Assume that it is Friday, March 27, 1998, and that it is a great day. You receive a terrific gift from your parents—$5,000 to help support you when you start your remaining years of college. Your older sister, Rachel (who is known for her close following of the stock market), persuades you to invest the money immediately. Following her suggeswww.wal-mart.com tion, you purchase 100 shares of common stock in Wal-Mart Corporation, whose stock is being traded on the New York Stock Exchange on that day for $50 per share.

Required: Using publicly available information, evaluate your investment in Wal-Mart as of March 27, 1998. Assuming you need to use this investment next year to help pay for college, evaluate whether your purchase of Wal-Mart stock is a good investment. Be sure that your evaluation includes the following:

(1) A discussion of how you performed your investigation of Wal-Mart. Make sure you document your sources (e.g., Wal-Mart’s annual report, the Wall Street Journal, Value Line Investment Survey, Standard & Poor’s Stock Reports, CompuServe Inc.).

(2) An explanation of your evaluation of your investment. Show all of the calculations you made to perform your evaluation, and what information they reveal.

(3) Your plans for the investment between now and next year when you will start using

‘the money to pay for college. TK-1