GOLD Student Workbook 2020

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Student Workbook Silver Curriculum


Table of Contents Our Mission and Vision

1

Our Goals

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Women Suffer More From Math Anxiety

3

Statistics

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Gold Curriculum Workbook Sessions

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Expectations for Classroom Sessions

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Session 1 Agenda

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Introduction and pre-assessment

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Stock Portfolio Activity

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Classroom Discussion: Economic Lessons from COVID-19

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How COVID-19 Affected Higher Education

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Stock Market Comeback may hit wall as coronavirus cases spike Follow Us on Social Media After Session 1

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Session 2 Agenda

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Introduction To Case Study

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“Women Can Close the Gender Wealth Gap by Investing”

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Case Study Information

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Case Study Activity: Janella Sims

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Case Study Worksheet

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After Session 2

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Session 3 Agenda

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Case Study Research (Part One)

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Apple Stock Chart Example

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Apple Balance Sheet Example

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After Session 3

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Session 4 Agenda Case Study Research (Part Two) Business Case Study Example Presentation Google Slides Presentation Template After Session 4 Post-Assessment Review Sheet

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v.003 © 2020 Rock The Street, Wall Street


Session 5 Agenda

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Post-Assessment and Group Presentations

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Best Jobs for Graduates with a Finance Degree

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Case Study Research and Data: Walmart

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Walmart Stock Chart

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Walmart Annual Balance Sheet

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Benefits of Investing in Walmart

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“Walmart is a Buy Zone as Sales Boom in Coronavirus Crisis, But Is It a Good Buy?”

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“Pros and Cons to Buying Walmart Stock”

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“Walmart Workers Will Call Out of Work, Use Tracker to Protect Themselves from COVID-19”

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Case Study Research and Data: Target

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Target Stock Chart

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Target Annual Balance Sheet

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“3 Reasons Why Target Stock Will Rise Above the Pandemic”

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“Investors Should Consider Turning Neutral on Target Stock”

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“Should You Buy Target (TGT) Stock?”

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“Companies are Failing Workers, Target Employee Says on Day of Planned Protest”

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Walmart vs. Target Case Study Research and Data: Amazon

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Amazon Stock Chart

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Amazon Annual Balance Sheet

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“Amazon Stock Hits a New All-Time High as it Sees Unprecedented Demand”

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“Amazon’s Stock is Booming Despite Coronavirus Pandemic, But What’s Next?”

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“Pros and Cons to Buying Amazon Stock”

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“Is Amazon Stock a Buy Right Now? Here’s What Earnings, Charts Show”

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Case Study Research and Data: Shopify

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Shopify Stock Chart

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Shopify Annual Balance Sheet

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“Shopify Has Cracked the Code on Succeeding in Ecommerce”

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“Shopify Stock Has Surged. For One Analyst, It’s Gone Far Enough”

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“Why Shopify - And Not Zoom - Is the Stock to Chase Right Now”

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“Is Shopify Stock A Buy Amid Earnings Surge As Retailers Flock Online?”

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Amazon vs. Shopify

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Resources

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ABOUT ROCK THE STREET, WALL STREET

Our Mission Rock The Street, Wall Street is a financial and investment literacy program designed to spark the interest of a diverse population of high school girls into careers of finance. Girls learn about saving, investments, budgeting, stock and capital markets and their role in maintaining the welfare of their families, communities and the economy, while simultaneously helping them see the real world application of the math content they learn in the classroom. Rock The Street, Wall Street believes to close the gender gap in the wages, wealth and in the financial services sector, we have to inspire girls to pursue the M in STEM and finance, by exposing them to real life role models. The number one reason why girls are not choosing STEM professions - they don’t see women in those professions. The number two reason - they don’t see their friends choosing those majors in college. We engage female financial pros who walk the talk on all matters financial. They teach and motivate the next generation. Our students see girls in their RTSWS cohort choosing finance, economics or a related computational field as their majors/minors. Whether they choose the profession, or head into another field, our students are far better prepared for critical decision making on all types of financial and career prep matters.

Our Vision Rock The Street, Wall Street hopes to break the cycle of multi-generational financial naivete so that girls have a better chance at improving their lives, their households and their communities. Forty years after the adoption of Title IX, women continue to confront barriers to full equality at all levels; most critically of which is in their financial lives. This is even more egregious for women of color, where they earn, save and invest at lower rates. In college finance and economics classrooms, girls are few in number. As a result, their opportunities in pay, promotion, and life are unequal. Equipping girls with financial skills is a vital part of ensuring equal opportunity. Financial literacy is The Great Equalizer. Rock The Street, Wall Street is reaching young women at their local high schools. We offer young women a flight path to a financial education through hands-on financial projects, workshops, role modeling, mentoring and real-life Wall Street experiences. Girls are introduced to financial concepts such as savings, investments, post-secondary and college financial preparedness, budgets, stocks, bonds, financial analysis, venture capital and private equity.


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OUR GOALS

Our Goals • Address the economic inequality that exists among women and particularly among women of color. • Increase financial and investment literacy of girls at a young age so that they are aware of the financial responsibilities AND opportunities of post-secondary life, college life, at work, at home and in their communities. • Teach girls on how being financially independent is key to living a self-determined life. • Open girls’ minds to view math-focused fields of study as compatible with a career that has a positive impact on the world. • Spark girls’ enthusiasm for finance at a critical age and make them aware of the societal benefits personal financial knowledge and math-oriented careers can have. • Close the gender gap in wages, investments and wealth accumulation for all women, particularly for women of color. • Create the social capital between students and female financial professionals that will enable students to get a jumpstart on their personal money management behavior and on their college and work lives. • Increase the number of women studying finance, economics or related computational business field • Create an early pipeline of female talent so as to Increase the number of women who enter into the financial services industry. • Provide a pathway to better lifetime money management, academic performance, and college preparation. • Coach students on resume building • Provide career discovery by offering job shadowing and/or industry summer internships • Foster students’ continued growth in finance through their college years and into the workforce • Create a longitudinal cohort of girls who can network with each other across cities, socio-economic lines and industries.


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ARTICLE Women suffer from ‘math anxiety’ more than men do — here’s how to reverse it By Alessandra Malito, MarketWatch (October 24, 2019) https://www.marketwatch.com/story/women-suffer-from-math-anxiety-more-than-men-heres-how-to-reverse-it-2019-10-24

This teacher-turned-financial adviser on the different ways men and women approach math and life Many Americans suffer from “math anxiety,” which inhibits their ability to solve problems — a potential issue when it’s time to balance a checkbook or save for retirement. Math anxiety may start in the classroom during childhood but it has a way of following students throughout their lives, said Maddie Parker, a financial adviser at Parker Financial Group in Overland Park, Kan., who started her career as a high school math teacher before switching to financial planning. She has seen people postpone their financial plans and refrain from saving for retirement because they don’t want to deal with the possibly complicated equations and complex investing topics. A fear of math can be debilitating — and not just because it could result in poor math grades. Many students, especially girls, may avoid careers that include a heavy amount of math, especially those in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-gender-gap-starts-inninth-grade-2018-08-20 Girls made up just 30% of the top 5,000 ninth-graders in the American Mathematics Competitions, according to research distributed by the National Bureau of Economic Research in 2017. Just 18% of the top 500 ninth-graders were girls, and only 8% of the top 50. That gender gap worsens as they age — by senior year, only 22% of the top 5,000 are girls (compared with the 30% in ninth grade), followed by just 12% of the top 500. Parker, 30, taught Algebra II and geometry to high-school students before switching to financial planning and working with her 76year-old father, who has his own firm. She also became a Certified Financial Planner. “I have a math background and the CFP puts me in a good position to do financial planning in a way that educates people about the planning and why,” she said. Their age difference also helps them work with clients of all ages and provide their own perspectives, she added. Parker spoke with MarketWatch about her education background, why people are so worried about math and how to mesh the two: MarketWatch: How exactly would you describe math anxiety? Maddie Parker: A lot of people would say “I have that” and to a degree, a lot of people do, but it’s more than feeling like you don’t do well on exams. Kids who have math anxiety almost always have a physical inability to respond to being tested or asked to perform on math-related tasks. It is just built up over the years of different experiences, and it stops them from being able to learn any further. MW: Is it something adults face?Parker: It translates from kids to adulthood. When you get out of school, you’re less exposed or have less experience being tested so the anxiety may seem like it’s gone away but any time math or that skill is required, the anxiety comes right back. I think it has been perpetuated as a weird acceptance in our country, that it’s OK to be bad at math. Like, “oh, math is hard and it’s OK not to get it.” It definitely follows into adulthood and affects people dealing with finances, because they have to do math and they don’t know how to do it, and they’re stressed or embarrassed to ask for help. MW: How can math anxiety impact personal finances? Parker: In high school, you’re not required to take personal finance and the math you’re doing is unrelated to what you do in real life. And that real life math in your brain is still tied to calculus so you think, “I couldn’t do that at 16, I probably can’t handle finances now.” But it is different math. It’s not to say it’s simple, but it’s different, and it is applicable in such a way that people do find it easier to understand. It is not quite as challenging as graphing logarithmic equations. It’s a lot different.


4 MW: There are many people who say women generally are more likely to have math anxiety than men. Is that something you’ve seen? Parker: There are great articles and podcasts and TED talks about the same concepts, of how we’re raising our girls to be perfect and raising our boys to be brave. And there was one example at a girls’ coding camp, where they have to learn to do coding and the girls specifically would type up all this stuff and then if they couldn’t figure it out they’d erase it all and call the teacher over. The teacher would press undo and show all of this work and that they were really close, but because the girls couldn’t make it work they wanted to tell the teacher to show them from the beginning. They didn’t want to show this not perfect work. It is just a good example that demonstrates that girls are being raised to be perfect and not in the same way as boys, who may say (like in that example) that they don’t care and at least they’ll get partial credit. The only way to learn is by making mistakes, but that gets lost on girls when they feel they have to be perfect. MW: Does that concept translate to adult couples in financial planning? Parker: It is more apparent for women when they are single individuals. They’re more comfortable saying “I don’t get it” or it’s more evident. They’re not as afraid to ask for help. It’s when they’re with their spouses it is easier to be quiet or let them talk and pretend you understand things because your partner is helping you, but it is still relevant. I always work with most clients together and I will ask them both “do you understand this?” or make sure they’re both on the same page. MW: How would you say your background as a math teacher benefits you and your clients? Parker: One of the biggest ways is in my ability to explain things. It’s funny, I majored in math and decided to be a high school math teacher, but when I was in high school, I struggled with math. I had good grades and I didn’t have math anxiety, but I wasn’t some freaky Einstein genius kid who got it all. It made sense when I didn’t get something right and because I liked it so much I worked hard to understand it. I was good at explaining things to my friends. But my own struggle made me good at explaining it. A lot of math teachers are geniuses who understand it, and that makes it hard to explain it to students who are struggling. That ability translates nicely to doing financial plans. I can see what is probably going to confuse them and where they’ll get lost. MW: Are there any math-related topics that clients typically have a hard time understanding? Parker: It varies, but one big thing we talk about is inflation and compound interest. The need to factor in inflation because a dollar today is not going to be a dollar 10 years from now, and that it is a slow climb. People are amazed at how different the numbers look when I factor in 2.5% inflation. MW: Is there any way to overcome math anxiety? Parker: It is important that there be no stigma about it. There’s this expectation people have of themselves that they should know more about finance because it applies to their life. I am a financial adviser and I don’t know how to fix my car, so I bring it to be serviced by professionals. I don’t feel stupid because I didn’t focus on that and I know nothing about it. It can be scary if you don’t know who you’re going to and unfortunately there are some bad people out there, but if you do your homework to find the people to help you, you don’t need to feel ashamed or embarrassed. That’s the whole reason you find a professional to begin with — someone who is trained. That’s their job.


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Gold Curriculum Workshop Sessions For our Gold Curriculum that you are following, the learning outcomes are: • To conduct research, analyze, and run through a case study on the following companies: Walmart (WMT) vs. Target (TGT) and Amazon (AMZN) vs. Shopify (SHOP). • To play the role of financial advisor for Janella, a 39-year-old professional female, with a sizeable sum of money saved and ready to invest in one of the the two companies in the case study. • To define basic investment terms. • To follow the price movements of Amazon (AMZN), Netflix (NFLX) and Clorox (CLX) stock and the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) over the weeks that we’re together in class. • To create a Google Slides presentation on students’ recommendations based on their research, and give team presentations on the last day of class. • To become familiar with various types of careers in finance. The table on the following page provides the names of each of our five workshop sessions and the Key Terms that will be introduced in them. Please use the space provided to write in the date for each session.

Session

Key Terms

1: Introduction and Pre-Assessment

• Capital Markets • Shareholders • Stock • ETF • Stock Market Volatility

2: Introduction to Case Study

• Competitive Advantage • Dividend • Earnings Per Share • IPO • SEC • Unicorn • Valuation

3: Case Study Research (Part One)

• Capital Expenditure • Gig Economy • Market Capitalization • Market Share • Net Margin (or Profit Margin) • Net Profit • Revenue

4: Case Study Research (Part Two)

• Loan • Mortgage • Interest • Compound Interest • Inflation • Bond

5: Post-Assessment and Group Presentations

Date / Time / Location


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Expectations For Classroom Sessions

We are all here to become financially literate, learn from fierce females in finance, and to have fun! In order to do so, we have classroom expectations so it’s a great experience for everyone. By participating in our program you are committing to these expectations. 1. Be on time and even better, early! 2. Let one of the school champions know if you will be absent or late to the session ahead of time. (Write below the name and contact information for the school champions) School Champion 1: _________________________________ School Champion 2: _________________________________ 3. Use the restroom before coming to the session. 4. All students are required to stay for the entire session. 5. You may eat during the session as long as it’s not disruptive. 6. Our expectation is that you will attend ALL sessions. If you miss any, please know it will impact your ability to attend our field trip and any ongoing opportunities. 7. Most of all - have fun and enjoy learning from these amazing women.

Girls Who Invest is a non-profit organization that prepares undergraduates at U.S. colleges and universities for careers in investment management. There are two internship opportunities availablein college with Girls Who Invest. As a result of our close relationship with them, our students have a unique head start over other applicants. We will be recommending a minimum number of students who have excelled in RTSWS to be fast tracked in their application process. • Only those who have strong attendance and post-assessment scores will be taken into consideration for these opportunities • You must also have your RTSWS student release form filled out completely and correctly to be considered • We will continue to reach out about this opportunity and other career opportunities throughout high school and college


Gold Curriculum: SESSION ONE

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Session 1 Agenda

1. Introduction: Volunteers and the Rock The Street, Wall Street Program 2. Get To Know Each Other: Class Discussion 3. Take the Pre-Assessment • You are NOT being graded we just want to know what you already know - it’s okay to put “I don’t know” as an answer • This will not be shown to your school or any teachers • You will recieve a text message with the link to take the pre-assessment. It will also be written on the board if you need to type it into your web browser. 4. Learning Objectives and Key Terms • After session 1, definitions and visuals are provided in this session for you to review. 5. Review Yahoo! Finance Portfolio • We will be following the same stocks each week 6. Classroom Discussion: The Economic Effects from COVID-19 7. Connect with Rock The Street, Wall Street’s SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS 8. Important Activities Before Session 2

NOTES & QUESTIONS ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

RockTheStreetWallStreet.com | Moving Girls Forward in the Field of Finance


Gold Curriculum: SESSION ONE

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#

Session 1: Introduction and Pre-Assessment

Learning Objectives 1.

Complete the RTSWS pre-assessment to determine a baseline of financial literacy knowledge.

2.

Understand what a stock portfolio and watch list are and become familiar with the stocks we will\ follow on our watch list in the weeks ahead.

3.

Learn the key terms below.

4.

Learn the effects of the coronavirus pandemic had on the capital markets and what lessons we can apply to the future.

Study These Key Terms 1.

Capital Markets Venues where savings and investments are channeled between the suppliers who have capital and those who are in need of capital (e.g. Nasdaq, The New York Stock Exchange, etc.).

2.2 Shareholder Commonly referred to as a stockholder; any person, company, or institution that owns at least one share of a company’s stock. 3.3 Stock A share of ownership in a business or corporation. Companies sell shares as a way to raise capital. Stock represents a claim on the company's assets and earnings. As you acquire more stock, your ownership stake in the company becomes greater. 4.

Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a collection of securities—such as stocks— that tracks an underlying index. The best-known example is the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 Index. ETFs can contain many types of investments, including stocks, commodities, bonds, or a mixture of investment types. An exchange-traded fund is a marketable security, meaning it has an associated price that allows it to be easily bought and sold. The price of an ETF’s shares will change throughout the trading day as the shares are bought and sold on the market.*

5.

Stock Market Volatility Stock market volatility in the simplest sense, measures fluctuations in stock prices. Low volatility means small fluctuations and high volatility means large fluctuations. Low volatility can be interpreted as investors being complacent, not worried. High volatility implies an element of fear in investors’ current attitudes.

Source: Investopedia

RockTheStreetWallStreet.com | Moving Girls Forward in the Field of Finance


Gold Curriculum: SESSION ONE

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ACTIVITY - Stock Portfolio

• We will be following the Amazon (AMZN), Clorox (CLX), Netflix (NFLX) stock and the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) each week so you can see how the prices fluctuate and start following the market. • A stock portfolio is a collection of stocks that you invest in with the hope of making a profit. By putting together a diverse portfolio that spans various sectors you are able to become a more resilient investor. (https://public.com/learn/what-is-a-stock-portfolio) • For the purposes of these sessions, we will only be following these three stocks and one ETF (exchange traded fund) so you can begin to learn the world of investing. • After Session 1 you will create your own stock portfolio on Yahoo! Finance.

The Summary tab in your saved portfolio on Yahoo! Finance features a number of useful data points for each stock, including: Last Price, Change (in dollars), % Change, Volume, Average Volume over the past 3 months, Day Range, 52-Week Range, Day Chart’ Market Cap In addition, links to relevant news articles about stocks in your Portfolio are presented underneath.


