Stock Market Project

Mrs. Willis’ 8th Grade Stock Market Project
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Description :

In this activity, you and/or a small group will invest $10,000 in four different companies and then track the stock market price of those companies over a period of time

Researching the Market
Software: Internet, Google Finance


What to do : Choose a few companies in which you think you would like to invest. Using Microsoft's Internet Explorer and a search engine access each company's Web site in order to gather as much background information as possible about each company, including:

Type of company
Number of years in business
Summary of what the company does
2013 profits
2014 profits (thus far)
Now, review the information gathered and decide on four companies in which to invest. Find out the current selling price per share for each company's stock. Decide how many shares of stock you want to buy in each company keeping in mind that you have only $10,000 to invest.
Summary :

This lesson will teach you how to invest in corporate stocks by creating investment "portfolios." Step-by-step instructions will enable you to develop worksheets that track their portfolio's performance over a specified time period and report the results to the class.

Objectives:

To introduce you to the Stock Market, design a worksheet that calculates profit (or loss) for any given investment, generate line graphs representing stock performance and create a PowerPoint presentation giving background information on the companies you chose.



Prerequisite Skills:

Know Microsoft Excel basics and its many features including creating worksheets, writing formulas and charting, how to create multimedia slide presentation using Microsoft PowerPoint and how to access the World Wide Web using Microsoft Internet Explorer.



Time Allotted:

Approximately 12-16 weeks



Track Your Investment Handout

Now that you’ve made the leap and decided in what stocks to invest your $10,000.00, it’s important to track how well your investment is doing. Over the next several weeks, we will check on our investments periodically and record the data in a Google Spreadsheet. Each group will be held responsible for tracking 4 stocks in the assigned categories. During our tracking period, your groups will prepare a presentation informing the rest of the class about the nature of your companies and on the performance of your investments.


Creating a Spreadsheet:

Open Google Drive (Docs). You will be tracking one stock per worksheet.

For your company, you will input (a) some basic information about the company, such as the company symbol and the stock exchange where listed; (b) an Initial Investment section; and (c) a Daily Record section.


Getting started step by step:

In cell A1, type the company name.


Highlight A1:E1; then click Merge and Center on the Formatting toolbar to center the company name.
In cell A3, type "Symbol:" followed by the company's four-letter symbol, for example, ACME; in cell E3, type "Initial Investment" followed by the total amount of money (number of shares times the price per share) you are investing in that company. Your total investment equals the total price paid for the stock.
In cell A4, type "Exchange:" followed by the name of the exchange listing the stock.
TIP! Format all currency for two decimal places by choosing Cells under the Format menu, clicking the Number tab, and then selecting Currency under Categories. In the Decimals places enter the number 2.



Initial Investment section:



In cell A6, type “Initial Investment and change to bold face type.


In cell A7, type “Date of Transaction”


In cell C7, type “$/Share”:


In D7, “#/Shares”; in E7, “Total Investment”.


Highlight A7:E7


Right click the highlighted cells, then choose Format cells.


Click Alignment, select Center.


In cell A8, type the date of the initial transaction.



Format Cells dialog box

In cell C8, type the cost per share (e.g., 20.75) as listed on the stock exchange. Microsoft Excel will automatically convert this figure to decimals. Be sure to format the number for two decimal places by right clicking on the cell and choosing format cell.
In cell D8, type the number of shares bought. In cell E8, type the formula: =C8*D8 and press enter. The total cost of your investment will automatically be calculated. Format to two decimals places using the same procedure as above.


The Daily Record Section:



In cell A9, type "Daily Record."
In cell A10, type "Date of Transaction"; in B10, "#/Shares"; in C10, "$/Share"; in D10, "Current Value"; in E10, "Profit/Loss".
Highlight A10:E10. Center, wrap text and make bold.
Beginning with cell A11, highlight the range of data in Column A you will be entering on your worksheet, for example , A11:A22. Right click the highlighted cells. Choose Format Cells. Click the Number tab. Click Date, then choose Type of Date. Click OK.
In cell B11, type the number of shares bought. This number will remain the same in each row so you may use the fill handle to fill the column.
In cell C11, record the price of your stock on the first date of transaction.
In cell D11, type the formula: =B11*C11.
In cell E11, create a formula that calculates Profit/Loss by taking the Current Value (D11) minus the initial investment (E8). The formula should refer to D8 as an absolute reference- =D11-$E$8.



Highlighted data to create Microsoft Excel chart



Tracking Stocks


At the end of the stock performance period, use the Chart Wizard in Microsoft Excel to create a line chart showing "profit or loss" for each stock you invested in.

Highlight the range of data you've entered on your worksheet, for example, E12:E23 . Click Chart from the Insert menu, then choose Line and step through the procedures for creating a line chart. Be sure to add a chart title. Label the chart's X and Y axes.