Assignment: Investment Analysis

Note: Please include any financial statements or relevant financial information in an appendix.

Write a four to six page paper in which you:

1. Provide a detailed overview of the selected U.S. investment indicating the rationale for your selection.

2. Select five financial ratios, then analyze the past three years of financial data for the investment (please obtain data from the financial statements or the equivalent).

3. Analyze the price of the investment to its market index for the past five years.

4. Create a trend line that depicts the price movement for the investment against the market index movement using elements of Microsoft Office, such as Excel, Visio, MS Project, or one of their equivalents such as Open Project, Dia, and OpenOffice, as appropriate. Note: The graphically depicted solution is not included in the required page length.

5. Determine the type of person who would be the best candidate for the chosen investment (e.g., the risk adverse investor, an aggressive investor, etc.). Provide a rationale for why this investment is a solid one, and support the assertion that someone should invest in this stock.

6. Use at least five quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites to not qualify as academic resources.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.

• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the professor's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

• Examine common debt and equity securities, and analyze the relative risks and returns associated with each.

• Analyze how the securities business works through stockbrokers and investment bankers using the physical exchanges, network exchanges, and OTC markets.

• Perform and interpret basic security analyses using indexes, averages, and various technical methods, as well as compounding, discounting, and forecasting.

• Propose ways to apply various strategies in the management of financial investment portfolios in order to optimize profits (and minimize taxes) within acceptable risks.

• Find and utilize sources of pertinent investing information on a company, its industry, the economy as a whole, and the international environment to analyze investment potential.

• Examine the differences between various investments such as options, convertibles, warrants, rights, and commodities.

• Illustrate how to use hybrid and derivative instruments such as convertibles, warrants, rights, options, and futures contracts in investment strategies.

• Use technology and information resources to research issues in investments.

• Write clearly and concisely about investments using proper writing mechanics.