Investment Research Assignment

BA 303 – Business Finance

Investment Research Assignment

Imagine that you have $100,000 to invest. You are going to invest it all in one investment for the next five years, at least, at which point you will re-evaluate both your investment and personal situations.

You will invest it all in one of the following investments – these are your only two options:

A. A bank account earning 5% per year.

B. Common stock of __________.

You will be performing the analysis from the perspective of an investor who is 25 years from retirement, and the investor’s income is greater than living expenses. The investor has a liquid net worth of $1,000,000 of which 40% invested in the S&P 500 index, 40% in a medium-duration, high-quality bond fund and 20% in a savings account earning 5% interest per year. You are to determine if the investor should take $100,000 from the savings account and purchase $100,000 of this company’s common stock.

Where are you going to invest your $100,000? Why?

Your recommendation should comprehensively but succinctly provide sufficient information for the investor to approve your recommendation by being able to address the investor’s reasonable questions including the following:

· What is the problem? What are you trying to figure out?

· What historical financial information helped you make your decision – ratios, growth rates, margins, projections, competition?

· What role does risk play and how do you account for it in your analysis?

· What industry information helped you make your decision – such as competition, overall markets, and state of the economy?

· What are you assuming about the future?

· What are the critical factors that led you to choose the option you chose?

Please limit your response to 3 pages, typed, double-spaced, plus no more than two pages of exhibits. The project is both a math and a story assignment: your math has to support your story, and your story has to support your math. Three pages of text plus two pages of exhibits is not a lot to cover this assignment; you need to be concise, relevant, and convincing in those five pages.

There is no right answer. But there are right approaches, wrong answers, and wrong approaches. You will be graded on the quality of your approach, the accuracy of your analysis, and how convincing your argument is.

Our updated list of companies

1. Apple

2. Nike

3. Whole Foods

4. Microsoft

5. Tesla

6. Schnitzer Steel

7. The Greenbriar Companies

8. Columbia Sportswear

9. Mentor Graphics

10. Craft Brew Alliance

11. Google

12. Under Armour

13. Facebook

14. Krispy Kreme

15. Walmart

16. Boeing

17. Oracle

18. Cisco

19. McDonald’s

20. Home Depot

21. Lowe’s

22. Exxon Mobil

23. Chevron

24. Procter & Gamble

25. Pfizer

26. Walt Disney

27. Caterpillar

28. PepsiCo

29. Yum! Brands

30. Domino’s Pizza

31. Starbucks

32. Costco

33. Chipotle Mexican Grill

34. Amazon.com

35. Netflix

36. Herbalife

37. Willamette Valley Vineyards

38. Vail Resorts

39. Target

40. Stericycle

41. Kroger

42. Nordstrom

43. UPS

44. FedEx

45. Goldman Sachs

46. Johnson & Johnson

47. Intel

48. Shimano

49. Wells Fargo & Co

50. Key Technology

Undergraduate BA & BS Programs

Assurance of Learning

Overview and Narrative

Learning Goals and Objectives

Learning Goal #1: Problem Solving & Decision Making

Graduates of the Business Administration Baccalaureate program will have the capacity to recognize and understand a wide range of common and novel business problems and to follow.

Objectives:

1. Students will construct clear and specific problem statements using contextually relevant evidence.

2. Students will employ in-depth information and data from relevant sources throughout the problem-solving process.

3. Students will thoroughly evaluate solutions from multiple dimensions and use appropriate analytical tools.

4. Students will make decisions based on a synthesis of research, data analysis, and evaluation of solutions.

Learning Goal #3: Business Communication

Graduates of the Business Administration Baccalaureate program will effectively communicate complex information with a variety of stakeholders to increase knowledge and achieve objectives.

Objectives:

1. Students will demonstrate a thorough consideration of context, purpose, and audience in the communication.

2. Students will present a central message in a clear, concise, and convincing manner.

3. Students will skillfully articulate complex information in a manner that allows the message to be understood by multiple stakeholders.

4. Students will demonstrate a consistent use of credible, relevant sources that support the message or credibility of the communicator.

UNDERGRADUATE BA & BS PROGRAMS

LEARNING GOAL RUBRIC

PROBLEM SOLVING & DECISION MAKING

UNDERGRADUATE BA & BS PROGRAMS

LEARNING GOAL RUBRIC

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION