Community College of Rhode Island

Introduction to Business: BUSN 1010-107

Fall, 2009

Instructor: K. Gates

 

Stock Market Portfolio Project

 

The purpose of this activity is to:

  •  Introduce you to the workings of the stock market
  • Create a virtual portfolio of investments
  • Analyze your portfolio investments

Overview:

You have inherited $100,000 from a distant relative.  You will invest this money in the Stock Market.  Over the semester, you will monitor your portfolio and keep track of any sales or purchases of stock. 

Instructions:

  1. Review: Chapters 15 and 16.
  2. Set up a free virtual portfolio at Yahoo Finance at: http://finance.yahoo.com.  Be sure to invest the entire $100,000.
  3. Throughout the semester, Research various stocks:  listen to the radio, watch TV or surf the web. The Internet (see resource links below) is full of sites that are educational in scope, provide stock histories, current prices, and even recommendations for stocks to purchase.
  4. Check your portfolio weekly.  Monitor the value of your portfolio.  You may want to reduce the number of holdings, purchase different stocks or sell off poor performers.  Be sure to "Print out" or record any transactions that you make. You will be asked to justify your actions.
  5. Throughout the semester, you will submit reports identifying any trading of holdings as well as your justification for doing so.  You will be asked to identify holdings and the total value of Portfolio on that specific date. You will be reminded when these are due on the dates shown on my web page calendar. 
  6. At the conclusion of the semester, you will be asked to submit a Final Portfolio Report which will identify your holdings and the total value of your portfolio. 

 

 


 

Yahoo Finance Instructions:

 

  1. Go to http://www.yahoo.com and click on Finance in the left column.
  2. Click on My Portfolios then click Sign-In to Create / Edit My Portfolios.
  3. You will be asked to state your Yahoo ID and password.  If you do not have these you can sign up – free just click on Sign Up and follow the instructions.
  4. Once you are in, click on “Create New Portfolio” and then click “Track Your Transaction History” so that you can set up a portfolio and track the transactions in it throughout the remainder of the semester.
  5. Give the Portfolio a name: (Your last name) BUSN 1010 107.  Leave the rest as is and click Continue.
  6. From the info you have from the stock tables or from stock quotes on Yahoo, etc, Buy shares of Stock that you are interested in investing. Invest the whole $100,000.  Fill in the Symbol, Number of Shares and Price per share. Once you have done this for several stocks, you can look at you portfolio and see the value of your shares you have purchased vs. the market.
  7. Monitor your portfolio weekly and make transactions as you see fit – i.e. sell off poor performing stocks or buy new shares of a company you are already invested in or an entirely new company…
  8. For final submission: include Title Page, Portfolio Page (either a printout from Yahoo Finance or a downloaded version into MSFT Excel), and a Narrative/Explanation Page, all stapled together.

Resource Links:

Reading Financial Tables - Introduction  http://www.investopedia.com/university/tables/

Businessweek Online: Media Center http://www.businessweek.com/mediacenter/list/index001.htm

Business Week Online: Tools & Scoreboards http://www.businessweek.com/common/tools.htm

Stock Basics Tutorial http://www.investopedia.com/university/stocks/
Understanding the P/E Ratio http://www.investopedia.com/university/peratio