Reference no: EM132291845

Project

OVERVIEW

You are required at the end of the semester to submit a final project in the form of a paper in which you recommend the stock of a particular company or corporation to clients for investment purposes. The final project will be completed in three stages. Consult the Course Calendar for due dates related to the final project.

Stage 1: Proposal

For Stage 1 you will submit a brief proposal to your mentor outlining several publicly traded companies/corporations you are thinking of researching. You mentor will help you with feedback regarding your choices and how to proceed with your research. If your mentor indicates that your proposal needs revision, you will need to resubmit it and have it approved in order to earn all the points for the activity.

Stage 2: Interim Report

Stage 2 will be an interim report of the information you have so far gathered for your final project. You will use the list of companies from Stage 1 to begin your research with the goal of eventually narrowing it down to a final choice. In your interim report be sure to include:

• a list of which companies/corporations you have narrowed your search to include and why you have selected these companies/corporations over other options
• brief profiles of those companies/corporations
• discussion of any analysis that you have conducted to determine performance
• a comparison of the strengths and weaknesses of these companies/corporations as far as investment is concerned
• your final choice of which company you will be focusing on in the final paper, along with an explanation of your reasoning

Stage 3: Final Project Paper

In Stage 2, you selected the company in which you will be investing the funds of your clients for profit sharing. Investigate the company further using the Internet, online databases available through the myEdison portal such as EBSCOhost and ProQuest, and databases available through the New Jersey State Library. Links to the online databases and the New Jersey State Library can be found in the myEdison portal under My Resources< Educational. Use your findings to create a report that covers the following:

Introduction: Provide a brief focus statement on what the reader can expect.

Selection of the company: Provide a brief profile of the selected company, the other companies you considered, and the criteria you used in making your decision. Focus on how the criteria helped you select the company you chose, not why you rejected the others.

Financial statements: Explain your analysis of the financial statements, including income statements, balance sheet cash flow statement, and the statement of shareholder.

Time value of money, opportunity cost of capital, and investment rules: Describe how the selected company adheres to best practices in selecting successful projects through analysis of time value of money, opportunity cost of capital, and investment rules. Show your analysis.

Capital budgeting: Show how the company has used capital budgeting analysis to determine revenue enhancement investments, cost reduction investments, and made mandatory investments required by the government.

Portfolio analysis, investment, and diversification: Present your analysis of the expected rate of return and volatility and the effect on portfolio diversification.

Shareholders' wealth maximization: Analyze the impact of financial distress, managerial incentives, debt and taxes, and dividend policy on shareholders' wealth maximization.

Capital structure: Evaluate risk, return, and capital structure for valuation purpose under market imperfections

Summary: Provide a concluding statement that succinctly summarizes your recommendation and its rationale.