Gold Curriculum: SESSION ONE

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ACTIVITY - Classroom Discussion: Economic Lessons from COVID-19

Volatility Explained: • Different events or occurrences like a pandemic can greatly affect the capital markets/stock market and cause volatility in the market • Volatility in the market measures fluctuations in stock prices. Low volatility means small fluctuations and high volatility means large fluctuations. Low volatility can be interpreted as investors being complacent, not worried. High volatility implies an element of fear in investors’ current attitudes. • During volatile times, many investors get spooked and begin to question their investment strategies. This is especially true for novice investors, who can often be tempted to pull out of the market altogether and wait on the sidelines until it seems safe to dive back in. • The thing to realize is that market volatility is inevitable. It's the nature of the markets to move up and down over the short-term. Trying to time the market is extremely difficult. One solution is to maintain a long-term horizon and ignore the short-term fluctuations. Finance Industry and Economy Takeaways: • Due to COVID-19 people all over the world have had to remain quarantined following Stay at Home orders in order to control the overall spread and impact. Due to these drastic measures of containment, there has been a substantial impact on the global economy. • Economic activity has decreased significantly as people are no longer traveling for work or vacation, companies have had to temporarily shut down or close facilities, and Americans aren’t spending as much money. • Uncertainty around the economy lead people to sell their stocks and take their money out of the stock market. This causes the stock prices to drop and the value of the company decreases. However, some stocks did increase because of its use during the coronavirus, such as, Zoom and Clorox. • All of these measures have caused unemployment rates to reach record highs. More than 38 million people filed for unemployment due to the coronavirus, predicted to be nearly 16% by July 2020 – higher than at any point since the Great Depression. This also means there is a severe lack of jobs due to coronavirus. • The US government passed a stimulus bill of roughly 2 trillion dollars to financially support American citizens and companies who are heavily impacted by the pandemic. Personal Finance Lessons: • Make sure to have at least a 3-6 month emergency fund that can cover all of your expenses • Your emergency fund should be saved where it can quickly be liquidated if needed - a bank savings account, CDs, money market accounts, etc. • Create a budget now so you can start saving and investing and also create a crisis budget to be prepared if a financial crisis happens • Don’t let credit card debt build up, this has a high interest rate so this can easily build when you can’t pay this off

“Sources: Investopedia, Forbes, Statista


Gold Curriculum: SESSION ONE

ARTICLE How COVID-19 Has Affected Higher Education Patti Domm, June 24, 2020, CNBC www.cnbc.com/2020/06/24/second-half-outlook-stock-market-comeback-may-hit-a-wall-as-coronavirus-cases-spike-again.html

• College campuses across the country closed due to coronavirus safety concerns. Schools and teachers had to quickly transfer their courses online, while students adjusted to the new normal of online learning. This also meant school residential buildings were closed and students had to move out. Students who worked on campus also lost those jobs. • Students not only had to adjust to online learning, but also many were given just days to have to pack up their lives, put their possessions in storage, and find a new living arrangement, along with often a new job as well. • This has disproportionately and substantially affected international students, students with health concerns, students unable to go home or afford alternate housing, and students who were struggling to stay in college to begin with. • College campuses are still trying to figure out what to do in the fall. Will they be back in-person, completely virtual, or a hybrid of both? They are preparing for lower enrollment numbers and balancing campus life/quality of courses and safety. • Many students are factoring the changes on college campuses into their college decisions: • Where they decide to go to college - many students have decided to stay closer to home • Their college budget - Due to uncertainty and some discontent with the online courses, some students are choosing colleges with a lower tuition - state schools or community colleges vs. out-of-state and private colleges (even if they are elite) • If they should defer or wait to enroll in college - as of right now most colleges are still allowing student t defer and some students have decided to take a gap year or delay college until the situation is remedied • If virtual learning is worth the high tuition? As mentioned before there is some discontent among students with the online version of their courses not having the same quality, access to resources, or personal connection. As of right now, most colleges if not all are not planning on reducing their tuition. • On a positive note, since colleges are seeing declines in enrollment students on waitlists are making it to the top at a faster pace than typical, including elite colleges. • So far experts say COVID-19 will have some lasting effects on colleges across the country, but it won’t change higher education altogether. • They believe... • Eventually once safety concerns are alleviated, colleges will still be mainly in-person and have campus life as usual. • Schools and teachers/courses will most likely be incorporating more technology into their courses, along with having a virtual platform in place and to receive training on virtual learning • Unfortunately, many small or medium-sized colleges will not make it through this difficult financial time or will have to make extreme financial cuts. This will also depend on how much federal aid is given to higher education institutions over the next few months. Stocks could face turbulence and limited gains in the second half of the year, as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to set the course for markets and the economy.

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Gold Curriculum: SESSION ONE

Second half Outlook: Stock market comeback may hit a wall as coronavirus cases spike Patti. Domm, CNBC, Jun 24, 2020

The S&P 500 had been up more than 20% for the second quarter before Wednesday’s 2.6% decline, as a surge in virus cases in Florida, Texas and other sunbelt states raised fears that the economic rebound could be slowed. The first half of the year saw stocks rise to new highs amid optimism after the phase one China trade deal, but then plummet in March, as the virus shut down the economy. But a heavy and rapid dose of fiscal and Fed stimulus pulled markets out of a downward spiral, and the Nasdaq led the pack, as the first index to set new highs. The S&P 500, at 3,050, is still down 5.6% for the year-to-date. With just a week left in the second quarter,. the negative news on the virus is a setback and a reminder that the health crisis could continue to dampen economic activity and strain health systems and local government budgets. Some strategists say the market mood is changing, and with the virus spread, the focus may shift to whether and how quickly Congress will approve more economic stimulus. “People who are looking for a magical V [recovery] are delusional,” said Julian Emanuel, head of equities and derivatives strategy at BTIG. “The delusional part is when you look at the Nasdaq, it made a new all time high. That’s buoying the public’s optimism and pulled institutions off the sidelines.” Investors jumped into defensive, stay at home stocks, like Netflix, Facebook, Amazon and consumer staples, when the economy was first shut down. But as they became optimistic about the economy recovering, they moved into the beaten down names, like airlines or casinos, and cyclicals like financials and energy to bet on the rebound. All of those stocks were hit Wednesday, as the Dow fell 710 points, off 2.7%. Emanuel said the fact that institutions have put more money into stocks recently means they are no longer underinvested and compelled to buy. “That’s different than what we saw in May and the first several weeks in June,” when they had to chase performance, he said. “We are now no longer in a mindset where good news is likely tot be interpreted as good news and bad news is likely to be shrugged off,” said Emanuel. “Bad news will be bad news.” Emanuel expects the S&P to end the year at 3,000, and the market should start setting new highs next year. “The path is going to be extremely volatile. That’s what the VIX above 30 is telling you. Our price target is 3,000. We’re basically going to have a lot of volatility on either side of tat number, and it’s going to be more volatile, not less as we get closer to the election.” The VIX, the CBOE’s Volatility Index, reflects investing in puts and calls in the S&P 500. A higher VIX indicates more volatility, and it jumped more than 7.8% Wednesday to 33.84. Besides the uncertainty surrounding the virus, markets also face uncertainty as the presidential election approaches. Currently, the polls show former Vice President Joe Biden in the lead, ahead of President Donald Trump. Some political strategists believe there is a chance that a strong showing by Biden and the Democrats could result in a blue sweep with Democrats in the White House and both chambers of Congress. Ed Keon, chief investment strategist at QMA, said the market may not react to the November election until after the summer. “Four months is a lifetime in politics,” he said. ’“If you actually look at the party of the president, it doesn’t have very much correlation with the stock market, and if anything it suggests that the market does better under Democrats than Republicans. If Democrats take control, you’re going to see some of the tax cuts reversed and that will probably be taken to be negative.”

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Gold Curriculum: SESSION ONE

But in the meantime, the prime focus is on the virus and how it is impacting the economy. Besides the news of a jump in cases in the south and California, the governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut announced a quarantine for travelers from hot spot states. That slammed airline stocks and raised concerns of a slower economic recovery. “We were already down and that just took us down another leg,” Keon said. “I’ve been reasonably c autious for awhile. we’ve had some moves up and down, but we’ve pretty much been sideways on the S&P for a month plus.” Liz Ann Sonders, Charles Schwab chief investment strategist, said while there’s been a flat trend, the Nasdaq has bucked it in recent weeks. “Although the Nasdaq hit a new high and has been on a spike, less than 50% of its constituents are trading above the 200-day moving average. That’s the biggest divergence since 2001,” she said. “There are 45% of the Nasdaq trading above the 200 day moving average in a a rally that’s been epic.” The 200-day moving average is a technical measure of momentum. It literally is an average of the last 200 closing prices of a stock or an index, and a move above it is seen as positive momentum. “It’s hard to paint a rosy picture when that’s your classic story of the generals advancing and the soldiers falling behind. I think you add the virus stuff to more attention given to these technical divergences and sentiment being stretched and you have a recipe for a pullback,” she said. Sonders said the virus will steer stocks through the end of the year, and even with reopenings, the virus could still influence consumer and corporate behavior. “The market in both directions is impacted by the virus,” she said. She pointed to the fact that in just four sessions when there was positive drug or vaccine news, the Dow gained 2,700 points in just those sessions. “What concerns me is the market has gotten pretty frothy,” she said, noting it’s a positive that the small caps given back some gains. “Investors ares positioned very optimistically,” she said, adding some of the sentiment surveys don’t reflect the level of optimism apparent in investor behavior. “When you get to extremes of sentiment in either direction it often takes less of a catalyst to ignite the naturally contrarian move in the market. That’s what happened in February. I am pleased to see in the last week or two some of the air is coming out of the riskier small cap stocks.”

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Gold Curriculum: SESSION ONE

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Follow us on Social Media Use hashtags: #rtsws #girlsrockwallst

LinkedIn RTSWS Student & Alumnae Networking Group linkedin.com/groups/7029520/ If you are 16 years of age or older, join our RTSWS LinkedIn Students & Alumnae Networking Group. As a member, you will be able to learn about internship and job opportunities, connect with your peers, stay informed of relevant news and more. Students already in the group have successfully leveraged their membership to network with RTSWS students from all over the U.S. We strongly encourage you to join our RTSWS LinkedIn Students & Alumnae Networking Group.

LinkedIn RTSWS Company Page linkedin.com/company/rock-the-street-wall-street LinkedIn-company page is a social network that focuses on professional networking and career development. You can use LinkedIn to display your resume, search for jobs, and enhance your professional reputation by posting updates and interacting with other people. Please follow our company page for Rock The Street, Wall Street and get to networking!

Instagram Follow us at: girlsrockwallstreet

Facebook Follow us at: facebook.com/girlsrockwallst

Twitter Follow us at: @girlsrockwallst

RockTheStreetWallStreet.com | Moving Girls Forward in the Field of Finance


Gold Curriculum: SESSION ONE

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After Session 1 Important Activities Before Session 2 Activities During the week ahead, spend some time exploring the following activities before returning for Session 2. 1. Create a stock portfolio on Yahoo! Finance - • https://www.finance.yahoo.com/portfolios/ • You will need to create your own username and password. (If you already have an existing account for other Yahoo! services, such as Yahoo! Mail, you can log in with that account.) Then, click on “My Portfolio” on the upper left side. Then, on the bottom right, click “+Create Portfolio”. Name the portfolio “RTSWS 2020.” Under “Summary”, click on “+Add symbol”. Type in the name or symbol for what we are following this year to add them to your portfolio and watchlist. • This is what we are following this year - Amazon (AMZN), Clorox (CLX), Netflix (NFLX) stock and the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB). 2. Thoroughly review and get to know the key terms below. We want you to remember these long after RTSWS is over and all students will be taking a post-assessment in Session 5 to see how much you’ve learned. So make sure to study these! 3. Follow Rock The Street, Wall Street on our social media accounts.

Review of Key Terms from Session 1 1. Capital Markets Venues where savings and investments are channeled the suppliers who have capital and those who are in need of capital (e.g. Nasdaq, The New Y between ork Stock Exchange, etc.). www.investopedia.com/terms/c/capitalmarkets.asp 2. Shareholder Commonly referred to as a stockholder; any person, company, or institution that owns at least one share of a company’s stock. www.investopedia.com/terms/s/shareholder.asp 3. Stock A share of ownership in a business or corporation. Companies sell shares as a way to raise capital. Stock represents a claim on the company's assets and earnings. As you acquire more stock, your ownership stake in the company becomes greater. www.napkinfinance.com/videos/stock-market/


Gold Curriculum: SESSION ONE

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4. Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a collection of securities—such as stocks— that tracks an underlying index. The best-known example is the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 Index. ETFs can contain many types of investments, including stocks, commodities, bonds, or a mixture of investment types. An exchange-traded fund is a marketable security, meaning it has an associated price that allows it to be easily bought and sold. The price of an ETF’s shares will change throughout the trading day as the shares are bought and sold on the market.* napkinfinance.com/videos/etfs/

5. Stock Market Volatility Stock market volatility in the simplest sense, measures fluctuations in stock prices. Low volatility means small fluctuations and high volatility means large fluctuations. Low volatility can be interpreted as investors being complacent, not worried. High volatility implies an element of fear in investors’ current attitudes. napkinfinance.com/videos/volatility/


Gold Curriculum: SESSION TWO

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Session 2 Agenda

1. Learning Objectives and Key Terms • Definitions and visuals are provided in this session for you to review 2. Review Yahoo! Finance Portfolio 3. Learn the effects the coronavirus pandemic had on the capital markets and what lessons we can apply to the future. 4. Case Study Information 5. Case Study Activity: Janella Sims 6. Stock Comparison Worksheet 7. Connect with Rock The Street, Wall Street’s SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS 8. Important Activities Before Session 3

NOTES & QUESTIONS

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Gold Curriculum: SESSION TWO

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Session 2 Introduction to Case Study Learning Objectives 1.

Become familiar with the background and objectives of a case study, a tool commonly used in business schools to educate students about how companies make decisions and about the ramifications of those decisions.

2.

Understand key concepts relevant to their case study: Competitive Advantage, Dividend, Earnings Per Share, IPO, SEC, Unicorn, and Valuation.

3.

Apply students’ newfound knowledge by evaluating two publicly traded companies and build a recommended investment plan for Janella Sims, a fictitious 39-year-old woman.

4.

Learn the effects the coronavirus pandemic had on the capital markets and what lessons we can apply to the future.

Key Terms 1.

Competitive Advantage Conditions that allow a company to produce a good or service of equal value at a lower price or in a more desirable fashion, which allow the productive entity to generate more sales or superior margins compared to its market rivals. Competitive advantages are attributed to a variety of factors including cost structure, branding, the quality of product offerings, the distribution network, intellectual property and customer service.

2.

Dividend A sum of money paid regularly (typically quarterly) by a company to its shareholders out of its profits (or reserves).

3.

Earnings Per Share A company’s net profit divided by the number of shares of stock. Net profit is revenue minus costs. It is a good reflection of how well the company performed. If the company made a lot of money that year, there will be a higher EPS. However, if they lost income, they will potentially have a negative EPS. In finance, this is an important ratio to examine.

4.

IPO An initial public offering is the process by which a private company "goes public," offering shares for purchase by the public. IPOs allow businesses to gain capital and to shift ownership.

5.

SEC The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent federal government agency responsible for protecting investors, maintaining fair and orderly functioning of the securities markets, and facilitating capital formation.

6.

Unicorn A term used in the venture capital industry to describe a startup company with a value of over $1 billion.

7.

Valuation The analytical process of determining the current (or projected) worth of an asset or a company.

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Gold Curriculum: SESSION TWO

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ARTICLE

Women Can Close The Gender Wealth Gap By Investing by Coryanne Hicks, U.S. News & World Report (Jan. 7, 2019) www.money.usnews.com/investing/investing-101/articles/women-can-close-the-gender-wealth-gap-by-investin

Women are paid less than men but earn more when they invest. The problem is women invest less than men. After decades toiling under the gender pay gap, women are left with $1 million less than men come retirement. But there's an easy way to shrink this wealth gap: Women should be investing more. While women may struggle to match men in pay, they outperform men in long-term investing. Fidelity Investments found that women on average earn 0.4 percent higher returns than men. This may sound like a small difference, but when carried out over 40 years, it can translate into significant money. An investor who earned 7.4 percent and invested $18,000 per year for 40 years would have more than $500,000 more than someone who invested the same amount but only earned 7 percent. The difference only grows the more you save. Alas, rather than combating these lower earnings with aggressive investing, women keep more than 70 percent of their wealth in cash. "When you earn less, every dollar saved is precious," says Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, board chair and president of the Charles Schwab Foundation and senior vice president at Charles Schwab. "Many women opt to protect those dollars by investing conservatively." This creates a self-fulfilling prophecy of lower wealth: Women earn less income and their income in turn earns lower returns from their conservative investing style. Women can close the wealth gap by investing. The less income you earn, the harder your dollars need to work for you. Without the growth opportunities provided by the stock market, you're less likely to reach your financial goals. An immediate solution to close the wealth gap is to invest more and earlier. The earlier you start investing, the more time your investments have to grow, and the more time you have to weather any market ups and downs along the way. The irony is women are better equipped than men to be successful long-term investors, but the nature of the industry has kept them away. Focus on your goals and ignore the boys. While men are often focused on performance and beating the market, women tend to be more concerned with meeting their financial goals. Goals-based investing is a smart long-term strategy and part of the reason when women do invest, they tend to outperform men. But having a different approach to investing than the patriarchy poses another challenge: Men and women often speak a different language when they talk about investing, and, unfortunately for the ladies, Wall Street uses manspeak. The financial services industry was built by men for men. The New York Stock Exchange Board dates back to the early 1800s. Wall Street's origins reach even further back to the end of the 18th century, decades before women were even allowed to own property, let alone invest. It's no surprise, then, that the financial services industry caters to men. Financial planning models default to men's salaries and life paths. Financial professionals and the financial media talk about "beating the market" (competition) and "building a portfolio" (a construction metaphor) when they could just as easily discuss meeting financial goals and "creating" or "knitting" a portfolio. This can be off- putting to women who already face social stigmas against investing. RockTheStreetWallStreet.com | Moving Girls Forward in the Field of Finance


Gold Curriculum: SESSION TWO

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"As a society, we've managed to shift the blame for not investing as much onto women themselves, to the point where women feel they need more financial education than men," says Sallie Krawcheck, co-founder and chief executive officer of Ellevest, a digital financial advisor designed for women. Jordan Sowhangar, a wealth advisor at Univest Wealth Management, recently had a female client come to her after getting sick of feeling less than the "men in suits" at her old financial services firm. In joint meetings with husbands and wives, Sowhangar "can't say how many times" she directs a question to the wife only to have her say, "I'll let my husband answer that; he knows how to do this investing stuff." Other times the wife won't even show up to the meetings. Engage in your financial journey. Women need to engage in their financial lives. If women's longer life expectancies are any gauge, a couple's joint wealth will likely become the wife's alone one day. "Women need to be prepared (financially) at the end of life and all of the steps along the way," Margeson says. When you don't understand something, speak up. "I love it when (clients) stop me mid-explanation to say they don't understand,"Sowhangar says. "There's no excuse not to do that." When you do press pause-rewind during your financial planning meetings, you may find you're not the only one who was a bit confused. Men are also burdened by their own social stigmas, such as not appearing weak or incompetent in front of their wives. As hard as it can be for a woman to speak up when she doesn't understand, men may find this even more challenging. Thus the situation becomes even more unfortunate when neither party understands what's going on, but one is pretending and the other is afraid to speak up, Sowhangar says. Make talking about investing part of your daily routine. Part of the reason women are reluctant to speak up in investing conversations is the pervasive social taboo against talking about money. More than 60 percent of women say they'd rather talk about their own death than money, according to Merrill Lynch research. Even more report financial planning is too complicated to think about. This reluctance to address the topic of money and investing only compounds the problem: When women show a lack of interest in finance, women's media assumes they don't want to hear about it, so the topic is never raised. Age Wave reviewed the March 2018 issues of the 17 top women's magazines for financial coverage. They found that out of 1,594 pages of editorial content, only five pages covered personal finance. We can't expect to learn about a topic if it's never addressed. So start a dialogue about investing with your partner, your advisor, your friends, your children, anyone who will engage in conversation. Dedicate 10 minutes of each book club meeting to talking about money or investing. Even better: Make next month's pick a finance book, Margeson suggests. Outside those conversations, incorporate learning about investing into your regular routine. Every Saturday as you do your laundry, read one article about investing. Aim to learn one new thing each week, Margeson says. Embrace investing. As Marie Curie said, "Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less." Investing shouldn't be feared and avoided. It should be understood and embraced. Then, women can overcome the wealth gap.

