The Reasons for Selecting the Investments Chosen
Defining the steps that must be undertaken to buy profitable stocks and shares and be able to invest in the companies of choice is not an easy task; a careful analysis of the current economical, financial, and even political and social changes within the state, as well as the trends and influences from abroad, must be taken into considerations. However, by far the most important factor that predetermined the choice of companies for the given portfolio was the companies’ diversity. Since with several companies related to the same field, the chances of investing in a non-profitable venture are quite high, it is crucial to use the principle of diversification by choosing the most profitable companies that belonged to different fields. Thus, the fields of information technology, which Sirius XM belongs to, e-commerce, which Amazon deals with, online trade, which Amazon is famous for, and banking, which Sprint Corp. and FEDEX are related to, have been chosen.
The Beta for the Stock Portfolio and Its Significance
The items of the stock portfolio in question have also been chosen based on their beta value. A rather complicated and consequently important element of a company’s financial performance index, beta is traditionally defined as a ratio between the volatility of a specific stock portfolio and the one accepted in the existing market. Therefore, the beta of the companies mentioned above also served as a major indicator of the companies’ trustworthiness and profitability. The account of the betas of every company in question is provided below:
Table 1. Betas of the Companies in the Portfolio
It is noteworthy that in the given portfolio, the beta indices of the companies involved vary considerably. The given variation allows for better flexibility and taking more chances. For example, while with Sprint Corp., the stock value is dependent on the volatility on the benchmark to a considerable degree; however, the profitability of the company compensates for the risks. Amazon and USAA, on the contrary, can be used as a lifebuoy for the venture in case Sprint Corp. and Sirius’s stock price goes down.
Losses and Gains over a Period: The Impact of Economic Events
There is no need to stress that, much like any other business venture involving the creation of a stock portfolio, the given enterprise had its hits and misses; as a matter of fact, the times when the given enterprise faced serious crises. Most of the issues were related to the swings in the shares price of the Sprint Corporation. Being the company with the highest beta on the list, surely affected the revenues of the given venture. The changes that the given venture has undergone can be displayed with the help of the table below:
Table 2. Project performance
Analyzing the above-mentioned chart, one might notice that the results of the given business experiment have actually turned out rather inspiring; not only was most of the capital retained, but also some revenues came as a result of managing the shares of the companies in question. According to the calculations carried out, the total income made 2,700, which is 0.27% of the total sum that has been originally invested into the given enterprise.
As one might have noticed, the key weakness of the given portfolio concerned the choice of the sprint Corp. the Amazon shares, on the other hand, appeared to be a very solid backup for the given venture, despite the anticipations of its ultimate crash in June. While the overall amount of gain acquired over to period cannot be considered huge, it is still a decent step in starting a financial venture.
Performance Compared to the S&P 500 Index
One of the crucial elements in the evaluation of performance for the given project, the S&P 500 index will also have to be used. By dividing the performance of the given project by the average of the top 500 companies’ performance, one could possibly figure out how close to economical perfection the given project was. According to the existing data, the current S&P 500 Index makes 1,655.83 (Google Finance, 2013).When speaking about the project in question, one must admit, though, that its outcomes are far from being as much impressive as the S&P 500 Index. Compared to it, the performance of the given venture can be evaluated as 0.27. However, it is noteworthy that the given project still came out as profitable.
Performance Analysis: Gains and Losses
As it has been stressed above, the given project had its gains and losses. The rise and fall of the project can be depicted in the following way:
The table above has already shown that the given venture appeared to be quite successful; however, it displayed only the key landmarks of the great journey that the authors of the given project had to go through to handle the shares of the five companies specified above and come up with a positive experience about creating a stock portfolio. The chart above shows the steep rises and the nonetheless painful fall that the given project has suffered.
As one might notice, the basic problem of the given project concerned the analysis of the outside factors. While handling the inside issues was relatively easy and demanded only that different assets of different companies should be put to proper use, the outer factors demanded considerable accuracy, attention, and luck. As a result, in certain cases, the campaign suffered impressive losses.
Tracking of the Stock Market Indexes
To understand the full potential of the given shares, the latter must be compared to the basic stock market indices.
Dow Jones Industrial Average
According to the existing records, the Dow Jones Index was about 15,081.47, which gave much room for financial operations, yet created an uncomfortable atmosphere of tight competition.
S&P 500 Stock Index
As it has been pointed out previously, the S&P 500 Index has made 1,655.83 (Google Finance, 2013) on the chosen time slot.
Russell 2000 Index for small caps
Last, but definitely not the last, the Russell 2000 Index was 1023.40, which also added to the tension within the market and allowed for a more dynamic change of values of the stocks and shares in question.
Reference List
Google Finance (2013). S&P 500. Web.
Historical prices (n. d.). Web.
USAA (2013). USAA Investment Management Company USAA Managed Portfolios – UMPTM program (Appendix 1). Web.