STOCKTRAK REPORT
An Experience in Trading Stocks
Prepared for:
Jennifer Miele
Finance 120 – Fall 2016
Prepared by:
Gurpreet Singh
December 7, 2016
Monday & Wednesday 8:00am-9:45am
Introduction
The stock market has always intrigued me and I have since been eager to learn more about it. Starting back in January of this year, I ordered three textbooks on stock trading to become more informed on the subject. After reading these books, I gained further insight on stock trading which led me to open my own brokerage account where I could buy and sell stocks. I started by playing a stock simulation which was very similar in concept to StockTrak, a program we used in this class. I found that this helped provide me with a hands on experience which helped familiarize me with stock trading and learning how to manage and use my money efficiently. I continued to play this simulation for about two months and during this time my portfolio grew about 4%, which provided me a confidence boost and motivated me to invest in my real money into the stock market. In March of 2015, I officially began trading in the stock market and I continued to learn along the way. As of now, I have roughly nine months of stock trading experience. As stated previously, I have always had in interest in the stock market, but I never acted upon it until as recently as earlier this year. My interest in the stock market was peaked because I enjoy taking risks and the stock market
Portfolio management is an important factor that determines the performance of the portfolio. To perform well in the portfolio, it is not only essential to develop personal investment strategies, but analyzing current financial trend is also vital. Stock Trak is an online portfolio simulation that allows students to try out different investment strategies, and also get a hand on experience in what the real market trading conditions are. By managing the portfolio, I have acquired some new knowledge of investment strategies and also become more familiar with the current market by following closely to the financial headlines.
This report will describe examine the various strategies that were undertaken to successfully complete the Stocktrak simulation. Firstly, an analysis of the US and Chinese markets will be given as they are crucial markets that play a big role in the worldwide economy. Due to the fact that the US economy has been going through a recession, a working knowledge of this economic was crucial to our success. Our initial strategy revolved around timing trades based on daily market performance and expectations using daily market news and reports. While this strategy was successful to an extent, our group soon focused on diversifying our portfolio, not just through the quantity of
Choosing two profitable stocks amongst a myriad of potential alternatives is a daunting task to say the least. In order to narrow my choices from thousands to two, I examined several aspects of companies I was interested in. Among these were, company overview, alpha and beta ratings, price ratios, price charts, and company headlines. After evaluating this information, I chose Intuit INC (INTU) listed on the NASDAQ and Johnson and Johnson (JNJ) listed on the NYSE.
In the beginning, there was no real stock market. However stock exchanges did take place in smaller groups and corporations. This all took place during the 1700's where stocks were already around for a long time before that but it wasn't really popular in the United States. Stocks originally started as auctions where traders called out names of companies and the shares available. There was a auction that took place and the shares went to the highest bidders.
There are many different ways to save money and there are different things to save for. A savings plan for an immediate want is apparently different than a savings strategy for retirement. One may choose to select stocks, bonds, or mutual funds for a savings strategy, however, my personal choice is to invest in bonds first, then mutual funds.
Reviewing GM's financial information in GM Exhibit 1 and its stock price in GM Exhibit 2, when do you first see signs of GM's impending financial distress?
Life insurance is meant to provide funds to replace a breadwinner's to protect and support dependents. Chad and Haley are dependents, not income providers. Therefore, the purchase of life insurance is unnecessary and not recommended. The Dumonts should use the money they would spend on policies for the children to increase their own coverage.
3. At what price would you recommend that Rosetta Stone shares be sold?Rosetta Stone: Pricing the 2009 IPO
Toward the beginning of the stock market game, I honestly did not know what I was doing, but I managed to remain in the Top 10 ranks, which made me feel like I was doing something right or correct. However, after finding out how the stock market actually worked, I began testing out some strategies such as short-selling and covering, but to my dismay, I wasn’t very good at it. I invested in random stocks that I “thought” would be successful and didn’t think much of it, until I went for it. With all the penalties in mind, I tried my best to keep my account updated, so that it wouldn’t go back too far behind, but the more that I tried fixing my account, the worse I found myself.
Monday, September 10, 2012, I started Stock-Trak, an online portfolio game. Stock- Trak allowed me to gain hands on experience testing different investment strategies in a risk-free, yet realistic environment. From September 10 to November 16, 2012, I took part in one such simulation by managing an online Stock-Trak portfolio. I was given an initial amount of $100,000 pretend cash with which to invest. All monetary decisions were at my discretion. This paper discusses my trading experience , my portfolio’s performance, the strategies used during the simulation, what I learned in the process, and how I will implement the knowledge gained from the simulation in future investments.
If you are a new investor who is interested in investment history or how to make investments, purchase this book by Burton G. Malkiel. This book is ideal for any experienced investor who wants to brush up on their knowledge of investment techniques and theories also. There are not many books that have been written about investing. A Random Walk Down Wall Street is broken down into four parts which include; Stocks and Their Value, How the Pros Play the Biggest Game in Town, The New Investment Technology and A Practical Guide for Random Walkers and Other Investors. In total, there are fifteen chapters that cover a lot of key points that many will find interesting and informative.
I believe that people should invest safely into the market by buying either mutual funds or going to someone that will make sure they can manage a positive grossing portfolio. My problem with the stock market is I like to gamble and this is gambling, I enjoy buying more quantity of stocks instead of diversifying more of my portfolio. During this entire project I picked out incredible stocks. If I just waited to sell the stocks I would have made over 20,000 dollars. However, no one can guess where the market would turn out. The thursday before the assignment was due I was in second place and that afternoon the tech stocks just crash and keep going into
On May 17, 1792 24 stock brokers signed the Buttonwood Agreement on Wall Street in New York City under a Buttonwood tree. The agreement formed a centralized exchange that eliminated the need for auctioneers. It also set up rules for the trading of public bonds that were used to pay for the American Revolution. In 1817, a formal organization was setup and named the New York Stock Exchange & Board. In 1863 it was renamed the New York Stock Exchange and in 1903 it moved to its present headquarters at 18 Broad Street.
Over the past semester in Economics I have invested in and monitored the stock market. I learned how investing in certain companies can be risky and proper research about the companies are detrimental before buying stocks. Three stocks that have influenced most of my financial earnings and losses include Twitter, Amazon, and Pepsi.
It was 1929, and in the United States things could not be better for those smart enough, or for that matter, brave enough, to gamble on the Stock Market. All of the big stocks were paying off handsomely, the little ones too. However, as much as analysis tried to tell the people that this period of great wealth would last, no one could imagine what would come of the United States economy in the next decade. The reasons for this catastrophic event in American 20th century history are numerous, and in his book, The Great Crash, John Kenneth Galbraith covers the period and events which lead up to the downward spiral in the fall of 1929 and the people behind the scenes on Wall Street who helped this fire spread.