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Case Study Information

What is a case study? A case study is an in-depth study of an entity or multiple entities (for our purposes stocks or companies) in order to understand all of the different factors involved in that entity.

What is financial analysis? Financial analysis is the process of evaluating a business or stock to determine its performance and suitability, i.e. it’s value. Typically, a financial analysis is used to determine whether or not a stock is worth investing in.

Stock Financial Analysis Examples: Keep in mind as you explore these examples: • Your team’s analysis will NOT be as in depth as these videos go. • They will use terms in these videos you don’t understand yet and that’s okay. You will be learning these concepts and key terms over the next couple of weeks. • Pay attention to what details and data she is highlighting in order to make her stock analysis. • You can also revisit these videos and/or other videos before session 5 to help you prepare for your presentations.

Task: As a whole group or in teams, gather together for 10 minutes and watch a portion of the YouTube videos below. If you can’t watch these as a whole group, teams should gather around one person's smartphone, tablet or laptop. (You can search the video titles in google instead of typing in the links) • Apple Stock Analysis 2020 - Will 5G Boost iPhone Sales? Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6205AeUqVQ • Zoom Stock Analysis 2020 - Is it Too Late to Buy? Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBaG9JNPv98

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Gold Curriculum: SESSION TWO

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ACTIVITY - Case Study: Janella Sims

Task: Janella, a 39-year-old professional, has hired you as her wealth management advisor. She has given you $100,000 to invest in the stock of either Walmart or Target or either Amazon or Shopify for the next five years. You will be split up into teams of 4-5 students. As a team, you will conduct a case study to determine which company has a higher potential total return for that time period. As you read relevant articles, analyze each stock’s data, and discuss the stocks with your group, use the table on the following page to write down the information needed to determine where to invest Janella’s money. All resources will be found at the back of your workbook titled, Case Study Research and Data. If you have access to wifi, each explains how to access the current data online or feel free to use the information we have provided. Important to note: • Half of the teams will compare Walmart vs. Target and the other half will compare Amazon vs. Shopify (If there’s an odd number of groups that’s okay) • You will NOT be creating a case study on all four stocks, only the two your team has chosen or been assigned to. Project Group: (Write each person in your team’s name and contact information on the lines provided)

______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

Notes and Questions:

______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

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Gold Curriculum: SESSION TWO

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ACTIVITY - Case Study Worksheet

Stock 1

Stock 2

Current Stock Price

Earnings Per Share

P/E Ratio

Price Percentage Increase over the Last Year (1 year)

CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives)

2020 Total Assets

Liabilities

Liabilities and Shareholders Equity

Pros (from research)

Cons (from research)

Important Company Background

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Gold Curriculum: SESSION TWO

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NOTES

NOTES & QUESTIONS ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

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Gold Curriculum: SESSION TWO

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After Session 2 Important Activities Before Session 3 Activities During the week ahead, spend some time exploring the following activities before returning for Session 3. 1.

Complete any activities or read any articles you weren’t able to finish in Session 2.

2.

Thoroughly review the key terms from session 2 below. We want you to remember these long after RTSWS is over and all students will be taking a post-assessment in Session 5 to see how much you’ve learned. So make sure to study these!

3.

If you haven’t yet, connect with us on social media! We post current articles, internship and job shadowing opportunities, and even highlight our students and community publicly.

Review of Key Terms from Session 2 1.

Competitive Advantage Conditions that allow a company to produce a good or service of equal value at a lower price or in a more desirable fashion, which allow the productive entity to generate more sales or superior margins compared to its market rivals. Competitive advantages are attributed to a variety of factors including cost structure, branding, the quality of product offerings, the distribution network, intellectual property and customer service. www.investopedia.com/terms/c/competitive_advantage.asp

2.

Dividend A sum of money paid regularly (typically quarterly) by a company to its shareholders out of its profits (or reserves). www.investopedia.com/terms/d/dividend.asp

3.

Earnings Per Share A company’s net profit divided by the number of shares of stock. Net profit is revenue minus costs. It is a good reflection of how well the company performed. If the company made a lot of money that year, there will be a higher EPS. However, if they lost income, they will potentially have a negative EPS. In finance, this is an important ratio to examine. www.investopedia.com/terms/e/eps.asp

4.

IPO An initial public offering is the process by which a private company "goes public," offering shares for purchase by the public. IPOs allow businesses to gain capital and to shift ownership. napkinfinance.com/videos/ipos/

5.

SEC The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent federal government agency responsible for protecting investors, maintaining fair and orderly functioning of the securities markets, and facilitating capital formation. www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sec.asp

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Gold Curriculum: SESSION TWO

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Unicorn A term used in the venture capital industry to describe a startup company with a value of over $1 billion. www.pitchbook.com/blog/what-is-a-unicorn

7.

Valuation The analytical process of determining the current (or projected) worth of an asset or a company. www.investopedia.com/terms/v/valuation.asp

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RockTheStreetWallStreet.com | Moving Girls Forward in the Field of Finance


Gold Curriculum: SESSION THREE

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Session 3 Agenda

1. Introduction: Case Study Research (Part One) 2. Learning Objectives and Key Terms • Definitions and visuals are provided in this session for you to review. 3. Review Yahoo! Finance Stock Portfolio 4. Continue Case Study Activity: Janella Sims 5. Connect with Rock The Street, Wall Street’s Social Media Platforms 6. Important Activities Before Session 4

NOTES & QUESTIONS

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Gold Curriculum: SESSION THREE

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Session 3 Case Study Research (Part One) Learning Objectives 1. Understand key concepts relevant to their case study: Capital Expenditure, Gig Economy, Market Capitalization, Market Share, Net Margin (or Profit Margin), Net Profit, and Revenue. 2. Evaluate two publicly traded companies and within their small groups will begin to build a recommended investment plan for their fictitious client, Janella Sims. 3. Work in your teams with the assistance of our volunteers to fill in the worksheet for the two stocks your team is comparing based on your research. Discuss your findings so far as a team.

Key Terms 1. Capital Expenditure Commonly known as CapEx, these are funds used by a company to acquire, upgrade, an maintain physical assets such as property, buildings, an industrial plant, technology, or equipment. 2. Gig Economy An economy in which temporary, flexible jobs are commonplace and companies tend toward hiring independent contractors and freelancers instead of full-time employees. 3. Market Capitalization Market Cap is the price of each share of stock times the number of outstanding shares. This is a common way to value a company. 4. Market Share The percentage of an industry, or a market's total sales, that is earned by a particular company over a specified time period. This metric is used to give a general idea of the size of a company in relation to its market and its competitors. 5. Net Margin (or Profit Margin) The percentage of profit a company makes in a period of time. It is revenue minus costs divided by the total revenue. 6. Net Profit Revenue minus costs for a company in a set period of time. 7. Revenue The total amount of money a company earns in a period of time. An ice cream shop’s revenue will come from all of the total ice cream cones and scoops it sold. We do not subtract costs yet. Suppose the ice cream shop sells 100 ice cream cones for $2 each. It will make $200 in revenue. Source: Investopedia

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Gold Curriculum: SESSION THREE

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Apple Stock Chart Example You will not be doing a stock analysis on Apple, but the volunteers will use this example to help you understand how to read a stock chart.

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Gold Curriculum: SESSION THREE

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Apple Balance Sheet Example

You will not be doing a stock analysis on Apple, but the volunteers will use this example to help you understand how to read a balance sheet. The numbers represented below are in the billions.Â

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Gold Curriculum: SESSION THREE

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After Session 3 Important Activities Before Session 4 Activities During the week ahead, spend some time exploring the following activities before returning for Session 4. 1. Complete any activities or read any articles you weren’t able to finish in Session 3. 2. Thoroughly review the key terms from session 3 below. We want you to remember these long after RTSWS is over and all students will be taking a post-assessment in Session 5 to see how much you’ve learned. So make sure to study these! 3. If you haven’t yet, connect with us on social media! We post current articles, internship and job shadowing opportunities, and even highlight our students and community publicly.

Review of Key Terms from Session 3 1. Capital Expenditure Commonly known as CapEx, these are funds used by a company to acquire, upgrade, an maintain physical assets such as property, buildings, an industrial plant, technology, or equipment. www.investopedia.com/terms/c/capitalexpenditure.asp 2. Gig Economy An economy in which temporary, flexible jobs are commonplace and companies tend toward hiring independent contractors and freelancers instead of full-time employees. www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQfTJy0sRVs 3. Market Capitalization Market Cap is the price of each share of stock times the number of outstanding shares. This is a common way to value a company. www.investopedia.com/terms/m/marketcapitalization.asp 4. Market Share The percentage of an industry, or a market's total sales, that is earned by a particular company over a specified time period. This metric is used to give a general idea of the size of a company in relation to its market and its competitors. www.investopedia.com/terms/m/marketshare.asp 5. Net Margin (or Profit Margin) The percentage of profit a company makes in a period of time. It is revenue minus costs divided by the total revenue. www.investopedia.com/terms/p/profitmargin.asp 6. Net Profit Revenue minus costs for a company in a set period of time. 7. Revenue The total amount of money a company earns in a period of time. An ice cream shop’s revenue will come from all of the total ice cream cones and scoops it sold. We do not subtract costs yet. Suppose the ice cream shop sells 100 ice cream cones for $2 each. It will make $200 in revenue. www.investopedia.com/terms/r/revenue.asp


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Gold Curriculum: SESSION FOUR

Session 4 Agenda

1. Introduction: Welcome and any new volunteer introductions 2. Learning Objectives and Key Terms • Definitions and visuals are provided in this session for you to review. 3. Review Yahoo! Finance Stock Portfolio 4. Watch Case Study Example Presentation 5. Finish Research and Create Case Study Presentations 6. Connect with Rock The Street, Wall Street’s Social Media Platforms 7. Important Activities Before Session 5

NOTES & QUESTIONS

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Gold Curriculum: SESSION FOUR

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Session 4 Case Study Research (Part Two) Learning Objectives 1.

Review the RTSWS stock portfolio and weekly stock market activity.

2.

Gather with your team to finalize your investment recommendation for Janella. Begin making your presentation in Google Slides using the provided slide template presented in Session 4.

3.

Learn the key terms below related to the National FINRA financial literacy quiz questions.

Key Terms 1.

Loan A loan is money, property, or other material goods given to another party in exchange for future repayment of the loan value or principal amount, along with interest or finance charges. Examples: mortgage, car loan, home renovation, starting a business.

2.

Mortgage A mortgage, or deed of trust in some states, is a type of loan you can use to buy or refinance a home. Mortgages are also referred to as “mortgage loans.” Mortgages are a way to buy a home without having all the cash upfront. When you get a mortgage, your lender gives you a set amount of money to buy the home. You agree to pay back your loan – with interest – over a period of several years. You don’t fully own the home until the mortgage is paid off. It’s important to note that the period of years you have to pay back your mortgage will affect your monthly payment and how much interest you will pay in total. For example, a 15-year mortgage will have a higher monthly payment than a 30-year mortgage, but with a 15-year mortgage you will pay less interest since you are paying off your loan in a shorter amount of time.

3.

Interest Interest is the charge for the privilege of borrowing money in other words, you are paying a certain amount for the use of money. Simple interest is a set rate on the principle originally lent to the borrower that the borrower has to pay for the ability to use the money. Example: If you borrow $1,000 (principle) with 10% interest annually. 10% of $1,000 = $100. If you’ve paid nothing on the loan after one year you will owe $1,100. Each year the amount you pay will only go up by the fixed amount of $100.

4.

Compound Interest Compound interest is interest on both the principle (starting amount of the loan) and the compounding interest paid on that loan. Example: If you borrow $1,000 (principle) with 10% interest compounded annually. 10% of $1,000 = $100. If you’ve paid nothing on the loan after one year you will owe $1,100, but after the second year you will owe 1,210 because you now have to pay 10% of $1,100 instead of just the principle of $1,000.


Gold Curriculum: SESSION FOUR

5.

Inflation Inflation is the rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services isrising and, consequently, the purchasing power of currency is falling. Inflation can be viewed positively or negatively depending on the individual viewpoint and rate of change. Those with tangible assets, like property or stocked commodities, may like to see some inflation as that raises the value of their assets. People holding cash may not like inflation, as it erodes the value of their cash holdings.Ideally, an optimum level of inflation is required to promote spending to a certain extent instead of saving, thereby nurturing economic growth.

6.

Bond A bond is a low-risk debt investment, similar to an IOU, which is issued by companies, municipalities, states and governments to fund projects. When you purchase a bond, you are lending money to one of these entities (known as the issuer). In exchange for the “loan,� the bond issuer pays interest for the life of the bond, and returns the face value of the bond at maturity. Bonds are issued for a specific period at a fixed interest rate. Each bond type involves a varying degrees of risk, as well as returns and maturity periods. It’s important to note that bonds have an inverse relationship to interest rate. When interest rates rise, bond prices fall, and vice-versa.

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Gold Curriculum: SESSION FOUR

Business Case Study Example Presentation

Capital One Case Study • For an ideal example of what a business case study presentation looks like, take about 10 minutes to gather together and watch a portion of a YouTube video of a Washington University Olin Business School case competition. • This particular example is about Capital One. Gather with a few nearby peers around a smartphone, tablet or laptop and visit the following URL: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMk3dfgtMuY ◦ Begin watching together at 2:47 for an overview ◦ Then watch from 4:44 to 6:01 for the explanation of the recommendation ◦ Finally watch from 17:03 to 19:05 to see how to conduct and respond in a Q&A session. ◦ During the coming week, go back and watch the entire video from start to finish on your own time. Use this team’s case study presentation as a model for your own upcoming group presentation.

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Gold Curriculum: SESSION FOUR

Google Slides Presentation Template

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Gold Curriculum: SESSION FOUR

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9.

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After Session 4 Important Activities Before Session 5 Activities During the week ahead, spend some time exploring the following activities before returning for Session 5. 1.

Complete any activities or read any articles you weren’t able to finish in Session 4.

2.

Study Session 4 key terms and the post-assessment review with all key terms from Sessions 1 through 4. All students will be taking the post-assessment next Session to see how much you’ve learned!

3.

Spend some time engaging with RTSWS on our social media platforms.

Review of Key Terms from Session 4 1.

Loan A loan is money, property, or other material goods given to another party in exchange for future repayment of the loan value or principal amount, along with interest or finance charges. Examples: mortgage, car loan, home renovation, starting a business.

www.investopedia.com/terms/l/loan.asp 2.

Mortgage A mortgage, or deed of trust in some states, is a type of loan you can use to buy or refinance a home. Mortgages are also referred to as “mortgage loans.” Mortgages are a way to buy a home without having all the cash upfront. When you get a mortgage, your lender gives you a set amount of money to buy the home. You agree to pay back your loan – with interest – over a period of several years. You don’t fully own the home until the mortgage is paid off. It’s important to note that the period of years you have to pay back your mortgage will affect your monthly payment and how much interest you will pay in total. For example, a 15-year mortgage will have a higher monthly payment than a 30year mortgage, but with a 15-year mortgage you will pay less interest since you are paying off your loan in a shorter amount of time.

www.investopedia.com/terms/m/mortgage.asp 3.

Interest Interest is the charge for the privilege of borrowing money in other words, you are paying a certain amount for the use of money. Simple interest is a set rate on the principle originally lent to the borrower that the borrower has to pay for the ability to use the money. Example: If you borrow $1,000 (principle) with 10% interest annually. 10% of $1,000 = $100. If you’ve paid nothing on the loan after one year you will owe $1,100. Each year the amount you pay will only go up by the fixed amount of $100.

napkinfinance.com/videos/interest-rate/


Gold Curriculum: SESSION FOUR

4.

Compound Interest Compound interest is interest on both the principle (starting amount of the loan) and the compounding interest paid on that loan. Example: If you borrow $1,000 (principle) with 10% interest compounded annually. 10% of $1,000 = $100. If you’ve paid nothing on the loan after one year you will owe $1,100, but after the second year you will owe 1,210 because you now have to pay 10% of $1,100 instead of just the principle of $1,000.

www.investopedia.com/terms/c/compoundinterest.asp 5.

