In this assignment, you will have an opportunity to examine an individual stock and a stock index (e.g., Dow Jones Industrial Average, Standard 7 Poor's 500 Index, Nasdaq 100 Index). At a glance, examining a single stock can appear a simple task. Is it up or down? Are the company fundamentals solid? Providing an accurate recommendation to buy or sell a stock is not a simple task. Not only do you need to consider an investor's level of acceptance toward risk but there is a deep complexity of personal and economic issues to consider.

Only use reputable sites when analyzing stock data.

For your assignment, you will analyze a single stock and a stock index by providing the following: Part 1 - Analyze a single stock. Pick a stock from any public company and go to a reputable website to find the following information on the stock you selected: Name, Symbol, Open, High, Low, Close, Net Chg, Volume, 52 Wk High, 52 Wk Low, P/E and YTD % Chg. Additionally, go to the Securities and Exchange Commission and analyze the company's 10-Q or 10-K filing. In particular, be sure to review the Financial Statements, Management Discussion, and/or Footnotes sections of the filing (if available). You are also encouraged to review recent news stories about the company you selected. For Part 1, provide a short analysis (not to exceed 300 words) on what the data tells you about the following: a) does the company appear to be in good financial health - why or why not?, b) since the stock originated, what was its lowest price?, c) determine the The Cyclically-Adjusted Price-to-Earnings Ratio (CAPE) Ratio, and d) what is the current health of the sector this company operates within and what anticipated changes are coming for that industry? Part 2 - Analyze an Index. Pick a stock index (e.g., DJIA, S&P 500, NASDAQ) and locate a historical data set from a reputable site and draw your own conclusions based on your research. For example, if you analyze the S&P 500, go to S&P Down Jones Indices and analyze the historical return of the index. Also, download the 10 year historical data set of the S&P 500 and provide it as part of your research. Provide a short analysis (not to exceed 300 words) on what the data tells you about the following aspects of the index: a) historical return %, b) in the last 10 years, when was the Index at its lowest? and c) in the last 10 years, when was the Index at its highest?