Assignment 1: Sources of Investment Information

Many investors, especially when they are starting out, cannot afford to hire professional managers or pay for expensive financial advice. Yet they need help as much as or more than those with greater means.  The purpose of this assignment is to acquaint you with some of the sources of investment information and advice available at the library and those available on the internet.

Use the following data sources to obtain information about each firm:

1. Value Line Investment Survey found in reference area of the library or at http//:www.valueline.com, click on  Web Subscriber Services, logon using the username of 238722  and a password of stocks
2. Data from an internet source.

 

 
 
 
 
 

Complete the exercises below for the Banta Corporation and two other companies with Value Line data available.

I. Do you feel that investors can use data from Value Line to make "economic profits"?

(Note: "economic profits" are the rate of return in excess of the opportunity costs for funds employed in projects of equal risk.) If so, what information can be used to result in "economic profits"? If you do not feel that this information will lead to "economic profits," then how can this information be used by rational investors?

II. Fill in the information required for each company in Table A1.

III. Answer the following questions:

A. How do you measure risk? Which firm has the highest risk? lowest risk?
B. Which firm has the highest projected annual return? lowest return?
C. Which firm has the highest estimated (E'st) growth rate? lowest growth rate?
D. Which firm has the highest LT-debt capitalization rate? lowest?

 

 
 

IV. Internet Requirement

The internet is an alternative source of investment information. As educated business professional your career or your investment decisions may depend on your ability to obtain current data from the internet.

A.  Print out current price or financial data on one of the companies in this assignment from an internet sites that have market data.  Some possible web sites are listed on page 11 of the text.

B. Compare the beta obtained from  http://www.nasdaq.com  (fundamentals) to the beta reported in Value Line.


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