Inflation Inflation is the rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services isrising and, consequently, the purchasing power of currency is falling. Inflation can be viewed positively or negatively depending on the individual viewpoint and rate of change. Those with tangible assets, like property or stocked commodities, may like to see some inflation as that raises the value of their assets. People holding cash may not like inflation, as it erodes the value of their cash holdings.Ideally, an optimum level of inflation is required to promote spending to a certain extent instead of saving, thereby nurturing economic growth. napkinfinance.com/videos/inflation/

6.

Bond A bond is a low-risk debt investment, similar to an IOU, which is issued by companies, municipalities, states and governments to fund projects. When you purchase a bond, you are lending money to one of these entities (known as the issuer). In exchange for the “loan,” the bond issuer pays interest for the life of the bond, and returns the face value of the bond at maturity. Bonds are issued for a specific period at a fixed interest rate. Each bond type involves a varying degrees of risk, as well as returns and maturity periods. It’s important to note that bonds have an inverse relationship to interest rate. When interest rates rise, bond prices fall, and vice-versa. www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuBDGjSh7ms

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Gold Curriculum: SESSION FOUR

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ACTIVITY - Post-Assessment Review Sheet Study these terms below for the post-assessment quiz. Please check with your instructor for a link to a visual reference of the terms below.

1.

Capital Markets Venues where savings and investments are channeled between the suppliers who have capital and those who are in need of capital (e.g. Nasdaq, The New York Stock Exchange, etc.).

2.

Shareholder Commonly referred to as a stockholder; any person, company, or institution that owns at least one share of a company’s stock.

3.

Stock A share of ownership in a business or corporation. Companies sell shares as a way to raise capital. Stock represents a claim on the company's assets and earnings. As you acquire more stock, your ownership stake in the company becomes greater.

4.

Competitive Advantage Conditions that allow a company to produce a good or service of equal value at a lower price or in a more desirable fashion, which allow the productive entity to generate more sales or superior margins compared to its market rivals. Competitive advantages are attributed to a variety of factors including cost structure, branding, the quality of product offerings, the distribution network, intellectual property and customer service.

4 5. Compund Interest Compound interest is interest on both the principle (starting amount of the loan) and the compounding interest paid on that loan. Example: If you borrow $1,000 (principle) with 10% interest compounded annually. 10% of $1,000 = $100. If you’ve paid nothing on the loan after one year you will owe $1,100, but after the second year you will owe 1,210 because you now have to pay 10% of $1,100 instead of just the principle of $1,000. 6.

Dividend A sum of money paid regularly (typically quarterly) by a company to its shareholders out of its profits (or reserves).

7.

Earnings Per Share A company’s net profit divided by the number of shares of stock. Net profit is revenue minus costs. It is a good reflection of how well the company performed. If the company made a lot of money that year, there will be a higher EPS. However, if they lost income, they will potentially have a negative EPS. In finance, this is an important ratio to examine.

8. Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a collection of securities—such as stocks— that tracks an underlying index. The best-known example is the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 Index. ETFs can contain many types of investments, including stocks, commodities, bonds, or a mixture of investment types. An exchange-traded fund is a marketable security, meaning it has an associated price that allows it to be easily bought and sold. The price of an ETF’s shares will change throughout the trading day as the shares are bought and sold on the market.* 9.

IPO An initial public offering is the process by which a private company "goes public," offering shares for purchase by the public. IPOs allow businesses to gain capital and to shift ownership.


Gold Curriculum: SESSION FOUR

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10.

Inflation Inflation is the rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services is rising and, consequently, the purchasing power of currency is falling. Inflation can be viewed positively or negatively depending on the individual viewpoint and rate of change. Those with tangible assets, like property or stocked commodities, may like to see some inflation as that raises the value of their assets. People holding cash may not like inflation, as it erodes the value of their cash holdings.Ideally, an optimum level of inflation is required to promote spending to a certain extent instead of saving, thereby nurturing economic growth.

11.

Interest Interest is the charge for the privilege of borrowing money in other words, you are paying a certain amount for the use of money. Simple interest is a set rate on the principle originally lent to the borrower that the borrower has to pay for the ability to use the money. Example: If you borrow $1,000 (principle) with 10% interest annually. 10% of $1,000 = $100. If you’ve paid nothing on the loan after one year you will owe $1,100. Each year the amount you pay will only go up by the fixed amount of $100.

12.

Loan A loan is money, property, or other material goods given to another party in exchange for future repayment of the loan value or principal amount, along with interest or finance charges. Examples: mortgage, car loan, home renovation, starting a business.

13.

Mortgage A mortgage, or deed of trust in some states, is a type of loan you can use to buy or refinance a home. Mortgages are also referred to as “mortgage loans.” Mortgages are a way to buy a home without having all the cash upfront. When you get a mortgage, your lender gives you a set amount of money to buy the home. You agree to pay back your loan – with interest – over a period of several years. You don’t fully own the home until the mortgage is paid off. It’s important to note that the period of years you have to pay back your mortgage will affect your monthly payment and how much interest you will pay in total. For example, a 15-year mortgage will have a higher monthly payment than a 30year mortgage, but with a 15-year mortgage you will pay less interest since you are paying off your loan in a shorter amount of time.

14.

SEC The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent federal government agency responsible for protecting investors, maintaining fair and orderly functioning of the securities markets, and facilitating capital formation.

15.

Stock Market Volatility Stock market volatility in the simplest sense, measures fluctuations in stock prices. Low volatility means small fluctuations and high volatility means large fluctuations. Low volatility can be interpreted as investors being complacent, not worried. High volatility implies an element of fear in investors’ current attitudes

16.

Unicorn A term used in the venture capital industry to describe a startup company with a value of over $1 billion.

17.

Valuation The analytical process of determining the current (or projected) worth of an asset or a company.

18.

Gig Economy An economy in which temporary, flexible jobs are commonplace and companies tend toward hiring independent contractors and freelancers instead of full-time employees.


Gold Curriculum: SESSION FOUR

19.

Market Capitalization Market Cap is the price of each share of stock times the number of outstanding shares. This is a common way to value a company.

20.

Market Share The percentage of an industry, or a market's total sales, that is earned by a particular company over a specified time period. This metric is used to give a general idea of the size of a company in relation to its market and its competitors.

21.

Net Margin (or Profit Margin) The percentage of profit a company makes in a period of time. It is revenue minus costs divided by the total revenue.

4 22.

Net Profit Revenue minus costs for a company in a set period of time.

23.

Revenue The total amount of money a company earns in a period of time. An ice cream shop’s revenue will come from all of the total ice cream cones and scoops it sold. We do not subtract costs yet. Suppose the ice cream shop sells 100 ice cream cones for $2 each. It will make $200 inrevenue.

24.

Inflation Inflation is the rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services is rising and, consequently, the purchasing power of currency is falling. Inflation can be viewed positively or negatively depending on the individual viewpoint and rate of change. Those with tangible assets, like property or stocked commodities, may like to see some inflation as that raises the value of their assets. People holding cash may not like inflation, as it erodes the value of their cash holdings. Increasing prices result in your money not going as far as it once did. Maybe you could buy four candy bars with a dollar in 1980, but today you could only buy half of one; that's Inflation. This can directly affect your bank accounts, for example, If inflation outpaces the interest you earn on your bank account, it will feel like losing money. Your balance might be increasing, but not enough to keep up with higher prices. Ideally, an optimum level of inflation is required to promote spending to a certain extent instead of saving, thereby nurturing economic growth.

25.

Bond A bond is a low-risk debt investment, similar to an IOU, which is issued by companies, municipalities, states and governments to fund projects. When you purchase a bond, you are lending money to one of these entities (known as the issuer). In exchange for the “loan,” the bond issuer pays interest for the life of the bond, and returns the face value of the bond at maturity. Bonds are issued for a specific period at a fixed interest rate. Each bond type involves a varying degrees of risk, as well as returns and maturity periods. It’s important to note that bonds have an inverse relationship to interest rate. When interest rates rise, bond prices fall, and vice-versa.

source: Investopedia

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Gold Curriculum: SESSION FIVE

NOTES & QUESTIONS

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Gold Curriculum: SESSION FIVE

Session 5 Agenda

1. Introduction: Welcome and any new volunteer introductions 2. Learning Objectives and Recommended Resources for Your Future 3. Post-Assessment • Remember this is only so we can see how much you’ve learned! We will not show your results to your school or the volunteers. • Take your time to answer and remember we give our prizes for top scores! 4. Review Yahoo! Finance Portfolio 5. Case Study Presentations 6. Remind Students about the Upcoming Field Trip 7. Review the Resources Page

Session 5 Post-Assessment and Group Presentations Learning Objectives 1.

Complete the RTSWS post-assessment to help us evaluate the impact of our program and see how much students have learned in Sessions 1 through 4, including FINRA Terms.

2.

Each group presents their investment recommendations for Janella to the entire class.

3.

In anticipation of the upcoming field trip, explore and discuss possible future career paths in the world of finance and the strengths the students could bring to the industry as women.

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Gold Curriculum: SESSION FIVE

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ARTICLE

Best Jobs for Graduates with a Finance Degree Mike Profita, The Balance (Apr. 5, 2019) https://www.thebalancecareers.com/top-jobs-for-finance-majors-2064048

If you’re intrigued by the financial markets, stocks, bonds, and other investment vehicles, and you also like to think about numbers, then a finance major is worth considering. If you're a student or recent graduate, your finance skills will help you get hired for these professions. Read on to learn about some of the top jobs for college graduates with a finance degree. Top Skills Finance Majors Have Finance majors develop analytical skills in order to dissect financial statements and appraise the financial standing of companies, municipalities, and other entities. They can assess the quantitative and qualitative dimensions of business problems and evaluate the financial implications of corporate and individual actions. Graduates with a degree in finance also acquire the ability to deal with spreadsheets and with other software used to process and represent financial data. They learn to present financial information to clients and colleagues with varying levels of financial sophistication. An academic background in finance can be applied to a broad range of careers in virtually every industry. Before arriving at a final career direction, consider your unique combination of skills, interests, values, and personality traits. Top 10 Jobs for Finance Majors Here are some options to consider as you explore careers related to a finance degree. 1. Financial Planner Finance majors learn about a variety of investment vehicles, and this knowledge can help financial planners to advise clients about how to manage their finances. Finance majors can decipher trends in the securities markets and apply this perspective to their planning sessions. Financial planners must crunch numbers and apply principles of accounting in order to devise plans suitable for individual investors. They also need to inspire trust in people and promote their services. Therefore, finance majors with strong interpersonal skills and persuasive abilities will be most likely to succeed in this profession. Salary and Employment Outlook: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), personal financial advisors earn an average salary of $87,850, and jobs are predicted to expand at a faster than average rate of 7% through 2028.1 2. Financial Analyst Financial analysts research stocks, bonds, companies, and industries to assist bankers, investors, and corporate finance officers with mergers, acquisitions, and stock/bond offerings, as well as corporate expansions and restructuring. They can capitalize on their finance major training as they dissect financial statements and other financial data. Financial analysts build financial models and conduct complex quantitative analyses. Financial analysts also produce reports detailing their findings and present their analyses to other members of the banking or finance team. Salary and Employment Outlook: According to the BLS, financial analysts earn an average salary of $85,660, and jobs are predicted to grow at an average rate of 7% through 2028.2 3. Investor Relations Associate Finance majors with strong writing, organizational, and communication skills can thrive in this role. Investor relations professionals prepare and present financial information about their company or corporate clients to investors, analysts, and business media.

RockTheStreetWallStreet.com | Moving Girls Forward in the Field of Finance


Gold Curriculum: SESSION FIVE

Investor relations professionals must digest, interpret, highlight, and present information from financial statements. The analytical and software tools developed through their finance major training facilitate this process. Salary and Employment Outlook: According to PayScale, investor relations associates earn an average salary of $65,795.3 4. Budget Analyst Budget analysts apply principles of finance to projects and proposals in the business, educational, governmental, and not-for-profit sectors. They analyze budgets and evaluate the financial impact of continuing ventures and new ventures. Budget analysts must have refined communication skills because they interview managers in order to gather information for proposals. They also train staff regarding the budget development processes for their organization. Finance majors develop the essential analytical and communication skills needed to become a successful budget analyst. Salary and Employment Outlook: According to the BLS, budget analysts earn an average of $76,540, and jobs are predicted to grow by as much as 4% through 2028.4 5. Actuary Actuaries play a leadership role in financially oriented businesses such as insurance, banking, rating agencies, and accounting firms. The finance graduate with strong mathematical skills is ideally positioned to calculate the likelihood of various events and to assess the financial consequences for those outcomes. Just like the finance major, actuaries manipulate software to perform calculations and represent their findings. They present their recommendations to managers at their firm and convince others of the soundness of their decisions. Salary and Employment Outlook: According to the BLS, actuaries earn an average salary of $108,350, and jobs are predicted to grow at a much faster than average rate of 20% through 2028.5 6. Accountant Finance majors learn to construct, interpret, and critique financial statements while completing the accounting component of their studies. Thus, they become capable of carrying out complex accounting work in financially oriented industries. Students of finance develop a number of accountancy skills as they learn to analyze business problems with precision and attention to detail, which prepares them for the world of accounting. Just like accountants, finance majors learn to present financial information to clients and colleagues by using charts, graphs, and other visual aids. Entry-level accounting jobs can be gateway jobs leading to corporate financial management positions, or leadership positions with non-profits and government agencies. Salary and Employment Outlook: According to the BLS, accountants earn an average salary of $71,550, and jobs are predicted to grow at a faster as average rate of 6% through 2028.6 7. Credit Analyst Credit analysts evaluate the financial standing of loan prospects and assess the risks involved with offering them financing. Finance majors learn to appraise the financial viability of entities and interpret their financial records and data. The investigative mindset of a finance major would enable the credit analyst to scrutinize the legitimacy of financial information furnished by clients. Finance majors analyze trends in industries that can impact the ability of organizations to generate the income necessary to repay loans.

“Sources: Investopedia, Forbes, Statista

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Gold Curriculum: SESSION FIVE

They have the communication skills necessary for credit analysts to extract information from prospective clients and convey their analyses to colleagues. Salary: According to the BLS, credit analysts earn an average salary of $73,650.7 8. Attorney Lawyers in many areas of practice, including divorce, product liability, civil litigation, corporate, labor, and securities law, benefit from a knowledge of finance. Attorneys who investigate financial irregularities must read and understand financial statements. Lawyers in civil cases need the skills to estimate appropriate compensation for settlements. Research and analytical skills developed by finance majors enable attorneys to prepare their cases. Presentation skills and knowledge of presentation software help attorneys to deliver arguments and prepare exhibits. Salary and Employment Outlook: According to the BLS, lawyers earn an average salary of $122,960, and jobs are predicted to grow by about 6% through 2028.8 9. Commercial Real Estate Agent Finance majors with strong verbal skills and a sales orientation should consider a career as a commercial real estate agent. Commercial real estate agents analyze the business plans and financial status of clients in order to recommend appropriate spaces for their enterprises. When listing a property, brokers must estimate the value of the property based on its financial potential for prospective buyers. Agents advise clients about options for financing property acquisitions and launching new businesses. Salary: According to PayScale, commercial real estate agents earn an average salary of about $42,500.9 10. Business Teacher Finance majors hone the communication and presentation skills that are essential to the teaching profession. Business teachers tap a broad knowledge of business as they instruct high school students about the fundamentals of accounting, management, marketing, and investments. Finance majors with a curiosity about the business world and an enthusiasm for business issues are well suited for this role. Individuals who earn advanced degrees in business can also pursue teaching jobs at junior and four-year colleges. Salary: According to PayScale, business teachers earn an average salary of $41,654.10

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Case Study Research and Data Walmart, Target, Amazon and Shopify


Gold Curriculum: WALMART

Case Study Research and Data Walmart (WMT)

NOTES & QUESTIONS

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Gold Curriculum: WALMART

Walmart Stock Chart

If you would like to use a current stock chart for your project: • Search “Walmart stock chart” in google • Click on theYahoo! Finance link to Walmart’s stock chart • This will show up at the top of the first page on google • Once you arrive at the stock chart you can manipulate how many years, months, or days you would like it to show

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Gold Curriculum: WALMART

Walmart Annual Balance Sheet Yahoo! Finance The numbers represented below are in the billions.

If you would like to use a current balance sheet for your project: • Go to Yahoo! Finance (You don’t have to sign-in or sign-up) • Search “Walmart”, then click the “financials” tab, and then “balance sheet” • You can “expand all” to see the information that goes into each section and you can change it from annual to quarterly.

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Gold Curriculum: WALMART

ARTICLE Benefits of Investing in Walmart Evan Tarver, Investopedia, Updated May 26, 2020 https://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/092115/these-are-benefits-investingwalmart.asp#:~:text=Over%20the%20next%20five%20years%2C%20Walmart%20is%20expected%20to%20grow, %2Dterm%20blue%2Dchip%20investment.

Walmart (WMT) is a U.S.-based multinational retail corporation that operates as a chain of discount department stores and a chain of warehouse stores. The company has over 11,500 locations across the globe and is the world's largest company by revenue. Additionally, Walmart is the largest private employer in the world with over 2.2 million employees. Walmart has made investments in its employees, such as increasing wages and offering benefits for samesex partners. For investors, the company is an attractive investment, as it has outperformed the S&P 500 over the past few years. For investors on the fence, the following are the top four benefits of investing in Walmart in 2020.

Stability and Brand Name With Walmart, it is pretty well-known what an investor is going to get from an operational perspective. The company is a retail juggernaut and continues to be the largest company in the world by sales. Additionally, it has increased revenue, profit, and earnings per share (EPS) steadily for the past 20-plus years. Over the next five years, Walmart is expected to grow earnings at an average annual rate of 5.6%. Stock price aside, due to these forecasts and its past performance, Walmart remains a stable company that should be viewed as a long-term blue-chip investment.

