5 |
Choose one of the Dow Jones companies (there are 30) and write a one page market review (not a fundamental analysis) of the trading in that company's shares over this year to date. You should look at prices and volumes traded, and try to explain them with other information about the company, the industry and the economy in general. |
| Assignment
6 (due Thur, Oct 25) |
Write a one page description of a put option. Identify the gains or losses to the writer/seller and the gains or losses to the buyer. Look at Yahoo's option information pages: http://biz.yahoo.com/opt/option.html if you need to. |
| Assignment
7 (due Thur, Nov.1) |
Choose one mutual fund and analyze it. Does it have a minimum buy-in? What are the fees? What are its objectives? What is its historical performance relative to the market? Would you advise a friend invest in this fund? Be concise and keep to one page. |
| Assignment
8 (due Thur, Nov 8) |
How does the IRS treat capital gains (and losses) from stock trading? |
| Assignment 9 (due Thur, Nov 15) |
Describe what
type of investment you think is most appropriate for the following goals: 1. An investment to pay off student loans. 2. To pay for a 6 month vacation to Europe in the next 10 years. 3. To pay for private education and soccer outfits for 3 kids. |
| Extra Credit (due Thur, Nov 29) (worth 50 points!) |
Write a 2-3 page essay (with references) on one of the following topics: 1. What's all the fuss about employee stock options when it comes to more accurately reflecting the true value of a company? Critics argue that companies make commitments to their employees that are not adequately reflected in their annual reports sent to shareholders, while company executives say there's no way to properly value them. Discuss both sides of the argument. 2. Shareholders generally view the buying back of a company's shares as good news. Is this true--do share prices rise after a buyback is announced? Why do companies do this, and is it common? Analyze a recent buyback of shares by a company. |
| Assignment 10 (due Thur, Nov 29) |
Write a one page paper on the topic that most interested you in the course. I am especially looking for feedback here, so if you'd like to also mention (one paragraph) a topic you didn't find interesting at all, please do. But primarily, indicate why you found the topic of interest. |
| Go back to 212 Homepage Syllabus Lecture schedule |
|