Gross Domestic Product Activity

Gross Domestic Product Activity

Use the Week 3 GDP Activity Template [DOC] to complete your activity before uploading it to the submission area.

You may use Google or the Strayer library page, Statistics, Surveys and Government Resources, to research the GDP as you complete the following:

1. Define GDP in your own words.
2. Report the current GDP in trillions of dollars.
3. Report the current federal debt in trillions of dollars.
4. Report the outlays for the bottom line of the current (last) budget approved by Congress (surplus or shortage).
5. Report the revenues for the bottom line of the current (last) budget approved by Congress (surplus or shortage).
6. Report the deficit for the bottom line of the current (last) budget approved by Congress (surplus or shortage).
7. Report the debt held by the public for the bottom line of the current (last) budget approved by Congress (surplus or shortage).
8. Discuss the conclusions drawn from the numbers collected and provide insight about the impact of the numbers on the American economy in a response that is at least five sentences in length.

Assignment 2

WEEK 3 – STOCK JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT

Stock Journal Assignment

This is the first of three stock journal assignments you will complete during this course. Save your assignment templates from this assignment and update them for the assignments in Weeks 8 and 10.

For this assignment, use the two provided templates:

1. In one template, enter your chosen companies, the share prices, and the number of shares you will be purchasing, given your budget of $25,000.
2. In the other template, write your rationale/summary.

Download both templates. Then, complete, save, and upload both templates at the same time to Blackboard when submitting your work.

Note: Watch the Excel tutorial videos linked in this week to learn how to use Excel before attempting the assignment. You can use the template provided, or you may create your own template based on the one provided.

Scenario

Capital markets and the ability to raise funds for corporate uses are essential to the U.S. economic system. For this assignment, imagine you have $25,000 to invest in U.S. companies. You are buying used stock.

You are investing, or buying, the stock because you believe the three companies you choose will make money and pay you a dividend in cash. Each share of stock you buy entitles you to any dividend declared and a vote at the annual stockholders’ meeting.

The stocks you choose also give you the ability to earn your money back by selling the stock. Of course, investing in stocks is risky, and there is the possibility that the stock you buy will be worth less when you want your money back. The company is not obligated to give you any of your money back. You will only get your money back if another investor wants to buy your stock.

Instructions

Using the above scenario and the resources listed below, complete the following directions for your Week 3 Stock Journal entry:

1. Use your knowledge and experience to select three publicly traded U.S. companies.

• Make sure you are practicing good diversification. Diversification means you are not selecting three companies from the same industry. For example, you would not want to choose Target, Walmart, and Sam’s Club because they sell the same types of products. A better choice would be Amazon, Uber, and Kroger, because they sell different products and services.
• You may wish to visit Statistics, Surveys and Government Resources to find such companies. For stock price information, you may use the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, Yahoo! Finance, or The Wall Street Journal.

1. Determine how you will divide $25,000 across the three companies (for example, $10,000 in Company 1, $10,000 in Company 2, and $5,000 in Company 3).

• Decide the amount you are investing in each company. You need not provide any analysis to justify your decisions.

1. Provide a reason for picking each company.

• For example, you might invest in Ford because that company gets a lot of your money, and you hear that Ford is doing well and will continue to do well.

1. Identify the number of shares you are buying and the price of the shares you are buying for each company.

• Once you decide the companies and the amount you will invest in each company, determine how many shares you can buy. For example, if Company 1 is selling for $42.16, then you may buy $10,000/$42.16, or 237.19 shares. But you cannot buy a part of a share, so you decide to buy either 237 or 238. In this example, you buy 237 shares at $42.16 per share, investing $9,991.92. You will not be able to buy exactly $10,000, or $5,000, or $25,000, but it will be relatively close.

1. Go to the Strayer University Research page to locate and incorporate at least two quality sources into this assignment.
2. Submit the two following documents at the same time for your journal assignment submission. Note that you will update your template in Weeks 3, 8, and 10. Save the template after you have entered your figures so that your selected stocks growth or decline can be tracked.

• Weeks 3, 8, and 10 Stock Journal Project Excel Template [XLSX].

• Note: The above Excel template has been provided for your use for the stock journal assignment. Notice that there are directions for your work in Weeks 3, 8, and 10. When submitting your assignment for each week, you may use the provided Excel template above, your own Excel template that you create, or a Word document that you create as long as it communicates the requested information.
• Note: Some cells in the Excel template are locked to prevent the formulas from being disturbed. The cells you need to complete this assignment are not locked. You may create your own templates, however, it is recommended that you use the templates provided. 

• Weeks 3, 8, and 10 Stock Journal Writing Assignment Template [DOC] with your rationale.

Note: This course requires the use of Strayer Writing Standards. For assistance and information, please refer to the Strayer Writing Standards link in the left-hand menu of your course. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.

The specific course learning outcome associated with this assignment is:

• Analyze the performance of an investment portfolio over time.