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Gold Curriculum: WALMART

Dividends and Reinvestment For investors, Walmart has done a great job managing its increasing profit, using a smart reinvestment strategy, and giving back to shareholders. Over the last twelve months, the company has reinvested over $10 billion in capital expenditures (CAPEX), paid out over $6 billion in dividends, and bought back over $4 billion in shares. Walmart has a track record of increasing its annual dividend every year since it started paying a dividend in 1974, and its dividend yield is roughly 1.7%. Walmart sits on almost $15 billion in cash and short-term investments, providing additional opportunities for the company to reinvest and return capital to shareholders. These are all good signs that regardless of current stock performance, Walmart should continue to grow and add value to shareholders through capital gains and dividend payments. Focused Effort on Continuous Innovation While the company is a retail giant, it has also done an admirable job ensuring it is not slow-moving. Walmart has made strides to introduce new technologies, such as a "scan and go" app for iOS and Android. The scan-and-go app is designed to offer customers a more efficient way to shop, and also makes Walmart’s daily operations more efficient. Additionally, the company has been investing in ecommerce to stave off competition from the likes of Amazon and eBay. It is also testing out emerging e-commerce strategies such as pickup lockers for online orders. Global Diversification Over the past decade, emerging markets have achieved rapid expansion. South Asian economies have tripled their output since 2000, and East Asian economies grew output from $3.3 trillion in 2000 to $11.2 trillion in 2010. Expanding into these emerging markets not only allows a company to achieve growth but also allows for diversification against economic downturns. Due to these factors, Walmart has made an effort to continue its expansion globally. By investing in the company, it is possible to realize increasing international revenues and profits and own stock that won’t be affected as heavily by global recessions.

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Gold Curriculum: WALMART

ARTICLE Walmart is in a Buy Zone as Sales Boom in Coronavirus Crisis, But Is it a Good Buy? MICHAEL LARKIN, Investor’s Business Daily, 04/07/2020

Walmart (WMT) is a retail titan, the world's largest private-sector employer and for a long time a huge growth winner for investors. The Dow Jones stock has held up better than most during the coronavirus stock market crash, and has rallied strongly. WMT stock is in a buy zone after outperforming the broader market amid the coronavirus crisis, but is it a good buy? Read on to find out. The globe's biggest retailer is engaged in an ongoing fight to grow earnings amid fierce competition with Amazon (AMZN), Target (TGT) and many more. The discount giant is seeing huge growth as shoppers stock up and shift buying habits in the coronavirus crisis. But the long-term trend has been tepid sales gains. So is Walmart stock a good buy right now? Walmart has mammoth revenue. It came in at $524 billion in fiscal 2020. However its size is also a weakness, as sales growth was a tepid 2%. Achieving substantial growth is difficult for such a large company. Despite being founded in 1969, the discount giant isn't resting on its laurels. E-commerce sales have been surging with strong performance at Walmart.com and online groceries. However the vast majority of its revenue still comes from its brick-and-mortar stores. Meanwhile, Amazon has a foothold in physical retail through its Whole Foods chain. Walmart Stock Analysis WMT stock is in a buy zone after breaking out from a consolidation after joining in the coronavirus crisis rally, MarketSmith analysis shows. It managed to move back above its 125.48 buy point on April 6, after previously reaching an all-time high of 128.08 on March 18. After its March 18 peak, Walmart stock plunged to well below the 7%-8% automatic sell rule. That typically invalidates the prior buy point. But investors may make allowances for the extreme, volatile selling during the coronavirus stock market crash. One could treat 128.18, just above the March 18 peak, as a safer WMT stock entry. Walmart stock is flashing bullish technical indicators, including a move back above its 50-day moving average. The 50-day line looks set to cross back above its 200-day moving average, after briefly undercutting that longer-term level.

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Gold Curriculum: WALMART

The relative strength line for WMT stock has been flexing its muscles even as the broader market was crashing. The important stock gauge spiked sharply after it posted earnings in late February, and as Walmart was seeing rising demand despite the coronavirus lockdown. This means Walmart stock was far outperforming the broader S&P 500 index. It is now at levels last seen in early 2013. But Walmart's RS line has been moving sideways for several years. That follows a long slide from a 2009 peak, signaling how Walmart stock has lagged the S&P 500 throughout the long bull market. In other words, if you had bought the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) instead of Walmart in 2009, you'd have a bigger gain. Big box rival Target (TGT) hit a record high in late December, clearing a buy point, but soon reversed lower. Target plunged below its 50-day line on Jan. 15 after warning of weak holiday sales. Target stock hit a seven-month low on April 3. Discount giant Costco Wholesale (COST) has fared well in 2020. It recently regained its 50-day line. Costco stock is moving toward its 325. 36 buy point. Walmart stock and Costco stock both got a March 2 spike on signs of coronavirus-pandemic stockpiling by customers. But that isn't exactly a great foundation for strong earnings and stock action. If there is a global pandemic that hits the U.S., disrupted supply chains and stalling economic activity will hit Walmart. Walmart Stock Fundamentals Its fundamentals are not ideal. But its strong stock market performance has made up for mediocre earnings of late, helping the IBD Composite Rating for Walmart stock shoot up to 88 out of a best-possible 99. The Stock Checkup Tool shows earnings are currently lagging. The firm reported weaker-than-expected holiday-quarter earnings in February. Walmart earnings have fallen in three out of the last four quarters. Sales growth has been in the low single digits for the last several years, except for a 1% decline in fiscal 2016. U.S. same-store sales have been rising in recent quarters, a positive sign. But mammoth, global Walmart struggles to generate the brisk growth of past years. That's despite robust e-commerce growth, 35% in the latest quarter. Walmart earnings are expected to rise just 4% in fiscal 2021 and 6% in fiscal 2022. Earnings ultimately drive stock prices. Investors should focus on companies with earnings and sales growth of 25% or more. Walmart's U.S. same store sales, sales at stores open more than a year, reportedly have surged 20% in the past several weeks amid the coronavirus shutdown. Walmart.com sales have grown more than 30%. Not only has there been coronavirus pandemic panic buying, but people are eating more at home as well. But after the coronavirus crisis fades, will Walmart earnings and sales growth fade as well? Walmart Goes On Coronavirus Hiring Spree Last month, Walmart said it aims to hire 150,000 workers through the end of May amid a bump in demand during the coronavirus pandemic. While many retailers have shuttered stores due to weak demand or legal orders, the likes of Walmart, Amazon and Dollar Tree are among those seeing increased demand, and are hiring more, as consumers rush to buy groceries and household products amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The new jobs will initially be temporary through May, but many could become permanent. The need for more hands on deck was such that the Dow Jones stock moved to cram its two-week new hires

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application cycle into a 24-hour process. Meanwhile Walmart also will reward existing employees for keeping stores open during the coronavirus outbreak. The retail giant will give each full-time employee a $300 cash bonus, with parttime employees getting an extra $150. Coronavirus Changes At Walmart Like many other grocers, Walmart has reduced some store hours to provide more time to restock shelves. Meanwhile, Walmart plans to use infrared temperature checks of all store employees to spot fevers, a key coronavirus symptom. It's also mulling one-way aisles to encourage social distancing. Walmart Tweaks Business Mix Before the coronavirus crisis, Walmart was working to continue cashing in on a favorable response from customers to its omnichannel offerings. It expected to have around 3,100 grocery pickup locations and 1,600 grocery delivery locations by the end of fiscal 2020. Walmart is expanding into same-day delivery, vying with Amazon and to a certain extent Target. Walmart has said that its huge brick-and-mortar footprint gives it an edge over Amazon in same-day delivery. On Sept. 12, Walmart expanded its "unlimited" grocery delivery service nationwide, at $98 annually or $12.95 a month. Food has been a major driver in Walmart's e-commerce growth. And as it continues to reshape its business, the Dow Jones stock has been scaling back operations in more advanced markets such as Brazil and the U.K. Even as Walmart fights with Amazon, it must contend with myriad other rivals. They include big-box discounters like Target, dollar stores like Dollar Tree and warehouse clubs like Costco. Also, grocery chain Kroger and recently Germany-based discount supermarket chain Aldi, as well as drug and specialty stores. Meanwhile Walmart is expanding its tendrils into Amazon's territory by storing and shipping products for third-party vendors for the first time. The move comes as the grocery giant looks to generate more profit from its costly online unit. Walmart Fulfillment Services allows third-party vendors to pay the Dow Jones giant to store, pack and ship their items. Previously they had to do it themselves or pay for third party fulfillment. This should increase the number of items with two-day or next day shipping on the firm's ecommerce site, a move that would appeal to customers. It will also make returns easier. Sellers are being wooed by promises of higher profitability if they let Walmart stock and ship their goods. Management said a main aim of the initiative is to get in-demand products on Walmart.com. It will also benefit the firm by producing additional revenue from its e-commerce infrastructure. "Walmart Fulfillment Services is a critical part of our strategy. There are merchants on third-party that we want to have that simply don't have fulfillment capabilities," Walmart's CEO of e-commerce Marc

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Lore said at the firm's investor conference. "And so we're not able to get that assortment on the website. So that's really the first priority, to really focus on those brands and getting assortment for customers." It is following the path set by Amazon's "Fulfillment By Amazon," which began in 2006. Merchants have been willing to hand over fees in return for being able to get goods to customers faster. This is possible due to Amazon's efficient distribution networks. Intelligence platform Feedvisor says 75% of Amazon sellers use Amazon's fulfillment service in some capacity. Is Walmart Stock A Buy? WMT stock has not been a longtime leader, in stock market terms, for many years. But its robust business model has showed its virtue of late amid the coronavirus crisis, which has allowed it to outperform. Nevertheless Walmart earnings growth is sluggish and sales anemic. While it is seeing strong demand during the coronavirus crisis, will it be able to maintain this performance when conditions return to normal? Investors should focus on companies with superior earnings and strong stock performance, such as those on the prestigious IBD 50 list. Analysts give Walmart stock high marks for the company's efforts and execution competing with Amazon, but the retailer's reward is staying in place in terms of earnings and sales. There is a chance investors could see decent returns from the stock. In the short run, business is booming. Longer term, it's gaining e-commerce share and discounters generally are in favor. However its status as a mature business behemoth means shares will likely lag the broader market in the long run. Investors would have been better off over the past decade eschewing WMT stock in favor of an index fund or ETF like SPY. In addition, while the stock market is back in a confirmed uptrend, it is still early days. Investors should exercise caution, as many initial rallies following bear markets fail. This is especially the case following sudden, vertical drops. In addition, we remain in uncharted territory due to the scale of the abrupt, deliberate economic shutdown. Bottom line: WMT stock is not a buy. Investors should recognize that Walmart stock is unlikely to be a huge winner due to its mediocre fundamentals. https://www.investors.com/research/walmart-stock-good-buy/ RTSWS edits for length and necessary content. See website for full article.Â

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ARTICLE

Pros and Cons to Buying Walmart Stock Walmart shares are steadily marching higher, as its rivalry with Amazon takes on a long term focus. John Divine, U.S. News, September 6, 2019 https://money.usnews.com/investing/stock-market-news/articles/pros-and-cons-to-buying-walmart-inc-wmt-stock

SINCE 1962, WHEN founder Sam Walton opened the first Walmart in Rogers, Arkansas, Walmart Inc (ticker: WMT) has billed itself as a family business, and it has walked the walk, as 75% of all store managers (who average $170,000 a year in salary) started out as hourly employees. After building its reputation as a store where low income and middle income consumers can go to shop without breaking the family budget, Walmart is starting to break out into new areas like banking and consumer health care – intriguing ideas given the incredible foot traffic at the average Walmart on any given Saturday or Sunday. Walmart commanded 11% of all retail foot traffic on Black Friday of 2017, the most of any retailer. Is Walmart stock worth the price of admission and can it bring old-fashioned value to investors? Let's grab a cart and hit the aisles to see what Walmart has on the shelves for investors. WMT Stock at a Glance After hovering in the mid-to-high $80s for much of last year, Walmart stock has been on an upward spiral. And 2019 has been good to shareholders, with shares up 21% year-to-date, recently setting all-time highs. Analysts have a one-year consensus price target of $116.75 per share. Share price growth this year has been largely attributed to recent impressive quarterly financial performance across the board.Second quarter fiscal 2020 sales grew 1.8% to $130.4 billion, better than Wall Street's consensus expectations, which called for quarterly revenue of $130.1 billion. Three other key metrics also impressed: same-store sales grew 2.8%, e-commerce sales jumped 37% and earnings per share clocked in at $1.27, 5 cents better than expectations. "The team delivered strong comp sales of 2.8% despite a tougher comparison and unseasonable weather to start the quarter," Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said after second quarter numbers were released. "Comps accelerated sequentially on a two-year stacked basis to 7.3%, which is the strongest growth in more than 10 years. We’re gaining market share in key categories, including food, consumables, health and wellness, and toys." Walmart has invested heavy resources to take advantage of a massive consumer base in China, where shoppers are looking for affordable consumer goods options in the burgeoning Chinese economy. WMT is happy to oblige. "In China, comp sales increased 3% and improved sequentially for the second consecutive quarter. Customers love our Sam’s Club format where we saw double-digit comp growth, led by strong growth in fresh and dry grocery," McMillon says. The world's largest retailer has married its ambitions to expand its e-commerce business with its desire to capitalize on China's growth opportunities, partnering with JD.com to build flagship stores on their site and deepening their integration with Tencent's wildly popular app WeChat, which now allows for lightning-fast delivery of Walmart items.

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"The new proprietary feature on WeChat is called Walmart Daojia, where customers place an order and receive their items in about 45 minutes, on average," McMillon says. Pros to Buying Walmart Stock For those reasons and more, Walmart’s steady share price growth rate is starting to attract converts who see the stock as a good defensive retail hedge for the short-term as skittishness over the U.S. economy grows. One thing about Walmart shares just can't be emphasized enough: the company's constant growth in the e-commerce arena. While Walmart was a step slower than Amazon.com in realizing just how much attention and investment online shopping demanded, WMT has turned that around in recent years. You can see this in the numbers, including major acquisitions Walmart has made: In 2016, the company bought Jet.com for $3.3 billion in an "acqui-hire" put together not simply to absorb a high-growth, proven competitor but to acquire one of the best minds in online retail, Marc Lore, and his team of tech talent. Then, in 2018, Walmart pulled out its proverbial elephant gun, and fired a $16 billion blast that bagged Flipkart, India's most dominant online retailer. Technically Walmart owns 77% of Flipkart, but the bottom line is that it was an enormous, aggressive acquisition that gives Walmart a firm foothold in what's likely to be one of the 21st century's most explosive regions for economic growth. When you look at the sheer size of Walmart, which boasted more revenue than any public company in the world last fiscal year, $514 billion, the fact that it's still able to grow e-commerce sales by 37% in its most recent quarter is remarkable. Another reason to buy Walmart stock is simply its resilience. Historically, WMT performs quite well during a recession – almost as if the company were entirely immune. For example, in the thick of the 2008-2009 financial crisis, the greatest economic upheaval facing the U.S. since the Great Depression, Walmart chugged along as if it had no idea anything was amiss. The big box giant even raised its dividend in 2008 – you know, the year an investment bank founded in 1850 went belly-up overnight, and even blue chip powerhouses were hoarding cash, slashing dividends or freezing dividend payouts where they stood. In 2008, when the S&P 500 itself was down 38.5%, WMT stock enjoyed a 20% rally. Moving forward, Walmart is taking a page from the Jeff Bezos playbook, spending on making online shopping seamless and emphasizing customer service and fast shipping. The recent decision by FedEx Corp.to no longer deliver packages for Amazon with its FedEx Express service shows the delivery and logistics company considers Amazon's ambitious expansion of its own delivery network a potential long term threat; threat or no threat, this sudden, unexpected split can only be good for Walmart. The pros to buying Walmart represent a nice little confluence of bullish catalysts. And when you get down to brass tacks, Walmart's execution of late has simply been superb: you can't argue with a stock up 21% year-to-date and a record of six straight quarters exceeding Wall Street earnings estimates. Cons to Buying Walmart Stock Amazon isn't the elephant in the room anymore – Bezos' e-commerce powerhouse is so in-your-face dominant as a retailer that ignoring the uncomfortable truth isn't even an option. At some level, Amazon is the central competitive problem facing every traditional retailer in the U.S. today.


Gold Curriculum: WALMART

Amazon was light years ahead of Walmart when it came to investing heavily in consumer convenience, fast shipping, and, you know, that whole e-commerce thing. Walmart has a long ways to go to catch up to Amazon on those fronts. Doing so will easily cost billions of dollars and will take time. Meanwhile, Amazon won't pause to wait up on Walmart. Walmart doesn't have the extreme competitive advantage AMZN has in AWS, the massive, highmargin cloud computing arm of Amazon that's growing like a weed. Walmart's business model was built as a high volume-low margin retailer. If and when Amazon reaches the revenue base Walmart enjoys, Walmart simply won't be able to invest in growth, expansion, technology, you name it, to the same degree Amazon will be able to. Catching up to Amazon by improving e-commerce offerings, customer service, logistics, the online experience, etc. – that won't be cheap, and it will hit WMT's already slim profit margins. Finally, there is that whole trade war thing with China going on. China is a country Walmart has been known to buy a thing or two from, so Trump's levies on Chinese exports end up getting paid by companies like Walmart, who pass them on to the consumer or instead sacrifice margins. The Bottom Line on WMT Stock If Walmart wants to stay as competitive as possible, it needs to invest in e-commerce, faster delivery and customer convenience in general. This is expensive and is guaranteed to erode short-term margins to an extent. But what is the alternative? Under-investing in these initiatives in order to see higher short-term profits will all but guarantee even more severe long term competitive pressures. Successful companies build, invest and strategize with an eye to the long term. So do successful investors. Walmart is doing exactly what it needs to do to optimize its long term value, and it has the resources to do so. On top of that, Walmart has great defensive value in an anxious market, a global brand like few others on the planet, and exposure to regions of the world that should see huge growth in the 21st century. WMT, now finally seeing the light with its investments in e-commerce, looks like a solid long term buy for investors of almost any stripe.

