1. Do Now: Last week, Apple (AAPL) hit an all-time high of $644/share. Last June, it sold for $310/share. Earlier this week, it dipped to $580/share. And yesterday, it was back up to $620/share. If you are an analyst for Goldman Sachs, what rating would you give AAPL…BUY, SELL, or HOLD? What would be your recommendation?

2. Reminder Keep up with your weekly portfolio assessment sheets. They will soon be due as a portfolio packet (a major) test grade. Each student will submit his/her own portfolio packet. You can find the sheets that you need for each week on the class website. Please see me if you have any questions.

3. ACTIVITY: Choose a company to research. Make an investor recommendation of BUY, SELL, or HOLD. TASK: You are a junior analyst working for Goldman Sachs. Your boss asks you to make a recommendation for that stock, and present your findings to senior management. Using information from the annual report, Google Finance, the industry/sector, and web articles, write a 1-page report(max)/ recommendation on whether you think an investor should buy, sell, or hold the stock you have chosen. Be sure to justify your recommendation with information about the company financials, news, sector information, competitors, trends, consumer info, etc. This report is due in class on Monday and will count as a major homework assignment. Students will be selected to present recommendations to the class.

4. Here is a sample format that you can follow when making your stock analyst report. Every company has different components, so feel free to get creative. Each company is unique, so be sure to bring this out in your recommendation. Be convincing. The following is just a guide to help you get going… (Your report should be typed on a MS Word document and is due in-class on Monday.) Stock Analyst Report: COMPANY (SYMBOL) Your Name:Date: Industry: Sector: Recommendation: Price: Your Target Price: (which you will try to justify in your report) 52-week high/low: Business Summary: ex: What does the company do? Products? Locations? Global? Customers? Operations? Commercial sales? Market segments? Etc…. Analysis: ex: Performance vs. sector, etc.; Trends, Market, History, Industry, etc. Financial fundamentals: earnings, cash flow, sales, etc. Risks?, Debts? Dividend?, Price?, Price History, Volatility? Beta, PE ratio?, Profit margin?....big new deals?, patents?, discoveries?, inventions?, technology?, designs?....be a detective! Use your best analytical skills here. A top-notch analyst can make big-time $$$$ bonuses! Key Statistics: Competition: Management: Ex: Who is the CEO? Has there been any insider activity? i.e. upper management selling shares/options? What might that indicate??