$100,000 Inheritance Stock Market Spreadsheet Activity:
USE A SPREADSHEET TO HELP WITH A STOCK MARKET (AD)VENTURE.
You have just inherited $100,000 from your long lost rich Aunt!! BUT the will that she wrote stipulates that to get the money you must invest it all in the following stocks.
Reebock, Walmart, Apple Computer, Sears, McDonald’s
Not only must you invest all the money, but you must invest exactly $100,000 (not a penny more and not a penny less says your Aunt’s will) buying various numbers of shares of each of those stocks. Yes, she did specify that you must invest in at least one share in each of the stocks.
Note: Sometimes the question of buying a fraction of a share comes up: “Can I buy 123 1/2 shares of Apple computer?” In the real world you cannot buy a half of a share of an individual stock. Often you can buy fractional shares of mutual fund “stocks”. In this case we are buying regular stock so you must buy whole numbers of shares…. but if you want to explore using fractional values that is an interesting challenge. If you want to you can try both approaches.
Build a spreadsheet to help you do the calculations and figure out if it is possible to spend exactly $100,000 purchasing numbers of these stocks at the following per share prices (the stock prices the day your aunt died).
Hint: For a fraction you can use the decimal equivalent e.g. 34.25, or, for many versions of Excel (e.g. 2003), you type it as a formula like this =34 1/4 (34 1/4 with an equals sign in front of it), and, for older versions of excel, to enter a fraction like 34 1/4 you have to type it as a formula like this: =34+1/4
Your results and a copy of the spreadsheet.
2. Some notes describing the strategy or strategies you used (If you get stuck you should explain what you tried and what the results were and how you feel you are stuck).
3. What mathematics you think was involved in solving this problem.
4. Feel free to include any personal comments or thoughts you have about the experience of doing this activity (frustration is ok). .
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