This project is designed to give you a real world application of some of the various financial decision making tools. The main goal of this project is to give you the opportunity to explore Morningstar Investment Research Center and give a recommendation or rating as to the long-term investment potential of a companys stock. You may choose any large U.S. based company. The scale that you should use is as follows: Strong Sell, Sell, Buy, or Strong Buy. Most rating systems also have a neutral rating, however, you are not allowed to pick neutral. I want you to make a decision either up or down on this companys stock. If you were allowed to pick neutral, most people would pick neutral. I want you to get on one side of the fence, not straddle it. Virtually all of this information can (and should) be gathered through Morningstar which is available free through NCLive on the schools library databases. Off-campus access probably requires a password that you can get through the library. Off-campus access direct access (not through the librarys website) requires a subscription.

As you explore Morningstar, you will notice a very interactive interface with 11 sections each with multiple links. Explore ALL of the links within each section. Look for the (i) throughout that will give information about many of the terms used. Ive done my best to include all of the names of the sections to explore below:

1. Company overview Show Full Chart, Quote, Key Ratios, Short Interest, News, Look for the (i)

2. Analysis

   a. Summary Read Full Analysis, View Report Archive b. Competitors Charts, More Competitors Data c. Bulls Say/Bears Say

3. Price vs Fair Value Advanced/Basic & Logarithmic/Linear, Look for the (i)

4. Trailing Returns Daily, Monthly, Quarterly

5. Financials Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow, Annual/Quarterly, As Originally

   Reported/Restated (Many lines on the financial statements can also be expanded)

6. Valuation More Valuation Data

7. Operating Performance More Operating Performance Data

8. Dividends Dividends/Splits, Each year can be expanded to show detail, Look for the (i)

9. Ownership Major/Concentrated/Buying/Selling, Funds/Institutions, More Ownership Data

10. Executive Key Executives, Board of Directors, Committees, Transaction History, More

    Executive Team Data

11. Profile

In arriving at your recommendation, you should at a minimum do a fundamental analysis by examining the following:

1. Companys Legal Name, Stock Symbol, Company Description, & Graph of stock prices for a meaningful time period

2. News about the company &/or the general economy that would impact the company.

3. Ratios a table of numerous ratios for the company and how they compare to competitor

   ratios, industry averages, and the ratio itself over time (dont just copy/paste from the internet

   it looks awful and out of place). Make sure it looks good.

4. Morningstars Analyst Ratings & Valuations of the company (5-Star price: consider buying, fair

   value, 1-Star price: consider selling)

5. Your valuation of the company. Be sure to include your assumptions along with your calculation

   of the value. This will most likely be done with the P/E Valuation method. Analyze Morningstars valuation and your valuation as compared to the actual current price.

After your research build a report with your analysis of the company:

1. This is a report but should not necessarily follow the traditional research paper outline.

2. Make your report

   a. visually appealing b. easy to read c. informative d. direct (straight to the point)

3. Keep the length to 2-3 pages.

4. Just because a company is a great company, does not necessarily make the stock of that

   company a good investment.

6. Use the tools that you have learned in class as a starting point for your analysis, but please do

not feel limited by this. You may choose to include other tools, such as technical analysis, however that should be only for those interested in doing such. It is definitely not a requirement.

5. Have fun with it!