Facebook: Facebook started in 2004, an idea that started with a psychology student at Harvard, Mark Zuckeberg, who created social-networking profiles for the freshman. It started in Ivy League schools, than expanding to all universities and high schools. By 2014, the Company was worth more than $200 billion, and was the 15th most valuable company in the S&P 500. Facebook's stock is up more than 40% in 2014 and has more than doubled from its initial public offering price of $38 in 2012. Earlier this year, the Company surpassed Wal-Mart, reaching nearly $245 billion value. One billion people used Facebook in a single day. There company counts with an average of 968 million daily active users as for June 2015, from which approximately 83.1% are from outside the United States and Canada. From week 4 to week 5 there was a slight increase in the stocks, and on week 6 there was another increase in the stocks.

Week 4: $92.15
Week 5: $93.45
Week 6: $93.97 as for 09/23 at 11:55pm

Sources: http://money.cnn.com/2014/09/09/investing/facebook-worth-200-billion/
http://money.cnn.com/2015/06/23/investing/facebook-walmart-market-value/
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2007/jul/25/media.newmedia
http://newsroom.fb.com/company-info/

General Motors: GM has played a great role in the world of automotive for over one hundred year. General Motors was created in 1897, and started in NY auto show in 1900. The company continued to grow between 1910-1929 as cars started to become more popular. By 1979, the company started to invest in eco-conscious innovations. During 1980-1999, the company had tremendous global growth, expanding to Spain, China, India, and increasing sales outside the U.S. every year. However, the company suffered with competitors in Germany, Japan and Korea. By 2000, the company started to invest in emerging markets, such as Brazil and China. GM suffered with the recession in 2008, which drove car sales down and had to acquire a loan from the U.S. Treasury. After filing for bankruptcy in 2009, a new GM that counts with Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac continues to expand, and over 70% of the sales come from outside the United States. From week 4 to week 5 there was a slight increase in the stocks, and on week 6 there was a decrease in the stocks.

Week 4: $30.15
Week 5: $31.20
Week 6: $29.71 as for 09/23 at 11:00pm

Sources: http://www.gm.com/company/historyAndHeritage.html
https://www.google.com/finance?cid=14676476

Sony: Sony Company was created in 1946, and was originally called Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation. The company worked with testing of military equipment, and after the war the company started to work on development and production of communications equipment. Sony is in consumer goods sector on electronic equipment industry. Today, the company develops, manufactures and sells electronics worldwide, such as video games, cameras, computers, headphones, monitors, TVs, and other electronic products. In 2014, Sony had consolidated sales revenue of 8,215,900 million yen. Their biggest portion of sales is on mobile communications, followed by financial services. Under the Sony Group name, Sony Corporation has more then 30 subsidiaries company in Japan itself and more then 50 affiliated companies outside of Japan. The "Sony" trademark is registered in 204 countries and territories. They also provide repair and services for their products, with coverage in Japan, North America, Europe, East Asia and Latin America. Sony's stock as for 09/23 at 8:00pm is $24.98. From week 4 to week 5 there was a slight increase in the stocks, and on week 6 there was a decrease in the stocks.

Week 4: $26.16
Week 5: $26.42
Week 6: $24.98 as for 09/23 at 8:00pm

Sources:
http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/CorporateInfo/History/
http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/sne/historical
http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/library/ar/2013/highlight/p1.html
http://mosaic.cnfolio.com/M528Coursework2008A110

Question

1. a. Determine the percentage increase or decrease in each of your stocks over the period of your investment and report that percentage in a table like the one below. In addition, offer the primary reason for this change in the stock price based on news about that stock or your own intuition. To review the recent news about each of your stocks,is click on tinance.yahoo.cornPu and insert the ticker symbol for each firm. Recent news provided at the bottom of the screen.

b. How does your portfolio's performance compare to the portfolios of some other students? (Your professor may survey class members on their performances so that you can see how your performance differs from those of others.) Why do you think your performance was relatively high or low compared to other students' performances? Was it because of the markets where your firms do their business or because of firm-specific conditions?

2. Determine whether the performance of each of your U.S.-based MNCs is driven by the U.S. market. Go to the site finatice.yahoo.com/?u and insert the symbol for Your stock. Once the quote is provided, click on Chart. Click on the box marked sad, (which represents the S&P 500 Index). Then, click on Compare and assess the relation¬ship between the U.S. market index movements and the stock's price movements. Explain whether the stock's price movements appear to be driven by U.S. market conditions. Repeat this task for each U.S.-based MNC in which you invested.

3. a. Determine whether the performance of each of your foreign stocks is driven by the corresponding market where the firm is based. First, go to the site finance.yahoo. com/intlindices?u and look up the symbol for the country index of concern. For exam¬ple, Brazil's index is ABVSP. Next, go to finance.yahoo.com/?u and insert the symbol for your stock. Click on Chart; at the bottom of the chart, insert the corresponding market index symbol (make sure you include the "A" if it is part of the index symbol) in the box. Then, click on Compare and assess the relationship between the market index move¬ments and the stock's price movements. Explain whether the stock's price movements appear to be driven by local market conditions. Repeat this exercise for each foreign stock in which you invested.

b. Determine whether your foreign stock prices are highly correlated. Repeat the process just described, except insert the symbol representing one of the foreign stocks you own in the box below the chart.

c. Determine whether your foreign stock's performance is driven by the U.S. market (using the S&P 500 as a market proxy). Erase the symbol you typed into the box below the chart, and click on S&P just to the right.

4. a. Review annual reports and news about each of your U.S.-based MNCs to deter¬mine where it does most of its business and the foreign currency to which it is most exposed. Determine whether your U.S.-based MNC's stock performance is influenced by the exchange rate movements of the foreign currency (against the U.S. dollar) to which it is most exposed. Go to www.oanda.com and click on Historical Exchange Rates. You can convert the foreign currency to which the MNC is most exposed into U.S. dollars and determine the exchange rate movements over the period in which you invested in the stock. Provide your assessment of the relationship between the currency's exchange rate movements and the performance of the stock over the investment period. Attempt to explain the relationship that you just found.

b. Repeat the steps in 4a for each U.S.-based MNC in which you invested.

5. a. Determine whether the stock performance of each of your foreign firms is influ-enced by the exchange rate movements of the firm's local currency against the U.S. dol-lar (you can obtain this information from www.oanda.com). You can convert the foreign currency of concern to U.S. dollars and determine the exchange rate movements over the period in which you invested in the stock. Provide your assessment of the relationship between the currency's exchange rate movements and the performance of the stock over the investment period. Attempt to explain the relationship that you just found.

b. Repeat the steps in 5a for each of the foreign stocks in which you invested.