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ARTICLE Walmart workers will call out of work, use tracker to protect themselves from COVID-19 Charisse Jones, USA TODAY, Updated May 2, 2020 https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/04/29/coronavirus-leads-some-walmart-workers-call-out-work/3047692001/

Walmart workers, saying the company is failing to inform and protect them from the spread of COVID-19, will start tracking cases themselves and stay home from work for a day in protest. Over 500 Walmart employees were expected to not report to their jobs Wednesday to signal the launch of a new mapping system that will enable workers to report when colleagues have contracted the virus, says United for Respect, the non-profit group that created the tracking website. Employees will also be able to anonymously report when poor safety conditions exist inside their stores.“The rise of deaths and infections of Walmart associates show clearly that the company is not only failing to keep its associates and customers safe, but also failing to communicate clearly about store conditions,’’ Ruby Ann Woolwine, a worker at a Michigan Walmart, said in a press statement. “We can’t wait for more half-measures. We’re taking matters into our own hands to get the information we deserve to know.” Walmart says that workers safety is a priority. "This is why we’re conducting health screens and daily temperature checks and providing masks and gloves to all associates,'' said Walmart spokesperson Jami Lamontagne. Walmart has also put sneeze guards at registers, implemented cleaning standards and limited how many people can be in stores. And it's offering emergency paid leave and has given workers cash bonuses. But some Walmart employees say the retailer can do much more. Their actions Wednesday are the latest by workers across companies and industries who say they are risking their health as they stock shelves, staff counters and deliver goods in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic but can't get the paid time off or supplies they need to keep themselves safe. United for Respect says that Walmart is not enforcing the social spacing health officials recommend to help slow the spread of the virus. They also say the retailer is not providing sufficient safety equipment, hazard pay or paid sick leave. And workers and customers are being kept in the dark about how many people working in stores have been infected, United for Respect says. Veronica Morris, who works for a Walmart in Oroville, California, said she would be among those calling in to say she would not be at work. "I was feeling very unsafe at work every day,'' Morris said in a Facebook presentation coordinated by United for Respect Wednesday. "The amount of customers seems like more than ever... I’m calling in and I’m doing what I think is necessary.’’ Last week, more than 350 Amazon warehouse workers in 50 locations said they would call out from their jobs starting Tuesday, according to Athena, a coalition of local and national organizations representing workers. Employees at Amazon, Instacart, Whole Foods, Target, FedEx and Walmart are reportedly set to walk out on May 1, or International Workers' Day, calling on the public to not cross the picket lines as they put a spotlight on the need for better pay and protections.

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Case Study Research and Data Target (TGT)

NOTES & QUESTIONS

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Target Stock Chart Yahoo! Finance The numbers represented below are in the billions.

If you would like to use a current stock chart for your project: • Search “Target stock chart” in google • Click on theYahoo! Finance link to Target’s stock chart • This will show up at the top of the first page on google • Once you arrive at the stock chart you can manipulate how many years, months, or days you would like it to show

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Target Annual Balance Sheet Yahoo! Finance The numbers represented below are in the billions.

If you would like to use a current balance sheet for your project: • Go to Yahoo! Finance (You don’t have to sign-in or sign-up) • Search “Target”, then click the “financials” tab, and then “balance sheet” • You can “expand all” to see the information that goes into each section and you can change it from annual to quarterly.

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ARTICLE 3 Reasons Why Target Stock Will Rise Above the Pandemic By Matt McCall, the InvestorPlace, Apr 15, 2020 https://investorplace.com/2020/04/3-reasons-target-stock-will-rise-above-pandemic/

A grocery boom along with retail synergies make TGT very attractive For those who are healthy, one of the toughest challenges undoubtedly has been the forced mass-scale quarantining. I’ve mentioned before in past articles that we are social creatures. Without social interaction, many investors may question the longer-term viability of big-box retailers like Target (NYSE:TGT). Aside from the panic buying, is there enough incentive to buy Target stock? Although shares have demonstrated strong bullish sentiment over the last several days, I can appreciate the hesitation. Over a three-week period, approximately 16.8 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits. To put this figure into perspective, this represents approximately 11% of the U.S. labor force. At some point, Target has to be more than a supplier of food, water and emergency goods. Further, those who are buying now may not be buyers tomorrow. Eventually, Target stock will move on broader economic metrics. However, you must also keep in mind that demand has been incredibly robust. Driving by my local Walmart (NYSE:WMT) and Costco (NASDAQ:COST), I’m fascinated that consumers are still packing the parking lots for popular big-box retailers. That tells me that when the coast is finally clear, we will witness a resurgence in demand. Obviously, that’s a net positive for Target stock. And here are three more bullish arguments to consider. Food-at-Home Surge to Benefit Target Stock A few days ago, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its consumer price index for March. To no one’s surprise, we saw a one-month decline on a seasonally adjusted basis. What was surprising, though, was the modest rate of that decline, only 0.4%. Obviously, the main laggards against the broader CPI benchmark were the hardest-hit industries: we’re talking energy, gasoline prices and the airliners. But necessary items like food saw a one-month uptick. Within this category, what’s most important for Target stock is the CPI for food at home. Naturally, with most states issuing stay-at-home orders, consumers are incentivized to eat in. Plus, this is far more budget friendly. In March, CPI for food at home registered 244.9 points, up 1.07% on a year-over-year basis. This is particularly impressive because in March 2019, food-at-home CPI increased 1.4% year over year to 242.36 points. Based on the tremendous demand for the basics, I anticipate a big surge for April. Essential Synergies Of course, Target isn’t the only player in the grocery industry. Aside from its big-box competitors, it must also compete with grocery specialists like Kroger (NYSE:KR). And if you’re a foodie, you’d prefer Kroger over TGT because the former dedicates virtually their entire space to edibles. But the advantage for Target is that the retailer has ample opportunities for revenue synergies. True, sales during the initial panic reflected that consumers eschewed discretionary items for essential ones. But having grown accustomed to our new normal, the company organically reminds shoppers that they’re more than just a toilet paper outlet.

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While you’re out shopping for your groceries, you can peruse Target’s entertainment section. Better yet, because the average Target consumer is more affluent than many of its rivals’ shoppers, that synergy opportunity actually means something. Because the argument also works in the opposite way. With the health crisis, most shoppers are probably not interested in visiting a store like Best Buy (NYSE:BBY). Unless you’re shopping for a computer for work, electronic goods stores are largely non-essential. So, while the crisis hurts everyone, Target can snake some market share from consumers who would have otherwise gone to a dedicated retailer. In my book, that’s a plus for Target stock. Ample Marketing for Alternative Services Along with humans being social creatures, we’re also creatures of habit. Once we’re accustomed to doing something a particular way, it’s difficult for us to break out of this pattern. Nevertheless, because the pandemic has represented such a massive paradigm shift for us, we’re more willing to change. Ultimately, this is a positive for Target stock because the underlying organization has ramped up its marketing for alternative services. Typically, most shoppers just hop into their car, buy what they want and go home. But the pandemic has forced us to think in terms of social distancing. Here, Target offers two viable options. First, they have set aside parking spots for curbside pickups. This is a relatively recent development but will likely surge in popularity due to forced necessity. Second, Target has their ship-from-store delivery, which is quick and easy. No one wanted this awful crisis to happen because it has disrupted every aspect of society. Yet Target is making the best out of its circumstance. For that, TGT is a clear long-term winner.

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ARTICLE Investors Should Consider Turning Neutral on Target Stock By Will Healy, InvestorPlace, Nov 8, 2019

Valuations on TGT stock have begun to approach fair value Investors will likely remember 2019 as the year Target (NYSE:TGT) made its comeback. The retailer struggled for most of the decade as the rise of e-commerce sent the company into negative growth for a time. Target stock fell to multi-year lows in 2017 and did not consistently stay above its 2013 high until this year.In 2019, the TGT stock price has risen by 67% and trades near the $110 per share level. Given this run-up, investors need to start considering Target stock a “hold” rather than a “buy.” Since the height of the retail apocalypse inspired by Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), I have encouraged buyers to go into Target stock. This was an easy call when the price-to-earnings ratio flirted with single digits, and the dividend yield approached 4%. At the time, it also traded at a massive discount to archrival Walmart (NYSE:WMT). A few months ago, I stuck with this call despite a 35% increase in the stock since the beginning of 2019. Since I made that call in July, it has risen further. The year-to-date increase stands at just over 67%. However, financial metrics indicate that investors have picked the low-hanging fruit. The forward P/E has now reached 16.8. Despite annual increases, the dividend yield currently stands at 2.4%. Many credit store redesigns and a push into same-day delivery with orchestrating the recovery. However, according to Harvard Business School’s Srikant Datar, Target also shifted from thinking of itself as a retailer to becoming a “data company.” It used the data collected from its website to develop competencies. When it found what worked, it would roll out capabilities to the rest of the company. It also allowed managers to work with the data. TGT Stock May Hit a Plateau Now, these competencies have shown up in the financial data, and, by extension, in Target stock itself. Investors must ask if data can propel TGT stock further? Investors should note that its 5-year average P/E ratio is around 15.6. Admittedly, stocks will not necessarily stop expanding their multiples simply because they reach the average. Also, the multiple is significantly lower than Walmart’s 23.4 forward P/E. With the Christmas shopping season gearing up, investors may continue to pile into Target stock as analysts forecast a 14.5% earnings increase for the year. However, as the multiples climb, the profit outlook also begins to dim. Wall Street believes profit growth will slow to 7.1% next year. Early forecasts also indicate earnings increases will stay in the single digits after this year. This remains a respectable growth level. However, investors could turn on Target stock as valuations continue to rise amid falling profit growth. Moreover, the next earnings report comes out on Nov. 20. Interestingly, the company’s last earnings miss came in the same quarter last year. As for long-term holders, they should continue to stay in Target stock. The stock appears headed for its 48th consecutive annual dividend increase. At a current yield of 2.4%, the payout still exceeds S&P 500 averages. Now that the company has returned to growth, I do not see any dangers for the dividend.

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However, Target stock is no longer a bargain. Those looking for outsized profits in retail should look elsewhere. The Bottom Line On Target Stock Amid massive stock price growth, Target stock looks increasingly like a hold. Without question, Target’s data-driven turnaround has saved the company. As a result, 2019 should go down as the year where TGT stock regained the respect of investors. Still, with respect comes higher valuations. The ideal time to buy Target stock was when the forward P/E fell into single digits, and yields on payouts reached 4%. Target stock can continue moving higher. However, investors who buy now make a bet that a fairly valued stock will become overvalued. They will also buy TGT at a significantly lower dividend yield and a much higher valuation. Target has survived the retail apocalypse and should remain popular with shoppers for a long time to come. However, when it comes to buying Target stock, data analysis will likely indicate that better bargains lie elsewhere.

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ARTICLE Should You Buy Target (TGT) Stock? By Mark Reeth, U.S. News, May 21, 2020 https://money.usnews.com/investing/articles/2018-03-12/pros-and-cons-for-investing-in-target

IN 2017, TARGET (ticker: TGT) announced it would invest $7 billion over three years to "adapt to rapidly evolving guest preferences." As the news release made clear, that was essentially a euphemism for investing in its e-commerce operations to combat Amazon.com (AMZN) in the digital retail sales and delivery space. The question this raised for investors was simple: Was this too little, too late? Three years later, the results are coming in – and the results are good. That said, the Minneapolis-based big-box retailer still faces an extremely tough, slug-it-out operating environment, competing directly against the likes of Macy's (M), Kohl's (KSS), Walmart (WMT) and Best Buy (BBY), as well as digital sales giant Amazon. And while its recent first quarter earnings report illustrated just how well Target's investments in e-commerce are faring, the company is still feeling the effects of the global pandemic on its bottom line. How have Target's efforts panned out, and where is the company headed from here? What can investors expect from retail's sleeping giant? Let's take a look: • Target at a glance. • Pros to buying TGT. • Cons to buying TGT. • The bottom line for TGT shares. TGT Stock at a Glance In 2017, Target announced that it would invest $7 billion in its operations by 2020, and that it would double the amount of its small-format stores and drive its grocery prices lower to better compete with Kroger (KR) and Walmart. As part of that initiative, Target has poured billions into its digital retail platform, including faster (and free) delivery options. Wage hikes stemming from late 2017's tax reform bill added to TGT's spending spree, a spree that has extended into this year. In the first quarter of 2020, the company spent an additional $500 million in wage and benefit increases for employees continuing to work through the pandemic. Over the last few years, Target has invested heavily in sprucing up its delivery service to better compete with Amazon, but with a twist: instead of relying on an Amazon-like network of high-functioning fulfillment centers, TGT would deliver goods straight from its stores – or, as John Mulligan, chief operating officer at Target called them, "mini-fulfillment centers." Considering the pandemic, Target's delivery service Shipt has become critical to the company's success as customers choose to stay home rather than risk going out. The company has doubled down on in-store pickups and instituted its newer Drive Up contact-free pickup program to encourage shoppers to keep making purchases at Target, measures that helped boost sales in the first quarter. Pros to Buying Target Stock Cindy Frick, who was a senior consumer equity research analyst at USAA, previously painted 2017 as an investment year for Target and summed up what management was hoping to achieve over time. "TGT increased investments in price, labor, new exclusive private label brands, digital capabilities and supply chain management," Frick said. As it turns out, Frick's view that forward-thinking investments would lead to 2019 being a year of "acceleration and transition" proved prescient, and 2020 has continued that trend. In May 2017, TGT stock was trading around $55. Even with the slump in stock price in early 2020 that every retailer experienced as the virus picked up its pace, shares of Target are up 115% in the last three years, sitting around $120 as of May 20.


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This appears to be a well-deserved increase in valuation: In the last few years, Target has seen consistent increases in its comparable-store sales – the holy grail of all brick-and-mortar retail metrics. Of course, those increases have diminished in light of the virus but have been bolstered by the digital services and same-day fulfillment investments that Target made; between digital sales and in-store sales, overall comparable-store sales increased 10.8% this past quarter. In the first quarter 2020, Target announced that digital sales were up 141% year over year, and according to the company, it fulfilled more orders on an average day in April than on Cyber Monday 2019. Its same-day pickup sales increased 278% this quarter, and 40% of the customers who used the Drive Up service were new. While that increase is clearly thanks to the pandemic, if even a portion of those new customers continue to use Target's services going forward, it will add a nice bump to the company's revenue. Speaking of revenue, in the first quarter of 2020, Target's revenue increased 11.3% – an impressively high number given the current retail environment. And although earnings per share dropped 61.4% to $0.59, that was far better than analyst estimates. Cons to Buying Target Stock Same-store sales enjoyed a nice boost from digital sales, largely thanks to consumers stocking up on grocery items – sales in the food and beverage category jumped 20% this quarter. While that's a nice number, food and beverage is a low-margin category for Target. The company makes much more money through sales of clothes and accessories. Unfortunately, consumers have cut back on their discretionary spending in these categories, which in turn caused Target's apparel & accessories sales to drop 20%. Even though the average basket size this quarter grew 12.5% thanks to customers making "fewer, bigger shopping trips," it doesn't help Target very much if its customers' focus is on low-margin items. In fact, Target's operating margin declined 4% and its gross margin dropped 4.5% as shoppers stocked up on essentials. In addition, though digital sales skyrocketed this quarter, the cost of those sales is high. Although Target mitigates some of this pain by using its stores as miniature fulfillment centers, increased digital and same-day sales still sent costs higher. Finally, though Target's announcement that it will extend the $2 an hour wage increase for essential workers until July 4 is laudable, it will only add additional pressure to the company's margins. The Bottom Line for TGT Stock It's tough to discount how well Target has executed on the plans it made way back in 2017. They were equal parts bold, necessary and risky at the time. In a Wall Street environment that prizes short-term thinking, it took guts to sacrifice near-term profitability for a grander competitive vision. Today, one-day fulfillment is working out well, digital sales are thriving and same-store sales have consistently risen over time. Though there are legitimate concerns about the costs of Target's digital strategy, investors who believe that investing in quality companies pays off over time should be reassured by Target's recent results. As things stand now, the pros seem to outweigh the cons. Retail's sleeping giant is wide awake.


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ARTICLE ‘Companies are failing workers,’ Target employee says on day of planned protest By: Melissa Repko, CNBC, May 1, 2020 https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/01/target-employee-says-companies-are-failing-workers-on-day-of-planned-protest.html

Adam Ryan, a Target worker and liaison for employee coalition Target Workers Unite, said Friday that hourly wage earners have been forced to make an impossible choice during the coronavirus pandemic: Skip their paycheck or risk getting sick. In an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Alley,” he said even before the global crisis, hourly workers in the U.S. struggled to make ends meet with low wages and few, if any, benefits. He said many lived paycheck to paycheck and some were even homeless. Now, he said, they’re putting their lives at risk. “We were constantly told before the pandemic that we don’t have real jobs,” he said referring to a general societal message toward hourly wage earners from some U.S. politicians, employers and even customers. “We’re not real workers. We shouldn’t expect things like health care — or even respect or dignity. And that’s still the situation in the middle of a pandemic.” Ryan is a participant in a nationwide strike against some of the country’s largest retail and delivery companies, including Walmart, Amazon and Instacart, that planned a walkout Friday to call attention to the hazards they say they’ve faced on the job during the coronavirus pandemic. The protest was planned for International Workers Day. It coincided with the lifting of many states’ stay-at-home orders. Along with asking workers to call in sick or walk out on their jobs, protest organizers asked customers not to patronize the businesses on May 1. “All of these companies are failing workers and have been failing workers,” he said.


Gold Curriculum: TARGET

“All of these companies are failing workers and have been failing workers,” he said. Ryan estimated that about 300 or more Target workers are participating, but he said organizers “won’t have a full count until after today.” “We’re trying to lead the way in showing that there’s an alternative here where we don’t have to choose between sacrificing our lives for a paycheck that isn’t going to cover our medical expenses or our funeral expenses if we catch this virus or die from it,” he said. In a statement late Friday, Target said it’s aware of less than 10 employees who chose to participate in the protests, based on calls from employees who did not come to work. The company said it encourages its more than 340,000 employees to share concerns, so it can resolve them. It said it’s “introduced dozens of new measures aimed at keeping our frontline team members healthy and creating a safe environment for families across the U.S. to shop for the essentials they need.” Other companies have echoed Target and issued similar statements, emphasizing their focus on safety and willingness to listen to feedback. Instacart said in a statement that it “has been diligently working to offer new policies, guidelines, product features, resources, increased bonuses, and personal protective equipment to ensure the health and safety of shoppers during this critical time.” Amazon said the protest did not have any impact on its business. “The fact is that today the overwhelming majority of our more than 840,000 employees around the world are at work as usual continuing to support getting people in their communities the items they need during these challenging times,” Amazon spokesman Av Zammit said. “While there is tremendous media coverage of today’s protests we see no measurable impact on operations.” He said Amazon expects to spend more than $800 million in the first half of the year on COVID-19 safety measures, such as company-provided face masks, disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer. The protest is the latest in a series of organized actions by essential workers who say they’re putting their health and safety at risk as the huge companies they work for see a surge in sales. They’ve pushed companies for hazard pay, protective gear and guaranteed compensation if they get sick with Covid-19 or must take off because of preexisting health risks or exposure to a sick person. Companies, however, say they’ve already rolled out additional safety measures and in some cases, announced higher pay and bonuses. For example, Walmart and Amazon have added mandatory temperature checks of workers, provided masks and increased pay for some workers by $2 an hour. Amazon said Thursday it will spend its entire second-quarter profit -- an estimated $4 billion -- on coronavirusrelated expenses, such as Covid-19 tests for workers and changes to its network to speed up customer deliveries. Target said it’s spent more than $300 million on coronavirus-related expenses, including increased pay, bonuses and additional child care. The retailer extended its $2 an hour temporary pay increase for store employees, additional child care benefits and paid leave policy for older or at-risk members of its workforce until May 30. The retailer’s CEO, Brian Cornell, said Target will have lower profits in the quarter because of the expenses. But Ryan said Target’s pay increase isn’t enough. He said the retailer already planned to boost pay from $13 an hour to $15 an hour this year. He said the company is essentially just accelerating that. He said Target and other retailers must do more to enforce guidelines with customers, too. He said the workers have been disturbed to see heavy foot traffic at stores and some customers ignoring social distancing measures. “It conveys to us workers that a lot of folks just aren’t taking it seriously and they’re not considering our health or our safety as the workers,” he said.

