10 different companies selected to watch with relation to their stock Coursework

10 different companies selected to watch with relation to their stock prices - Coursework Example Each of these stocks are a part of the banking sector. Seven of the stocks are companies based in America. Two are based in the UK, and one is based in Canada. The objective of this project is to pick stocks which will rise in value during the length of this project, which spanned from April 16 to May 14. Additionally, an analyses of the banking sector in the UK and the United States is explained, because the environmental and exogenous issues which surrounding the banking sector will impact if the stocks will rise or fall during the time period. What was found was that the banking stocks lost much of their value during the time period, with two exceptions, both of which were smaller banks. Introduction Stock prices are inevitably affected by different events in the world. In this case, we are entering a period of instability in Europe, as well as recovering from a global recession which was largely caused by the meltdown of the large banks in the UK and especially the United States. Because of this recession, the UK has been forced to implement austerity measures which, among other things, cuts financial resources to its largest banks. Because these financial resources were important to these banks, in that it helped the banks recover from the recession and lend money, it stands to reason that the largest banks might be affected. Moreover, in the United States, the banks are going through a transition period with greater regulation. That said, a recent scandal involving JP Morgan Chase, which lost $2 billion in trading losses, show that the Wall Street banks might still be engaging in risky behaviour. Because of these factors, the stocks in our portfolio lost money, so the objective was not met, in that the objective was to pick stocks which would rise in value. This paper will explain how much the $10,000,000 fund was worth, week by week, and how much it was finally worth, along with explanations as to why the stocks performed the way that they did. Also incl uded is a comparison of our stocks with stocks from the Dow Jones average and the automotive sector. The automotive sector’s performance was similar to the banking performance, which denotes that stocks, in general, are having a rough go. Stock Fund Creation Overview of Sector Because the banks which have been selected are banks based both in the UK (HSBC and Barclays) and the United States (every other bank on the list except the Bank of Canada), the main thrust of this analysis will involve the banking sectors in these two countries. United Kingdom As noted above, HSBC and Barclays is based in the UK. The UK’s banking sector is having a difficult time right now because of the austerity measures that the UK has implemented, which has caused Moody’s to downgrade the rating of 12 UK financial institutions (US Banks Downgraded as Confidence Slumps). To understand why this downgrade might