Goldman Sachs Financial Data Analysis Assignment

First, you need to pick a public company to analyze. You should have already informed me of the company you have picked.

A brief description of the components of the assignment follows:

1.    COMPANY BACKGROUND (15 points) €“ This will include background information on your company, its industry, and competitors.

2.    COMPANY STOCK PRICE ANALYSIS (20 points) €“ This will include daily tracking and analysis of the company’s common stock price AND the S&P 500 index from October 27th (Monday) through November 14th (Friday). This is fifteen days of price changes and activities. Markets are not on weekends or holidays.

3.    A RISK AND RETURN ANALYSIS (15 Points) €“ This will include estimating the return on an investment in the stock of the company and a comparison of the risk of the company to that of some other companies in the same and other industries.

Notes on the Library:
A major purpose of this assignment is to acquaint you with the incredible amount of information that is readily accessible in business libraries and on the internet.

#1. COMPANY BACKGROUND

You should, at a minimum:
€¢    Describe the company and its main product or service lines, the general location of its facilities, and the geography of its markets. Recent history, including mergers, acquisitions, troubles, successes, and other points of interest should also be mentioned.
€¢    Provide some basic financial data to describe the company. How big is it? Is it successful? Is it growing?
€¢    Describe the company’s main industry.
€¢    Identify major competitors and briefly compare these competitors to your company.  Include financial indicators.
€¢    Discuss recent economic conditions in the industry, as well as prospects for the future.