Part 1. Building your own portfolio (Strategy 1).

Select five companies for the purpose of tracking the stock market, conducting research on the companies, and preparing company reports. You will be investing in common stocks only, but you will be able to select from two national stock exchanges, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) and the NASDAQ.

On Friday of the third week from your starting date (approximately), make a simulated $50,000 purchase in the common stock of your five selected companies (Approximately $10,000 each; you have to buy whole shares and not a fraction of a share). To determine purchase price, check one of the business websites suggested above or in the External Links section of Blackboard. The Money section of USA Today or the Business section of The Washington Post is a good source for tracking stock market quotes.

Please provide the following information in your stock market update:

Name of company.

Stock/Trading symbol.

Date and last price on the date of purchase.

Number of shares purchased.

Total purchase (in dollars)

A brief description of the company including its size, products and services.

Reasons for your selection (for example, you can back up your personal opinions with financial facts such as unique products or services, strong competitive advantage, high earning growth rate, strong buy rating from analysts etc.).

You will make your purchases according to the following rules:

Your brokerage fees will be $10 every time you buy or sell one company's stock.

You will ignore all taxes (do not forget about dividends, if any, add them to your cash balance).

From Week 3 to Week 10, you can change your mind and sell shares in one or two companies at most. In this case, you have to sell all shares and reinvest your proceeds in one or two new companies. In other words, you will always have five companies in your portfolio.