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Walmart vs Target

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To look up the current comparison of these two stocks: • Go to: https://www.marketbeat.com/compare-stocks/ • Enter the two stock symbols separated by a comma with no spaces. Example for Walmart and Target: WMT,TGT • In the student workbook, we used the date range of 6 months, but you can look at the different options: 7 days, 30 days, 90 days, 6 months

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Case Study Research and Data Amazon (AMZN)

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Amazon Stock Chart

If you would like to use a current stock chart for your project: • Search “Amazon stock chart” in google • Click on theYahoo! Finance link to Amazon’s stock chart • This will show up at the top of the first page on google • Once you arrive at the stock chart you can manipulate how many years, months, or days you would like it to show

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Amazon Annual Balance Sheet Yahoo! Finance The numbers represented below are in the billions.

If you would like to use a current balance sheet for your project: • Go to Yahoo! Finance (You don’t have to sign-in or sign-up) • Search “Amazon”, then click the “financials” tab, and then “balance sheet” • You can “expand all” to see the information that goes into each section and you can change it from annual to quarterly.

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ARTICLE Amazon stock hits a new all-time high as it sees unprecedented demand By: Lauren Feiner, CNBC, April 14, 2020 https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/14/amazon-stock-hits-a-new-all-time-high.html

Amazon’s stock hit a new all-time high Tuesday as the coronavirus pandemic catapults the company into an unprecedented spotlight. The stock closed the trading day at $2,283.32, up more than 5% from its previous close. Amazon last reached an alltime high in February, when it closed at $2,170.22 per share. Amazon’s market cap is now more than $1.1 trillion. The Covid-19 crisis and stay-at-home orders put in place to combat the virus have put Amazon in a unique position to deliver goods to people around the world who can’t or won’t go shopping in physical stores. Amazon has said it would hire 175,000 more warehouse and delivery workers to keep up with the growing demand.

Once life returns to some sense of normalcy, Amazon could end up retaining customers whose loyalty it gained during the crisis. The circumstances have put many Americans in a position to rely on Amazon and other delivery services to meet their needs. Experts believe it will take months after the initial phase of the crisis for people to feel comfortable returning to large gathering places like grocery stores and shopping malls. But the demand has also come with its share of criticism. The company’s warehouse workers have protested conditions at facilities and demanded better protections against the coronavirus. Amazon fired one protest organizer. It said the worker broke social distancing guidelines repeatedly and refused to stay quarantined after coming into contact with an associate who tested positive for the virus.The protester, Chris Smalls, said in a statement at the time, “Amazon would rather fire workers than face up to its total failure to do what it should to keep us, our families, and our communities safe.”The Washington Post reported Monday that Amazon had fired two more workers who had spoken out against the company, which a spokesperson told the outlet was due to repeated violations of internal policies. Amazon has also caught the eye of policymakers and law enforcement officials over its moderation of third-party sellers seeking to exploit the crisis by jacking up prices. A group of more than 30 state attorneys general called on Amazon and other platforms in late March to implement policies preventing price gouging on coronavirus-related products. Amazon had told Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., earlier that month that it had removed 530,000 offers from its marketplace for price gouging related to the coronavirus.

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ARTICLE Amazon’s Stock is Booming Despite Coronavirus Pandemic, But What’s Next? Trefis Teach, Great Speculations, Forbes, April 27, 2020 www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2020/04/27/amazons-stock-is-booming-despite-the-coronavirus-pandemic-but-whats-next/#4f952acb40a4

After an almost 25% rise in Amazon AMZN’s (NASDAQ NDAQ: AMZN) stock since the beginning of 2020, at the current price of around $2,400 per share, we believe Amazon’s stock offers limited upside potential once the market shakes off the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. Despite disruptions in its supply chains globally, Amazon has benefited over recent weeks as millions of people in the U.S. and abroad are turning to online marketplaces to fulfill their essential requirements like groceries, food, toiletries, and medicines. In these uncertain times where companies are cutting pays and jobs, Amazon has raised pay and hired more than 100K warehouse and delivery workers - and is planning to bring in more as it struggles to fulfill the huge, unexpected rise in demand. However, given the steady rally in its price over recent weeks, we believe that post the coronavirus crisis, Amazon’s stock is likely to underperform peers like Walmart WMT as well as the broader market. Our dashboard What Factors Drove 99% Change In Amazon’s Stock Between 2017 And Now? provides the key numbers behind our thinking, and we explain more below. The stock price rise from $1169 at the end of 2017 to $1847 at the end of 2019 is justified by the roughly 60% increase in Amazon’s revenues from 2017 to 2019. This was aided further by an improvement in Net income margin from 1.7% in 2017 to 4.1% in 2019. As a result, the net income figure rose from $3 billion in 2017 to $11.6 billion in 2019. With the share count increasing marginally, Amazon’s EPS swelled 271% in 2 years. Understandably, the rise in EPS was accompanied by a reduction in Amazon’s P/E multiple from 185x at the end of 2017 when it finally turned profitable to 79x at the end of 2019. However, the multiple has risen to almost 100x now - a 26.5% jump in four months due to the impact of coronavirus, which we explain below. Effect of Coronavirus The global spread of coronavirus has led to lockdowns in various cities across the globe, which has affected industrial and economic activity. This is has forced consumers to concentrate on essential spending and improve social distancing, which in turn has turned them towards online marketplaces like Amazon. Amazon’s stock is up by about 16% since January 31, after the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency in light of the spread of coronavirus. However, during the same period, the S&P 500 index saw a decline of about 15.2%. Moreover, more than 60% of AMZN’s total revenue comes from the US region, which has been the worst impacted by the outbreak. Hence, the focus of consumer spending on essentials through online marketplaces is boosting the company’s stock. We believe Amazon’s Q1 results will confirm the trend in revenues. It is also likely to accompany a clearer Q2 as well as FY’20 guidance. However, even if there are signs of abatement of the crisis by the time Q2 results are announced, the company’s stock could see a limited upturn. With a 16% rise in its stock price since January 31, 2020, Amazon has out-performed Walmart (+13%) and the S&P 500 (-15.2%). In the current scenario, we believe Amazon’s stock is likely to remain around its current levels, with a limited upside post coronavirus.


Gold Curriculum: AMAZON

ARTICLE Pros and Cons to Buying Amazon Stock By: John Divine, U.S. News, September 12, 2019 https://money.usnews.com/investing/stock-market-news/articles/pros-cons-to-buying-amazon-amzn-stock

SHOULD YOU BUY Amazon.com, Inc. (ticker: AMZN) stock? It's a question many investors might be asking themselves as shares of the online retailer approach all-time highs. AMZN has been rocketing higher in recent years due largely to a long series of earnings beats as it quickly made the transition from an intermittently profitable company to one of the most impressive large-cap earnings growth stocks out there. Primarily responsible for that: the growth of its cloud division Amazon Web Services (AWS). Impressive growth in Prime subscribers and blowout sales of Alexa-enabled devices haven’t hurt, either. AMZN stock has risen 21% so far in 2019 and 457% over the last five years. Those are clearly exceptional returns; here's a quick look at the dynamics of Amazon's business and an overview of the pros and cons to buying Amazon stock. Amazon Stock at a Glance Bezos, who started the e-commerce company as an online bookseller in the 1990s, has been in aggressive growth mode ever since. He never cared much about making a profit each year but focused intensely on pleasing the customer, and in doing so, building market share. More than 20 years later, the market share has followed, and so have profits. In 2018, Amazon reported revenue of $232.9 billion, up 31% from the year before. The vast majority of Amazon sales are generated on its increasingly dominant eponymous online shopping platform, which currently sells almost every product you can imagine. Sellers can pay extra to use Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) – Amazon warehouses, packs and ships their products, which are also eligible for Prime two-day shipping. Amazon Prime, its $119 per year subscription service with perks, including two-day shipping, an online streaming video service, photo storage and discounts on select company products, has an estimated 105 million members in the U.S. alone. Alexa, its virtual assistant technology, comes standard in the company's Echo line of smart speakers, which have sold by the tens of millions worldwide. Pros to Buying Amazon Stock Like other ridiculously successful Silicon Valley companies Facebook (FB), Netflix (NFLX) and Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), Amazon is a founder-run company. But even compared to the enviable track records of those names, Bezos's leadership is exceptional. Bezos has built a culture that ignores the myopic quarter-to-quarter mindset of Wall Street, doing everything with an eye to the long term. He believes "current" earnings were actually earned due to decisions three to five years ago. His obsession with customer service is now a core part of Amazon's ethos – as is his ruthlessness. And if there were any doubt, Bezos is also the largest single owner of Amazon stock, so his interests are clearly aligned with shareholders. The second big advantage to owning AMZN stock is, simply put, the company's willingness, desire and ability to disrupt an extraordinarily wide range of industries. Amazon.com started as a disruptor, forcing brick-and-mortar booksellers out of business due to its scale, lower overhead and convenience. It didn’t take long for Amazon to push from hawking books to all sorts of product categories – toys, electronics, clothes, tools, you name it.

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The e-commerce giant’s ambitions continued to evolve, and in 2017 it surprised Wall Street by acquiring organic foods grocer Whole Foods for $13.4 billion. It offers its own branded credit card and is considering moving seriously into retail banking. Amazon is also building out its own delivery service and working on drone technology that could one day rival UPS (UPS) and FedEx (FDX). A partnership with Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) aims to disrupt health care, though it’s not clear exactly how yet. The third and final "pro" to buying AMZN stock – aside from all the implied pros that come from the dominant company and ruthless culture Bezos has built – is AWS, Amazon's cloud computing business. Yet another one of the company’s bold ventures into new frontiers, Amazon shares owe a huge debt to AWS for their otherworldly performance in recent years. Think about it this way: It wasn’t until 2018, a full 24 years after its inception, that Amazon’s retail operations reached the margins and scale needed to consistently turn a profit. But AMZN had been able to break even or turn a modest profit for years by then, and for one reason: AWS. In 2017, Amazon’s global retail revenue was $160.4 billion, on which it generated and operating loss of $225 million. But Amazon actually boasted more than $4 billion in operating profits that year. How? AWS, which generated operating profits of $4.3 billion on just $17.5 billion in revenue. That fast growing and high margin segment of Amazon allows the company to invest so heavily in logistics, smart speakers, e-readers, original content for its streaming video service, and so on. And it’s pretty helpful when it comes to competing on price, too. AWS is also expected to be the testing grounds for future huge opportunities for growth, particularly artificial intelligence and machine learning. Cons to Buying Amazon Stock Sometimes there's a problem with having a few really impressive strengths. It’s the age-old concept of the doubleedged sword. The Achilles’ heel. Arguably Amazon’s two biggest competitive advantages are its CEO, Bezos, and its AWS division. Bezos, 55, seems healthy and should have plenty of gas left in the tank. But the founder risk associated with Amazon shares is very much present: as much as any thriving company in the world, Amazon’s success and ability to constantly stay a step ahead of competitors is a result of one person’s vision and leadership. Brilliant as Bezos is, he’s not immortal. One wayward bus and shareholders could be left owning an awesome business that suddenly forgets the things that made it great. Then there’s Amazon Web Services. AWS is still tops in the cloud computing industry by a pretty large margin, but Microsoft’s (MSFT) Azure is routinely growing far faster than AWS, though from a smaller base. Microsoft doesn’t break out revenue for Azure, just its growth rate, but competition is clearly heating up, and it’s not impossible to see AWS with stagnant or slightly declining market share in two or three years. Adding more bells and whistles to AWS is the only way to defend against this; without differentiation cloud computing can be considered a commodity service sold on price. And Google Cloud, Alibaba (BABA) Cloud, and competitors like IBM (IBM) could eventually spell an end to AWS’s meteoric margins. A few other non-trivial issues that should concern the cautious investor debating whether they should invest in Amazon stock: the stock’s valuation, and the increasingly likely risk of regulation. Knowing how to properly value Amazon has always been tough, but a $900 billion company trading at 54 times forward earnings is unprecedented. And U.S. regulatory agencies recently came out and admitted they were looking at a handful of big tech companies. Amazon was one of them.

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The Bottom Line on Amazon Stock Amazon's one-of-a-kind CEO Jeff Bezos is in the same league as Steve Jobs. He's built a company with a culture that's so customer-centric that it practically has a mandate to be disruptive and ruthless. And AWS, a result emblematic of the company's resolve to innovate, is a cash cow financing future innovations and investments, creating a self-perpetuating, accelerating process Bezos refers to as a “flywheel.” Still, the main issue with AMZN stock in essence is this: The market seems to be pricing the company as if its current strengths won't weaken and its future execution will be perfect. The future, of course, is unpredictable. Capitol Hill is increasingly wary of big tech, and as Amazon’s size gives it monopoly-like power in certain spaces, regulators are taking notice. So are some of Amazon’s most important business partners – UPS recently announced it was going to stop delivering packages for the e-tailer. Amazon is investing billions in its own shipping and delivery network that includes planes, truck fleets, and shipping vessels, and UPS doesn’t want to help a future rival grow. Amazon stock is expensive, no question. But U.S. antitrust actions haven’t packed a punch in decades. While AMZN probably isn’t the stock to buy for conservative retirees seeking stability, long term investors who know they can handle volatility should definitely own some Amazon shares. Bezos didn’t become the world’s richest person on accident – he’s the single best allocator of capital in the world right now, which means he’s seldom unprepared for future opportunities and challenges. To this end, Bezos’ determination to build a culture of customer obsession and innovation should insulate Amazon when, eventually, Bezos is no longer around.

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ARTICLE

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Is Amazon Stock A Buy Right Now? Here’s What Earnings, Charts Show Brian Deagon, Investor’s Business Daily, May 15, 2020 www.investors.com/news/technology/amazon-stock-buy-now/

The disruption of society and business due to the coronavirus pandemic has battered the stock market, but Amazon (AMZN) is uniquely positioned to perform well despite the changes in consumer behavior. Amazon stock currently trades above its buy range. The e-commerce giant reported first-quarter earnings on April 30 with mixed results. Revenue of $75.5 billion beat expectations but adjusted earnings missed widely, causing Amazon stock to drop the following day. It reported a loss of $5.01 per share, vs. estimates of $6.34. Still, Wall Street analysts focused on the positives in the report and raised their price targets in response. The coronavirus crisis has led to a majority of Americans staying safe at home, and working there, too. As a result, consumers have increasingly turned to buying goods online, where Amazon is the dominant leader. The impact of the coronavirus will continue to take a toll on the global economy until it is contained. But not all markets are equally impacted. "E-commerce is likely one of the biggest beneficiaries," Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter told Investor's Business Daily. "E-commerce is likely to see a permanent shift away from offline stores." Amazon Stock Rises From One-Year Low Amazon stock has climbed about 46% since hitting a one-year low on March 16. The stock's relative strength line punched to a new high on March 23, showing how its performance rates vs. the S&P 500. While the RS line has recently pulled back some, it suggests the stock could continue to act as a leader. Prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, Amazon stock was stuck in a long phase where it moved only sideways, as investors seemed wary about big investments and market pressures facing the e-commerce giant. Those holding Amazon stock fretted over the potential negative impacts of investments on infrastructure, competitive pressures in cloud services, increased spending on its one-day shipping program and the impact that might have on profits. But the coronavirus has changed everything. The resulting tidal wave of new demand for household and home office supplies has created bottlenecks and shortages. Hiring Workers To Meet Spiking Demand In order to fulfill spiking demand, Amazon hired 100,000 additional workers and then added another 75,000 workers. The company also increased the investment it's making to boost the salary of employees, to more than $500 million, from $350 million. That additional hiring and coronavirus buying helps to explain how Amazon's first-quarter revenue climbed 26%, beating estimates . That was its best growth in six quarters. Few companies have created such a large and lengthy runway of opportunities as Amazon. It paid $13.4 billion to acquire Whole Foods Market in 2017, moving into groceries and food delivery. Amazon also continues to invest heavily in cloud computing, transportation, video content and online video services, competing against Netflix (NFLX) and others. And it leads the market in smart speakers with its line of products called Echo. Founded as a simple online bookstore in 1994, Amazon never seemed to rest on its laurels and eventually became the leading provider of e-commerce services. The company is known for making bold moves and leaving competitors with the jitters when it does.


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Amazon also is exploring the health care market, having acquired online pharmacy company PillPack last year for just under $1 billion. Not all of its ventures succeed. But many agree it's willing to take bold steps that sometimes turn into big winners. Among its biggest success stories is Amazon Web Services. Revenue from AWS, the market leader in cloud computing, climbed 32% in the first quarter to $10.2 billion, meeting estimates. It reported operating income of $3.08 billion, accounting for the bulk of company profits. Moreover, advertising revenue remained stable, at a time when spending on advertising is shrinking. Among other positives in the Amazon earnings report, online grocery orders for delivery surged 60%. Amazon faces heightened competition in cloud computing from Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet's (GOOGL) Google and IBM (IBM). Amazon Stock Analysis A fundamental analysis of Amazon stock is a key component of determining whether it's worth buying. The IBD Stock Checkup Tool shows that Amazon stock currently has a strong IBD Composite Rating of 98 out of a best-possible 99. The rating means Amazon stock currently outperforms 98% of all stocks in terms of the most important fundamental and technical stock-picking criteria. It also has a Relative Strength Rating of 93, which measures a stock's price performance over the last 12 months against that of all other stocks. What makes Amazon an appropriate candidate to watch is its relative strength line. The relative strength line measures a stock's price performance vs. the S&P 500. Typically, the RS line of the strongest stocks is either confirming or leading a stock's price into new high ground. The company currently holds the No. 1 spot among its peers in IBD's Retail/Internet industry group. It's followed by Alibaba Group (BABA), China's largest e-commerce company. Is Amazon Stock A Buy Right Now? Amazon stock is currently not a buy. The stock broke out of a cup base on April 14 and subsequently hit a record high of 2,474 on April 30. It's pulled back almost 5% since then but is above the top end of its buy range, of 2,295.35, from the cup base. Despite some volatility in recent weeks, the stock remains in a relatively tight trading range. That's positive. After a long basing process, the latest pattern was first stage, which is a positive. It also remains on IBD's Leaderboard. Wait and see of a handle continues to form and it creates a new buy point.

