FINANCE 4710 TERM PROJECT ASSIGNMENT – PROF. J. C.

FRANCIS - CMWA at 10:45 AM

Fall Semester 2022 - Weight: 10% of Semester Grade – Version: September 8, 2022

ASSIGNED INVESTMENTS: (1) Pull up the finance.yahoo.com web site on your PC. (2) Find Vanguard
500 Index Investor Fund (ticker symbol: VFINX). (3) Find the stock named Nintendo (ticker: NTDOY).
Any other investments may not be used for this assignment. Gather additional information you may
need by doing security analysis.

SECURITY ANALYSIS: Security analysts should do detective work to discover valuable information.
For more information consult: (A) your textbook’s Chapters 4 and 5; (B) Google.com; (C)
www.marketwatch.com; (D) www.morningstar.com; (E) www.valueline.com; (F) Vanguard’s web site;
and, (G) Nintendo’s web site.

REQUIRED INFORMATION: Write double-spaced type-written report that has a total of 4 full pages of
your writing. Where is each corporation’s world headquarters located and where is its common stock
listed? For VFINX, what is its assets under management (AUM), what is the difference between
Vanguard Group and VFINX, what is the goal of VFINX’s portfolio manager, annual turnover rate, the
portfolio manager’s education, the fund’s management fee, load fee, exit fee, and 12b-1 fee. What was
NTDOY’s largest one-week gain during 2016-2022? Explain NTDOY’s history and forecast what you
predict lies ahead for the company. How have VINFX and NTDOY performed over the last few decades?
Should these investments be managed actively or passively?

REPORT: Write a total of [(two pages for each investment) times (two investments) equals] four full
double-spaced typewritten pages which follow your cover page. Staple your (2 + 2 + 1 =) five-page
document together with page numbers typed at the bottom of each page. If you want to earn a higher
grade, you may list References on a sixth page or you may use detailed footnotes instead. Do not insert
any graphs in your report, you are being graded on your writing skills not your artistic skills. Print
your name and Prof. Francis’s name on every page in case Prof. Francis accidently drops the stack of
50 papers and some of the pages become separated. HINT: Write your first draft and then lay it aside
for a day or two, return to the paper and read your first draft and improve it by rewriting it. Continue
to lay it aside, reread and rewrite until you have a good paper. Read your own paper to yourself out
loud to get a better idea of how it sounds.

GRADING: This paper requires only a modest amount of financial knowledge that is not difficult to
find. The purpose of this paper is to improve your writing skills. Unless you make false statements, this
paper will be graded on how well it is written.

Hand in a professional document typed neatly. Insert a cover page in front of your report that gives
your full name, your email address, your phone number, and identify the (morning or afternoon)
Section of the class in which you are enrolled and Prof. Francis’s name. One percentage point will be
deducted from your 10% maximum potential total score for each day early or each day late. Email
your Term Project to Prof. Francis’s home at: jack@jcfrancis.com Email a Microsoft Word file. Points
will be deducted for emailing something other than a Word document, spelling errors, punctuation
errors, lack of headings and subheadings (see the example below), lack of information sources
(references), bad grammar, inappropriate abbreviations, crooked margins, changing fonts or font size
in the paper, using first person pronouns (such as I, me, you, we), failure to capitalize where
appropriate, creating an unattractive report, a lack of creativity (plagiarism), and failure to provide the

Page 1 of 3 pages – Term Paper Assignment – Prof. J. C. Francis – Fin 4710

requested information or failure to provide adequate information. Plagiarism will be handed over to
the Zicklin Dean’s Office.

DUE DATE: This Term Paper is due Thursday 22 September 2022. Your grade will be penalized if you
email the paper to Prof. Francis either before or after the Due Date.

GOALS OF THIS PROJECT: (A) Writing: Learn how to write a professional report. (B) Investing:
Learn the difference between active and passive investment management. (C) Financial data:
Become familiar with the free investments software and data available on the internet.

AN EXAMPLE OF HOW TO USE HEADINGS AND SUBHEADINGS IN A PROFESSIONAL PAPER:

TITLE OF PAPER (eg, ANALYSIS OF TWO INVESTMENTS)

Write one or a few sentences of introduction before every heading.

1. HEADING FOR THE NEXT 2 PAGES (eg, VANGUARD)

1A. Subheading (eg, Vanguard’s Background)
Vanguard Group invented passive investment management.
1B. Subheading (eg, Analysis of Vanguard)
Eg, Every year VFINX earns higher returns than 75% of the 9,000 U.S. mutual funds. 1

2. HEADING FOR A FEW MORE PAGES (eg, NINTENDO)

2A. Subheading (eg, Nintendo’s Background)
Eg, Nintendo is headquartered in Japan and it is listed on NASDAQ.
2B. Subheading (eg, Analysis of Nintendo)
Eg, mothers like Nintendo’s games because they do not reward violence and killing as much
as some other computer games.
2C. Subheading (eg, Thoughts)
Writing a paper like this requires more thinking than hastily sending an email.

3. REFERENCES (or SOURCES)

If desired, instead of listing the references alphabetically here, the paper can cite the references
in footnotes.

WRITING TIPS FOR TERM PAPERS:

1. First person pronouns include words like: I, me, my, our, we, us, ... First person pronouns may
be used in personal emails, love letters, etc. But, first person pronouns should never be used in
formal (professional) writing, eg, in a term paper.
2. References like: “As stated in Yahoo.finance…” are not permitted in professional documents.
Instead, you should cite the source from an attached list of all of your REFERENCES that is
located at the end of your term paper.

1
If you wish to earn a higher grade, you can cite respectable sources that verify your statements in
detailed footnotes. Or, you can prepare a list of the references you cite at the end of your paper.

Page 2 of 3 pages – Term Paper Assignment – Prof. J. C. Francis – Fin 4710

 3. Capital letters should be used in appropriate places in formal writing. Eg, the letter i should
always be capitalized when it is used as a pronoun. The names of people and things should
always be capitalized.
4. Do not abbreviate a lot. Write out September instead of writing Sept.
5. U.S. dollar amounts should be written as: “You owe $123 million.” U.S. dollar amounts should
not be written as: “You owe $123 million dollars.” because this identifies the relevant currency
twice in the same sentence.
6. Learn the difference between basis points, percentages and fractions. For example, fourteen
basis points (BPs) equals 14/100 of 1% = 0.14% = 0.0014.

Fraction = Decimal = Percent = Basis Points

10/1 = 10.0 = 1,000.% = 100,000 BPs
2/1 = 2.0 = 200.0% = 20,000 BPs
1/1 = 1.0 = 100.0% = 10,000 BPs
1/2 = 0.5 = 50.0% = 5,000 BPs
1/4 = 0.25 = 25.0% = 2,500 BPs
1/10 = 0.10 = 10.0% = 1,000 BPs
1/100 = 0.01 = 1.0% = 100 BPs
1/200 = 0.005 = 0.5% = 50 BPs
1/500 = 0.002 = 0.2% = 20 BPs
1/1,000 = 0.001 = 0.1% = 10 BPs
1/10,000 = 0.0001 = 0.01% = 1 BP

Page 3 of 3 pages – Term Paper Assignment – Prof. J. C. Francis – Fin 4710