FIN101 SLP1

FIN101 SLP1

Assignment:
For this assignment, go to the Yahoo Stock Screener and use this page to find a publicly traded company that you find interesting and would like to study for this class. The company should not be a bank or a financial institution of any kind including insurance companies.
Assignment Expectations:
Write a two to three page paper discussing what you find interesting about this company, and whether or not you think this company will have a successful future. Get to the company's web site, into the "investors relations" section and provide some financial highlights of your company for the past year. Indicate which stock exchange the company is listed on and what was the past 12 month rate of return (% gain or loss) to investors who bought shares of this company a year ago and sold the shares yesterday. This rate of return is called the one-year Holding Period Return, or HPR. Also state what is the most recent price of the shares on the company?
In addition discuss briefly some information about the top management team including the CEO and CFO. If there are any issues involved with the company that relate to the issues discussed in the case assignment, mention them briefly as well. 

Additional Requirements 

Level of Detail: Show all work 
Other Requirements: Required Readings:

Financial Managers (n.d.) Retrieved from: http://www.ncbuy.com/careers/blsj/job010.html

Kowalski, R. B., & Campbell, M. W. (2000). Leadership skills help financial managers achieve career success. Healthcare Financial Management, 54(4), 50-52. 

Optional Readings:

Finance and Accounting. (n.d.) Retrieved from MBA.COM . Click here to browse. This website provides descriptions of finance careers. 

A British description of the role of the financial manager, retrieved from here.

This article on What does it take to become a CFO is also a good information source.

It is always important, especially in a field like finance, to know what your words mean. Please refer to: About.com glossary of financial terms.

For a thorough job description of a financial manager, read this article from the Bureau of Labor. This article discusses the nature of the work involved in the position, working conditions associated with this job, and many other aspects of being a financial manager.

This reading called Why Finance Matters is a short but good introductory article that will give you a good overview of the issues involved in being a financial manager. The focus of this article is on the decision making aspects of financial management.

On the extent to which CFO's perform well as CEO's see the following article below by Ida Picker, published in Institutional Investor, in 1989. Reflect on her arguments. Are these still relevant in today's environment?

These articles below on financial managers are worth reading. They are available in Proquest. 

Do CFOs Really Make Good CEOs 
Institutional Investor; New York; Aug 1989; Picker, Ida;