Economic Forecasting

Pretend you are a partner in an American economic forecasting firm. You and your partners have just received a letter from a businesswoman in Tokyo who is interested in moving her designer fabric business to the United States. She has asked you to prepare a report on the expected economic health of the United States economy in the next year. You and your partners will need to do the following:

Briefly (one or two sentences each) describe each of the three leading economic indicators (GDP, inflation rate, and unemployment rate) using the book and/or other sources—you may use online encyclopedias. Include a description of the impact of each indicator on the nation’s economic health.

Name
_________________________________
I.D. Number
_______________________
Project 3
Evaluation 33
Economics (BUSH 035 061)
Be sure to include ALL pages of this project (including the directions and the assignment) when you
send the project to your teacher for grading. Don’t forget to put your name and I.D. number at the top
of this page!
This project is worth 100 points. It will count for twelve percent of your course grade.
Project Instructions
Choose ONE of these options.
Option 1: Economic Forecasting
Pretend you are a partner in an American economic forecasting firm. You and your partners have
just received a letter from a businesswoman in Tokyo who is interested in moving her designer fabric
business to the United States. She has asked you to prepare a report on the expected economic
health of the United States economy in the next year. You and your partners will need to do the
following:
Briefly (one or two sentences each) describe each of the three leading economic indicators
(GDP, inflation rate, and unemployment rate) using the book and/or other sources—you may
use online encyclopedias. Include a description of the impact of each indicator on the
nation’s economic health.
Briefly describe the trends in each indicator over the past twelve months (e.g. is GDP up? By
how much?) Websites you might use include http://www.bea.gov/ (Bureau of Economic
Analysis) and http://www.bls.gov/ (United States Bureau of Labor Statistics). Other sources
include the Wall Street Journal and U.S. News and World Report.
Prepare a report for the businesswoman with your recommendations. Should she bring her
fabric business to the United States? Based on your research, explain why or why not. Cite
all sources that you use in APA style. The Publication Manual of the American Psychological
Association is commonly used for business papers. You can find this manual at your local
library or do an Internet search for APA guidelines.
For part 1, you may write a paper of at least 900 words
Refer to Project Submission in this document for directions.
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Option 1 will be graded according to the following rubric:
Definitions
Definitions are complete and include the
impact on the economy.
10 points possible
Trends
Descriptions include direction that each
indicator is trending along with the amount of
the current indicator. Sources are well
documented.
20 points possible
Logic and
Reasoning
Analysis, interpretation, and suggestions are
accurate and appropriate. The detail and
depth is exceptional.
20 points possible
Organization
Research and recommendations are
expressed in a clear, organized manner.
20 points possible
Form
Information is neatly presented and follows
the standard conventions of spelling,
grammar, punctuation, etc.
20 points possible
Bibliography
All sources used are listed in a bibliography.
Use APA style.
10 points possible
Option 2: Understanding the Stock Market
The following activity will teach you how to research the stock market, as well as understand
changes that take place in the market. Follow the steps listed, and provide all of the information
requested. Type your answers in the space provided after each question.
1. Go to NASDAQ.com
2. At the top of page, select “Quotes” and then “Quotes and Research” from the dropdown list.
3. In Box 1, type in “aapl” where it says symbol look up. Hit enter.
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4. Answer the following questions about Apple: (8 points)
a. What does this company sell or make?
b. What is a share of Apple stock selling for today?
c. Is this up or down for the day?
d. By how much?
5. Looking at the information provided on Apple, click on the button that says price charts. On
the left side of the page, under charts, click on the Interactive Charts. Under the chart select
5y. As you move the mouse over the chart, you will note that the price of stock changes and
shows the date on the upper right side above the chart.
6. When was the stock at its lowest price over the last 5 years? What was the price? (5 points)
7. Looking at the 1y chart, when and how much was the price of Apple at its lowest during the
past year? (5 points)
8. Using the same 1y chart, when and how much was the price of Apple at its highest during
the past year? (5 points)
9. In one paragraph, summarize the trend for Apple stock both historically and for the last year.
(10 points)
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10. By doing some research on Apple, explain what caused the price of apple to drastically go
up in the summer of 2007. (10 points)
11. By doing some research on stocks in general, what are some factors that can cause a stock
price to go up or down? Include at least three factors. (12 points)
12. Now type in MSI into the box marked “symbol look up.”
13. Answer the following questions about Motorola: (8 points)
a. What type of products does this company make?
b. What is the price of stock today?
c. Is this up or down for the day?
d. By how much?
14. What does this have to do with Apple’s IPhone? (5 points)
15. Now type in VZ into the box marked symbol look up.
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16. Answer the following questions about Verizon: (8 points)
a. What type of products does this company make?
b. What is the price of stock today?
c. Is this up or down for the day?
d. By how much?
17. How does this relate to the other stocks researched for this assignment? (5 points)
18. Using what you have learned with your research on these three companies, what can you
conclude about how the market “voted” when given the choice of similar products? (12
points)
19. Site sources of additional research that you used to complete project. (7 points)
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Project Submission
Option 1 Paper:
Type your paper in the space provided at the end of this document. Save this project assignment
document with the name:
BUSH035061_YourNameHere_Project3.doc
Go to your course management system to upload your project file.
Option 1 Video:
Record a video presentation. Be sure to state your name at the start of the video, and make sure the
video quality clearly captures everything you use in your presentation. Your voice must be clearly
audible. Save your video file with your name as shown:
YourNameHere_project3_BUSH035060.avi
Upload your video to your own website or YouTube OR submit it with the UNHS Dropbox. To use
the dropbox, follow these steps:
1. Access the high school DropBox. To access the DropBox, use the navigation panel on
your course management system (Waycool) homepage.
2. Click “Browse” to select your file. (A new “Browse” button will appear after you have
selected your file. Disregard it. This feature of the DropBox is for projects in which
students need to submit more than one file.)
3. Click “Begin Upload.”
4. Wait until a message appears on your screen saying “Your Upload is Complete.” This
message will provide a URL to your file so it can be viewed online.
5. Copy the URL and paste it into the following table. Be sure to copy your URL before
you close the DropBox upload page.
Complete this table so you your teacher can access your presentation online.
Name of Student
URL link to presentation
(website or UNHS Dropbox)
Citations for sources used
(Use APA style.)
Save this project assignment document with the name:
BUSH035061_YourNameHere_Project3.doc
Go to your course management system to upload your project file.
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Option 2:
Type answers to the questions in the spaces provided. Save this project assignment document with
the name:
BUSH035061_YourNameHere_Project3.doc
Go to your course management system to upload your project file.
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[Begin typing Option 1 paper here.]
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