RTSWS edits for length and necessary content. See website for full article.


Gold Curriculum: SHOPIFY

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Case Study Research and Data Shopify (SHOP)

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Gold Curriculum: SHOPIFY

Shopify Stock Chart

If you would like to use a current stock chart for your project: • Search “Shopify stock chart” in google • Click on theYahoo! Finance link to Shopify’s stock chart • This will show up at the top of the first page on google • Once you arrive at the stock chart you can manipulate how many years, months, or days you would like it to show

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Shopify Annual Balance Sheet Yahoo! Finance The numbers represented below are in the billions.

If you would like to use a current balance sheet for your project: • Go to Yahoo! Finance (You don’t have to sign-in or sign-up) • Search “Shopify”, then click the “financials” tab, and then “balance sheet” • You can “expand all” to see the information that goes into each section and you can change it from annual to quarterly.

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ARTICLE Shopify Has Cracked the Code on Succeeding In Ecommerce John Markman, Forbes, June 29, 2020 https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonmarkman/2019/06/29/shopify-has-cracked-the-code-on-succeeding-in-ecommerce/#38bdf9dd714c

The gig economy is transforming the way people work, travel and buy products. Some of the companies behind these trends are household names. Shopify is not one of those, but the tiny Canadian company is winning at ecommerce. Managers unveiled a slew of new products and services last Wednesday. Investors should take note. This company is on to something big. That assessment might seem laughable. Shares are up a staggering 136% this year. The market cap has climbed to $36.6 billion. In addition to making its founders billionaires, the dizzying ascent has created a cottage industry for bears. Shopify is the product of Tobias Lütke, Daniel Weinand and Scott Lake. It was only 15 years ago when the trio were trying to build an online store for Snowdevil, their snowboarding equipment business. Lütke, a German immigrant, used his computer programming background to cobble together a storefront, according to a 2015 feature story in The Globe and Mail. Two years later, in 2006, Lütke, Weinand and Lake launched Shopify. It was no overnight success story … Shopify was born in the era of Amazon.com. Ecommerce was catching on, but many customers still didn’t trust the internet, let alone a tiny Canadian business with little more than a website. The company caught a break in 2010 with a mobile application for iPhones. Product managers used the launch to promote a build-a-business competition. There was a cash prize and mentorship from Sir Richard Branson. DODOcase, a San Francisco maker of high-end iPad cases, was the initial winner. Patrick Buckley, the company founder, used Shopify to market a case that transformed the popular tablet into hardcover notebook. It was marketing gold. Since then Shopify has acquired nine companies, according to Crunchbase. The process began with mobile app design studios. By 2013, the company was building a payment platform. It even had software that turned an iPad into a point-of-sale terminal for brick-and-mortar retailers. The company announced in 2014 that 100,000 retailers from 150 countries had set up shop. Then, in 2017, Shopify announced the Amazon Sales Channel. With only a few clicks, sellers could simultaneously list their wares on Amazon.com. Today, Shopify is a full cloud-based ecommerce platform with multiple channels. Customers can easily monitor their web, mobile, social media and physical storefronts. They can manage inventory, process and ship orders, and build customer relationships. There is even robust data analytics, reporting and access to financing, too. Last week’s announcement brings 11 new languages to Shopify. It also adds a fulfillment network, better customerfacing software tools, and several software developer kits that make it easier to build and embed applications that can be deployed everywhere. In many ways, Shopify is building a business that looks more like Salesforce than Amazon. And that is where the confusion begins.


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While both Shopify and Amazon compete for third-party retailers, the actual relationship is more friendly. Amazon Webstores began in 2010 as a way for product sellers to access the scale of Amazon distribution, in exchange for a monthly fee of $78 and about 3% of sales. The online giant closed that business to new sellers in 2015, fueling the rise of Shopify. Amazon Marketplace has since replaced Webstores. And most accomplished merchants use both marketplaces. The companies are codependent. They need a healthy third-party seller ecosystem to source more products and grow the ecommerce pie. Bearish traders argue that Shopify is grossly overpriced by any metric … The stock sells at 350x forward earnings, and 31x sales. Facebook, for example, beloved for its meteoric growth, trades at 20.4x forward earnings, and 9.1x sales. Based on multiples alone, Shopify seems extremely expensive. However, simple financial multiples oversimplify the ecommerce landscape. The global ecommerce market was $2.8 trillion in 2018, according to a research report from Digital Commerce 360. It is expected to reach $4.9 trillion by 2021. And Statista shows that online sales are projected to reach 17.5% of overall sales by 2021. Shopify is helping small businesses get into the game. Right now, it’s tiny. In 2018, the value of all of the goods sold on its platform amounted to only $41 billion, or 1.5% of global online sales. However, the company is growing quickly. Its commission revenue jumped to $1 billion in 2018, a 59.4% increase year-over-year. Shopify is also aggressively building out its portfolio, with best-in-class value-added products and services. Shares reflect the expectation Shopify will emerge as one of the ecommerce platform winners in a sector that’s expected to be a gigantic one. That’s a good bet. Investors should be looking to buy this stock– currently trading at $311 and change — into the next major pullback. Shares could easily trade to $520 over the next three years as sales push toward $2 billion.


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ARTICLE Shopify Stock Has Surged. For One Analyst, It’s Gone Far Enough Ben Walsh, Barron’s, February 14, 2020 www.barrons.com/articles/shopify-stock-has-surged-for-one-analyst-its-gone-far-enough-51581684301

Shopify’s fourth-quarter earnings were just a little too good for Credit Suisse’s tastes. This week, the e-commerce software company reported $505.2 million in fourth-quarter revenue and 43 cents per share in adjusted earnings. That was well ahead of analysts’ consensus around $482 million in revenue and 24 cents per share in adjusted earnings. Shopify stock (ticker: SHOP) surged more than 17% immediately after it reported fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday. It has given back some of those gains but was still up about 9% over its pre-earnings level, as of Thursday evening. The company’s stock has gained a phenomenal 210% over the past 12 months, compared with a 23% rise for the S&P 500. Given that run, Credit Suisse’s Brad Zelnick downgraded the company’s stock from Outperform to Neutral in a note to clients Wednesday. He wrote that he has a “positive fundamental view on the company’s [long-term] opportunity, and belief in management’s strategy and ability to execute,” but that the stock’s “lofty valuation and embedded expectations” mean it’s time to back away from being bullish. The stock currently trades at 28 times estimated 2020 revenue, compared with a mean of about 13 times 2020 revenue for the other software and online payments companies Zelnick covers.


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ARTICLE Why Shopify- And Not Zoom- Is the Stock To Chase Right Now Elizabeth Balboa, BENZINGA, June 2, 2020 www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/20/06/16161266/why-shopify-and-not-zoom-is-the-stock-to-chase-right-now

Many tech stocks have been incredibly strong this past couple of months, and PreMarket Prep co-host Dennis Dick isn't confident enough to chase any of them. Except, that is, for Shopify Inc

The Canadian e-commerce platform surged 140% from April to early May, making it one of the bestperforming stocks on Wall Street. And yet, Dick said Shopify is the one stock he wouldn't necessarily mind chasing. “That’s in consolidation station right now,” Dick said. “It’s cooled off because the markets are going up. It’s kind of been this laggard trade to a certain extent. It’s obviously still a play on the lockdown.” Shopify Vs. Zoom Dick suspects Shopify has cooled off from its COVID-19 run because its competitive advantage over brickand-mortars seems to have dwindled with the lifting of state lockdowns. But he considers the platform a long-term winner, especially compared to other pandemic beneficiaries. “I like the Shopify long versus Zoom trade long-term,” he said on Tuesday's show. “...I think Shopify is worth a hell of a lot more than one-and-a-half times Zoom.” Shopify’s market cap is $90 billion compared to the $62 billion of Zoom Video Communications Inc, which Dick still considers a strong company.

“I will take Shopify at $90 billion all day long over Zoom,” he said. “Shopify is a game-changer for ecommerce… Eventually, it is going to take on Amazon.” Options expert Nic Chahine added that the price-to-sales ratio is more favorable for Shopify than it is for Zoom.


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ARTICLE Is Shopify Stock A Buy Amin Earnings Surge As Retailers Flock Online? Aparna Narayanan, Investor’s Business Daily, May 6, 2020 https://www.investors.com/research/shopify-stock-buy-now/

Shopify (SHOP), the e-commerce rival to eBay (EBAY) and Amazon.com (AMZN), benefited as retailers rapidly shifted to online sales during the coronavirus pandemic. Shopify earnings surged in the first quarter, sending SHOP stock to a record high. But is Shopify stock a buy right now? The e-commerce platform provider helps individuals and small businesses set up shop online and build their brands. Privately held BigCommerce is a close competitor, but now Microsoft (MSFT) and Facebook (FB) have set their sights on digital and online sales. Shopify was started by snowboarding enthusiasts roughly a decade ago. In fact, it started as an online snowboard shop, moving into e-commerce software when the founders couldn't find what they were looking for — a platform to both sell goods and grow the brand. The Canadian software company helps more than 1 million merchants across 175 countries to sell, market and manage their products. In return, it earns subscription fees. It also offers shipping, digital payments and fulfillment. In 2019, subscriptions accounted for 41% of revenue and merchant solutions for 59%. Shopify Stock Technical Analysis SHOP stock cleared a 593.99 buy point in strong volume April 20, according to MarketSmith analysis. On May 5, Shopify stock cleared a 665.84 alternate entry. Shopify stock is now extended from both entries after jumping May 6 on a big earnings beat Wednesday. The relative strength line is making new highs along with the stock, a positive sign. The RS line, which measures Shopify stock's performance against the S&P 500, is the blue line in the chart shown. In April, Shopify stock soared 52% as management said it "won't be long before traffic has doubled or more."

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Shopify earns an IBD Composite Rating of 96 out of 99. The rating combines key fundamental and technical metrics in a single score. The software stock was a huge winner in 2019 and continues to outperform, giving it a near-perfect 98 RS Rating. Shares kept moving higher during last year's stock market pullbacks, an especially bullish sign given the massive run-up in price since 2017. The Accumulation/Distribution Rating of A reflects heavy buying by institutions in the past 13 weeks. SHOP stock is well traded, with roughly 3.5 million shares bought and sold on average every day. Shopify stock debuted five years ago and has solid institutional backing: 1,179 funds owned the stock as of March, up from 1,144 in December. SHOP Earnings And Fundamentals On key earnings and sales metrics, Shopify stock earns a poor EPS Rating of 33 out of 99, and an SMR Rating of C, on a scale of A-E, with A the best. The EPS rating reflects a company's health on fundamental earnings, and its SMR Rating measures sales growth, profit margins and return on equity. The EPS Rating is low because the company doesn't have a long earnings history, and reported a surprise Q3 2019 loss. On May 6, the e-commerce software leader posted a surprise profit for the first quarter. Shopify earnings soared 217% to 19 cents a share. Revenue rose 47% to $470 million. The key metric of gross merchandise volume, or the value of all goods sold on the Shopify platform, jumped 46% to $17.4 billion, topping estimates of $16.83 billion. The sales surge cemented views that brick-and-mortar businesses are pivoting online, boosting Shopify stock. The company pulled 2020 guidance April 1 on coronavirus uncertainty. It did not update Wednesday, merely saying it is closely monitoring the situation. For all of 2020, analysts on average expected Shopify earnings per share to crumble 93% to 2 cents, but that was before the surprise Q1 profit. Sales are seen growing 29% to $2.04 billion for the year. Shopify is investing heavily to grow its fulfillment business. In 2021, Shopify earnings per share is seen up more than 2,000% to 44 cents, with revenue up 33% to $2.72 billion. But, with the coronavirus crisis, take all earnings estimates with a huge grain of salt. Over the past three years, Shopify grew earnings at a 54% annual rate and sales by 59%. It saw an adjusted annual profit for the first time in 2017. The hot software stock lags several peers with its 5.1% pretax profit margin, the IBD Stock Checkup tool shows. Its 2% return on equity is well under the minimum 17% or higher that investors would want to see. Coronavirus Impact On Shopify Discussing the coronavirus impact on its business Wednesday, Shopify signaled it's largely positive. While the pandemic has curbed global commerce and especially strained smaller businesses, it has sped up the shift to online shopping, according to the company. "We are working as fast as we can to support our merchants by retooling our products to help them adapt to this new reality," CEO Tobi Lutke said in the earnings release. Shopify added it's "uniquely positioned to help businesses," enabling entrepreneurs to start online businesses. New initiatives include extended 90-day free trials for plan sign-ups. They also include local in-store or curbside pickup and delivery.


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More recently, Shopify launched Shop, a new mobile shopping app. The Shop app allows users to discover local businesses, get product recommendations from their favorite brands and track all of their online orders. But in March and April, Shopify saw more merchants downgrade to lower-priced plans than in the prior two months. Given coronavirus uncertainty, Shopify's watching how rising joblessness impacts both shop creation on its platform and consumer spending. Amazon, EBay Rival? Shopify is seen as a growing challenger to the e-commerce dominance of Amazon. But Shopify is not itself a retailer; rather, it helps its mostly small and midsize customers compete against larger businesses. They use Shopify's tools to build websites, list products and collect payments, all under their own domain name and brand. The company had several notable achievements in Q1. Among the highlights: • It continued to develop the Shopify Fulfillment Network. The company is spending $1 billion over five years to build the fulfillment business. Shopify could break even on the effort by 2023, analysts say. • Shopify enhanced fulfillment solutions from its 6 River Systems acquisition. That included upgrades to its mobile robot, called Chuck. • It grew Shopify Shipping, a service that allows merchants to print labels to fulfill online orders. In 2019, Shopify expanded Shopify Marketing, as Adobe (ADBE) beefs up its digital marketing business with acquisitions. It added 13 languages, including Chinese and Hindi, to the Shopify platform, taking the total to 20. Some 29% of its merchants are now from non-English-speaking markets. Analysts say Shopify could triple its market share to 9% within five years, eventually rivaling Amazon's first-party sales. Shopify is investing heavily both at home and overseas to build awareness about its brand. But Microsoft has launched its own e-commerce software tools for businesses. Longtime partner Facebook now also has a shopping feature for the photo-sharing app Instagram. SHOP Stock Group Shopify belongs to IBD's Computer Software-Enterprise group, which ranks No. 5 out of 197 industry groups. Shopify stock itself ranks No. 14 out of 69 stocks in this group. Paycom Software (PAYC), ServiceNow (NOW), DocuSign (DOCU) and Zoom Video (ZM) are other top stocks in this group. ServiceNow is on the IBD 50 list of top growth stocks. Is Shopify Stock A Buy Right Now? Shopify ticks off many of the boxes that investors should be looking for. SHOP stock was a big winner in 2019 and again in the coronavirus market rally. Key acquisitions and expansions promise more runway for growth. This software company doesn't have a long earnings history and is poised for earnings pain in the near term, but it delivered a big Q1 surprise. Longer term, analysts are betting on big Shopify earnings growth. From a technical view, Shopify stock been acting bullishly in the coronavirus stock market. But SHOP stock is extended, meaning shares are not in a proper buy zone. Investors could wait for Shopify to form a new base, or pull back to the 50-day line. Bottom line: Shopify stock is not a buy right now. But it's definitely one to watch.


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Amazon vs Shopify Market Beat, Stock Comparison

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To look up the current comparison of these two stocks: • Go to: https://www.marketbeat.com/compare-stocks/ • Enter the two stock symbols separated by a comma with no spaces. Example for Walmart and Target: WMT,TGT • In the student workbook, we used the date range of 6 months, but you can look at the different options: 7 days, 30 days, 90 days, 6 months

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Resources We hope that your experience this semester in RTSWS’s five workshop sessions has been a positive and enriching one. Here are some ways to continue growing in the weeks, months and years ahead.

WE SUGGEST… 1.

Connecting with our LinkedIn Group: Rock The Street, Wall Street - Students and Alumnae. We share potential job shadowing opportunities, summer or college internship opportunities, job opportunities, and other great resources and information related to the Finance Industry and female empowerment in this group. Please email info@rockthestreetwallstreet.com your name and personal emai address so we can contact you with internship and job opportunities while you are in college. Also, ask friends, family members and anyone you meet in the financial field about possible job shadowing and internship opportunities. These will be strong additions to your resume and give you firsthand experience in the field.

2.

Checking out the Rock The Street, Wall Street website where you can find lists of reference sources for careers in finance and more.

4.

Seeking out podcasts, books, websites, online courses or videos about finance, savings, investing and the economy. Here are a few relevant podcasts with hundreds of episodes to explore: NPR’s Planet Money, The Fairer Cents: Women, Money and the Fight to Break Even, So Money with Farnoosh Torabi, The College Investor Audio Show.

WEBSITES Rock The Street, Wall Street • www.rockthestreetwallstreet.com Career Girls • www.careergirls.org Girls Who Invest- http://www.girlswhoinvest.org Napkin Finance • www.napkinfinance.com Keep your eyes and ears on the financial markets through sources such as CNBC and The Wall Street Journal

GENERAL Private Equity/Venture Capital: Consider courses in Entrepreneurship which teach basics about how to start a business, budgets, etc. • If you are more quantitative and technically inclined, consider majors in math and careers in quantitative analysis - good preparation for analyst positions in fixed income, credits, hedge funds, etc. • Do a Google search on “College Majors for Financial Careers” - there are useful websites on college, general articles, etc.


www.rockthestreetwallstreet.com


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