John Stewart has recently joined ABC in the capacity of an investment advisor. As a way to attract additional clients, John has asked for your help in preparing some educational material for a seminar taking place later this month.

He has asked you put together a report on the following investments and calculate the returns of these investments (including dollar values and percentages) to illustrate how they work.

Assignment

1. Perform the 5 calculations listed below:
   • Show all of your work as well as any formulas that you used.
   • If you used MS Excel to arrive at your answers, then you must provide an explanation of your methodology.
     

     A stock that does not pay a dividend of which you buy 100 shares for $25.00 per share and sell the 100 shares for $27.50 per share a year later. You pay the $50.00 commission when you sell the securities.

     A 5-year bond that you purchase for $1,000 pays a 6% yearly rate. It is paid semiannually, and you hold the bond until maturity.

     The current yield on a bond that is priced at $89 has a 6% coupon.

     The yield-to-maturity (YTM) on a 7.25% ($1,000 par value) bond that has 10 years remaining to maturity, currently trading in the market at $825.

     The holding period return (HPR) for 1,000 shares of a no-load mutual fund currently selling at an NAV of $11, purchased a year ago at an NAV of $10.50 per share, including $300 of distributed investment income dividends and capital gains dividends of $350.

2. Next, answer the following questions:
   • Explain systematic and unsystematic (also known as nonsystematic) risk.
   • What are the different types of investments a person can make?
   • Explain a stock’s beta coefficient and how it ties into systematic versus unsystematic risk.
   • What are the differences between the various types of bonds?
   • What do bond ratings indicate, and what 2 major agencies are in charge of assigning these ratings?
3. Compile your calculations, MS Excel tables and explanations (if applicable), and your responses to the 5 points above into a single Word document.

Deliverable Length: 700-900 words