15.493  Practice of Finance: Perspectives on Investment Management

I would be happy to go over anyone's final paper with them. Please just email me.

Also, please fill out your course evaluations for the class.

I will be giving the class again in the Spring H2. Some students like to come see the speakers again or see some new speakers in the class. You are welcome to attend, but please let me know.

Have a very good vacation.

 

I have just posted the readings for the fixed income presentation on Wednesday. I have told you to disregard macro economic factors in analyzing equities. For fixed income it is just the opposite. You need to start with the macro economy and determine how it may affect interest rates, the structure of the yield curve, and the different fixed income securities. We will start the class with a fixed income presentation. See you on Wednesday.

Here are Seven stocks you can choose from for your final paper:

IBM (IBM)   American Express (AXP)   First Solar (FSLR)   Facebook (FB)   Coach (COH)   3D Systems (DDD)   Baidu (BIDU)  

Suggestions for what the paper should include:
• 1 page describing the company, interesting facts about the company, the company's competitors broadly defined and then the 3-4 key competitors.
• 1-2 pages on the company's 3 or more competitive strengths, their 3 or more competitive weaknesses and explain why for each one.
• 1-2 pages of what you think will be the 1-2 key issues that will determine the near term and long term stock price (they could be different for each time frame).
• 1-2 pages creating an estimated Income Statement for 2014-2016 (the next 3 years).
• 1-2 pages- examine the income statement, cash flow statement, and balance sheet- explain one or two interesting financial details for each statement that is relevant in analyzing the stock and why. (it could be a ratio, a percentage, an absolute number, or some footnote, etc)
• 1-2 pages- use two different valuation metrics that you think are appropriate for the company and explain why they are appropriate. Then determine if the stock is a BUY or SELL and explain why you made that decision.

These are just suggestions. Feel free to include any additional material that you think would be valuable. You are on your own for this assignment. We will not be posting any Wall Street Reports for the assignment. Look forward to your papers.

Due to the storm tomorrow, class will be cancelled. Have a good vacation.

The One Page Paper that was due next week is now due December 3. The assignment is to write down your investment philosophy, in other words, what are the 4-7 items that you think drive stock performance and explain why you think each one is important. John Ballen gave his one-page philosophy of what he looks for in a stock.  Paul Reeder gave his today. You will hear Dave Mannheim's investment philosophy next week and you have read Warren Buffett's philosophy. Now try and explain yours. We will also talk about this next week.

Dave Mannheim will review Samsung next week. This is the last stock for you to write a two page paper on.

Next week I will also give you the six stocks for you to pick to write on for your final paper.