Name:________________________ Period: ____
Function Regression Project
In this project you will research the stock price for a company throughout 2012. You will graph the prices and develop
an equation that best fits the data. From this equation you will predict the price of the company’s stock on December
1. After December 1, you will compare your prediction to the actual stock price and write a one-page essay of what
you feel influenced the stock’s price changes over the year.
Step One
Develop a list of three choices for a company that you are interested in for this project. Think about products that you
buy and the companies that own the products. You can Google a product and find the company that owns it. For
example, if you like Cheerios cereal, you can Google “Who owns cheerios” and will find that General Mills owns
Cheerios. Not all companies are public and sell stock. So you will have to look up companies and their stock symbols
together to narrow down your list.
Along with the three company names, you need to find the companies’ stock symbols. Go to Mrs. Milleson’s web page
on the JHS website – click Algebra II and under Stock Project select Yahoo Finance Website (finance.yahoo.com). Enter
the company name in the Get Quotes box at the top of the window. Please choose a company on the NYSE (New York
Stock Exchange) or NASDAQ (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations). You will see either NYSE
or NASDAQ to the right of the company name and stock symbol in the list from the Get Quotes box.
List your three company choices (full names) and their stock symbols in your order of preference. Submit them on Mrs.
Milleson with the Enter Choices for Company link under Stock Project on the Algebra II page of Mrs. Milleson’s web
page on the JHS website. Choices must be submitted by Friday, October 12 at 3pm.
Mrs. Milleson will compile the list and let you know which company you will use for your project on Monday, October
15. Record the company name and stock symbol on the Stock Information sheet.
Step Two
Research stock prices for your company over the last year and record them in the chart on the Stock Information sheet.
Be consistent in finding the prices, for example, chose the first business day of each month and record the price.
Stock prices can be found at finance.yahoo.com or Yahoo Finance Website on Mrs. Milleson’s web page on the JHS
website on the Algebra II page under Stock Project
 Enter your company’s stock symbol in the Get Quote box.
 Click Get Quotes.
 Click Historical Prices on the left.
 In the Set Date Range section you can select the time frame you are researching
o Start Date: January 1, 2012 to End Date: October 7, 2012.
o Select Monthly.
o Click Get Prices.
o Use the stock price in the Close column. That is the price the stock was at the end of the business day on
the specific date.
Enter your stock price information in the chart on the Stock Information sheet.
Name:________________________ Period: ____
Step Three
Graph your stock price data as a scatter plot. Decide what scale to use for your y-axis (stock price). You may use the
attached Stock Price Graph or Microsoft Excel.
Decide if your data follows a linear, quadratic or exponential trend. (You may need/choose to use a section of your data
as opposed to all of the data if some data points are outliers. Use a minimum of six data points when finding your
regression function.)
Enter the data for the points you want to use for your regression function in your calculator per the Function Regression
instructions and create an equation (regression function) for your data.
Graph this regression function on your graph (either manually or using Excel).
Use the regression function to predict the price of your company’s stock on December 1, 2012.
Record your prediction on the Stock Information sheet.
Part I (Stock Information sheet, scatter plot of prices, graph of regression function and
prediction price) of the Project is Due Friday, October 26, 2012 at the beginning of class.
Step Four
On November 28, you will get your Stock Information sheet back. At the end of the day on November 30 (since
December 1 is on a Saturday) you will check your company’s stock price and record it on the Stock Information Sheet.
Write a one to two-page, typed and double-spaced essay detailing the following:




1st paragraph: Introduce your company, it’s stock symbol, its products and why you chose it.
2nd paragraph: Explain why you chose the type of function you used for the regression function and state your
regression function. State your prediction and the actual price of the stock on December 1 and how you came up
with that prediction. Explain if you think your prediction was close to or way off the actual stock price for
December 1.
3rd paragraph: Describe some general factors that influence the stock market. Describe what factors influence
your stock price and if they had a positive or negative effect on your prediction.
4th paragraph: Conclude with an explanation of whether you would purchase this stock or not.
Final Essay Due: Friday, December 7, 2012 at the beginning of class.
Name:________________________ Period: ____
Company:
Stock Symbol:
Exchange:
NYSE or NASDAQ
circle one
Stock Prices at close of business on the first day of the month, 2012.
Month
Jan (1)
Feb (2)
Mar (3)
Apr (4)
May (5)
Jun (6)
Jul (7)
Aug (8)
Sept (9)
Oct (10)
The data looks like a
Price
linear / quadratic / exponential
curve.
circle one
Regression Function:
Prediction of stock price at close of business on December 1, 2012:
Stock Information sheet and graph are due Friday, October 26 at the beginning of class.
