Unit II Project
Cumulative Investing Project
This project will help you to understand the factors, decisions, and ethics that influence the performance of multinational corporations (MNCs) and foreign stocks in the international financial environment. This project will be completed throughout the course in Units II, IV, VI, and VIII.
In this unit, you will create a stock portfolio of at least three U.S.-based MNCs and two foreign stocks. You will monitor the performance of the portfolio during the course. In Unit VIII, you will attempt to explain why each stock increased or decreased in price and why your portfolio performed well or poorly. Your explanations should offer insight into what is driving the valuations of the companies.
To review possible stocks to include in your portfolio, you can use any finance website, such as the Yahoo! Finance website. Make sure the MNCs you select conduct a considerable amount of business in the international environment.
To review possible foreign stocks that are traded on the U.S. stock exchanges, you can use the J.P. Morgan website. American depository receipts (ADRs) are securities that represent ownership in foreign stock. ADRs are denominated in dollars but reflect the value of a foreign stock. This means that changes to the value of the foreign currency can increase or decrease the value of the ADRs. Click on the company listed in the DR Directory on the J.P. Morgan website to review information about each company.
For this assignment, create a spreadsheet with 5 rows and 7 columns, which you will use to track your investment. Assume that you will invest $10,000 in each stock purchased. The spreadsheet will include the following components:
- firm name;
- ticker symbol;
- amount of investment in each stock ($10,000 per stock for a total of $50,000);
- price per share at which you purchased the stock;
- exchange rate;
- percentage change in stock price, which will be updated in Units IV, VI, and VIII; and
- change analysis, which will identify the primary reason for the change in stock price. (Leave this column blank for this unit, as this column will be updated in Units IV, VI, and VIII.)
Use the following column titles in your spreadsheet.
- Firm Name
- Ticker Symbol
- Investment Amount
- Purchase Price Per Share
- Exchange Rate
- Percentage Change
- Change Analysis
Complete the spreadsheet, and in a separate Word document, write a brief summary for each of the chosen stocks.
In your summary, provide the information below.
- Include the name of the stock, ticker symbol, primary goods or services, and foreign market of operation.
- Summarize the management environment of the companies, and discuss the companies’ contributions to international trade flows.
- Briefly discuss any critical relationships pertaining to the foreign currency exchange rate for each company.
- Examine the international financial market in which the companies operate.
You can monitor the portfolio using various apps, such as Robinhood or Yahoo! Finance. These types of apps provide charts, recent news, and other information on the stocks.
Submit your spreadsheet and summary. Your summary should be at least two pages in length. Adhere to APA Style when constructing this assignment, and include in-text citations and references for all sources that are used. Please note that no abstract is needed. For your summary, use a minimum of three sources, one of which must be from the CSU Online Library. You may also reference the textbook. Your summary should include a title page, introduction, body, conclusion, and references page.
