Date of Award

1973

Document Type

Thesis

Department

Business

First Reader

Unknown

Abstract

Being interested in the stock market, certain stocks specifically, I decided to follow ten different companies for a period of 91 days. These stocks include some of my own, some I am interested in, and some of the most active stocks during the week I began my project, September 1, 1973. They are listed in the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange, and Unlisted Stocks.

To begin my investigation I recorded the closing price every day of each company, in order to show increases, decreases, and fluctuations. By doing this I was constantly aware of what stock I was making money on and what I needed to sell. Second, I decided on the number of shares I had purchased, some real, some imaginary, and a purchase date for each. The last day of my project was the selling day, November 30, 1973, and each profit or loss was recorded.

During the days I recorded closing prices, I did research on each company - its purpose, its goals, and its profits. The descriptions were taken from Standard and Poor's, August, 1973, and the general information from the annual report of each company for 1973.

I encountered several problems during my project. 1) Trying to record my over-the-counter stock, Overseas Inn, was sometimes a problem. Over-the-counter stocks were only listed about once a week due to lack of space. 2) One of my stocks listed as "Lucky Str." I had picked to compare with Liggett &Myers. I was planning to compare "Lucky Strike" cigarettes with Liggett & Myers brand. After gathering my information "Lucky Str." turned out to be "Lucky Stores", a food chain in California. 3) Because of the political unrest my stock was never consistent. Noticeable drops occurred during the Watergate hearings, when Vice-President Agnew resigned, and when Nixon made his talks on the energy crisis.

Overall I think the project was very successful, both money-wise and educationally. Although the information I gathered could be applied to any stock, the ten that I recorded were of special interest to me. I realize that the United States had many problems during the ninety days I chose. Any other time the market might have been better off. Instead of continuing the project, however, I chose to end it at the stated time. In a month, it may be prospering or still declining. The purpose was not to make a profit, but to illustrate how the stock market works.

Included in

Business Commons

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