TO BE COMPLETED AFTER November 30, 2012
Actual stock price at close of business on December 1, 2012:
*Attach a separate sheet for essay analysis of your prediction vs. the actual price and what influences the stock prices.
Stock Information sheet with actual stock price and essay due Friday, December 7, 2012 at
the beginning of class.
Name:________________________ Period: ____
Company:
Stock Symbol:
Exchange:
NYSE or NASDAQ
circle one
Stock Prices
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep Oct
Name:________________________ Period: ____
Total Points
48-41
40-31
30-21
20-11
10-0
Stock Analysis Function Regression Project
Grading RUBRIC
CATEGORY/
POINTS
8
6
4
2
Company
Choices
Three company choices
submitted electronically or on
paper by due date.
Three company choices
submitted electronically or on
paper within three days of due
date.
Company choices incomplete
(less than three) but submitted
electronically or on paper within
three days of due date.
Company choices incomplete
(less than three) and/or
submitted four or more days after
due date.
Data
Collection
Data collected is accurate and
complete.
Data collected is accurate but
incomplete.
Prediction
Equation
Price axis scale is consistent. All
data points are plotted correctly.
Function choice fits the data well.
Prediction equation is graphed
correctly.
Price axis scale is inconsistent. All
data points are plotted correctly.
Function choice fits the data well.
Prediction equation is graphed
incorrectly.
Data collected is inaccurate but
complete.
Price axis scale is inconsistent.
Most data points are plotted
correctly.
Function choice does not fit the
data. Prediction equation is
graphed correctly.
Data collected is inaccurate and
incomplete.
Price axis scale is inconsistent.
Most data points are not plotted
correctly.
Function choice does not fit the
data. Prediction equation is
graphed incorrectly.
Prediction
Price
Prediction price is correctly
calculated.
Prediction price is incorrectly
calculated.
Essay is not typed, double-spaced
and/or either less than 1 page or
over 2 pages long.
Information from two of the
paragraphs is either missing or
incomplete.
 Company, stock symbol,
products and why you chose it.
 Why you chose the type of
regression function, state the
regression function, your
prediction and actual price for
Dec. 1 – describe how you
calculated the prediction.
Explanation why prediction was
close/away from actual price.
 General factors that influence
the stock market - factors that
influence your stock price
(positive or negative effect on
your prediction)
 Explain why you would or
would not purchase this stock
Essay is not typed, double-spaced
and/or either less than 1 page or
over 2 pages long.
Information from three of the
paragraphs is either missing or
incomplete.
 Company, stock symbol,
products and why you chose it.
 Why you chose the type of
regression function, state the
regression function, your
prediction and actual price for
Dec. 1 – describe how you
calculated the prediction.
Explanation why prediction was
close/away from actual price.
 General factors that influence
the stock market - factors that
influence your stock price
(positive or negative effect on
your prediction)
 Explain why you would or
would not purchase this stock
Accuracy of
Plot
Analysis
Essay
Essay is typed, double-spaced and
between 1 and 2 pages long. The
following is contained in the four
paragraphs:
 Company, stock symbol,
products and why you chose it.
 Why you chose the type of
regression function, state the
regression function, your
prediction and actual price for
Dec. 1 – describe how you
calculated the prediction.
Explanation why prediction was
close/away from actual price.
 General factors that influence
the stock market - factors that
influence your stock price
(positive or negative effect on
your prediction)
 Explain why you would or
would not purchase this stock
Essay is not typed, double-spaced
and/or either less than 1 page or
over 2 pages long. Information
from one of the paragraphs is
either missing or incomplete.
 Company, stock symbol,
products and why you chose it.
 Why you chose the type of
regression function, state the
regression function, your
prediction and actual price for
Dec. 1 – describe how you
calculated the prediction.
Explanation why prediction was
close/away from actual price.
 General factors that influence
the stock market - factors that
influence your stock price
(positive or negative effect on
your prediction)
 Explain why you would or
would not purchase this stock
Grade
A
B
C
D
F
Final Grade
1
Company choices never submitted.
Data was not collected.
Graph was not completed.
Prediction equation was not
calculated or graphed.
Prediction price is missing.
Essay is missing or is not typed,
double-spaced and/or either less
than 1 page or over 2 pages long.
Information from all of the
paragraphs is either missing or
incomplete.
 Company, stock symbol, products
and why you chose it.
 Why you chose the type of
regression function, state the
regression function, your prediction
and actual price for Dec. 1 – describe
how you calculated the prediction.
Explanation why prediction was
close/away from actual price.
 General factors that influence the
stock market - factors that influence
your stock price (positive or negative
effect on your prediction)
 Explain why you would or would
not purchase this stock
Name:________________________ Period: ____