Stock Analysis 10/5/2015 - 11/20/2015

Accounting 241, Fall 2015

Dr. J. Hsu
Creyton Gardner, Katie Staab, Carson King
Friday, December 4th, 2015

1. The Walt Disney Company - DIS

The Disney Company is well known for being a constant force of growth in
investments and has had excellent returns in the past decades. Since Disney began as a
business they have gone out of their way to be a creative force of innovation in the world.
From Snow White and the Seven Dwarves to Disney's Frozen, Disney has provided a
product that is both unique and proficient at grabbing the attention of adults and children
alike. Their surge into the children market was only the beginning for the company. Soon
they started making product shelves that continued the link between their production lines
and projects. This monopolistic approach to quality and achievement was well noted in
their market share growth and investment surge of the mid 1990's and mid 2000's. This
monopolistic product trend only increased when Disney World and Disney Land were
created. These two landmarks represent what Disney does best; they create worlds that no
one is capable of replicating. Disney's touch helps both them and their investors to
achieve new heights in growth and achievement.
Following their tremendous leap into the market, Disney acquired one of their
best assets to date in the early 2000s; ESPN. This product is so incredibly important to
their portfolio because it is considered a monopolistic product. No business has been able
to create a competitive entity to confront this mammoth of a station and they continue to
be the most watched television network for sports in the world. The reason Disney has
been so successful in the last 15 years is largely because of their decision to buy this
channel and I have no doubt in my mind that this growth trend will continue into the
future. Until another highly successful business challenges Disney there is no telling
where they will be in the next 50 years.
Stock Performance of DIS from October 5th, 2014 - October 5th, 2015:

Stock Performance of DIS from October 5th, 2014 - November 20th, 2015:

2. Tiffany & Co. - TIF

Tiffany's has widely been known as one of the most expensive, but also the most
quality driven company in the jewelry business. Many women know the store just by
looking at certain products or seeing their logo. This demonstrates the success behind

their name and the products they make. Every year it seems they continue to grow and
expand to a peak that no one expected. Over the course of 178 years in the jewelry
business, Tiffany's has rightfully gained a large amount of recognition for their
achievements. Headquartered in New York, New York, Tiffany's brings the elegant,
vibrant life of the city wherever their product ends up. Tiffany's products contain
precision, enhancement, beauty, and glamour while also asking for a fair price in return.
In addition to creating an outstanding product with name recognition and eye
recognition, Tiffany's has also done tremendously when it comes to stock value and
market share. Since 1998, the company has experienced a high uptick of consumer
interest and has generated an incredible peak in numbers. To put it shortly, their growth
has been explosive. With continued growth over the last 15 years there is no telling where
Tiffany's will end up in the next 15 years.

Stock Performance of TIF from October 5th, 2014 - October 5th, 2015:

Stock Performance of TIF from October 5th, 2014 - November 20th, 2015:

3. Casey's General Stores, Inc. - CASY

Casey's General Stores is known for a wide variety of things because they offer a
wide variety of products and services. One of Casey's best products by consumer
standards is their pizza. They figure why you are filling up your tank with gasoline why
not grab a bite to eat at a fair, utility store price. Casey's serves the common man and
wants to better their business while also being fair to their customer. This is shown
through their core values and strategic approach to great deals at great prices. They often
have excellent deals because of their alliance with Hyvee fuel and Casey's credit card
services. Because of these excellent coupons and services they attract many willing
customers that understand that what Casey's does it both fair for them and their growing
business.
Since 1959, Casey's General Stores has had moderate growth in their market share
and stock value, but their most recent growth has been instrumental to their success as a
company. Beginning in 1998, the company has experienced a very large increase in value
to their stock prices. The company has grown so large over the last 15 years that in 2003
they were a tenth of the size and value that they are now. Needless to say, Casey's is
doing extremely well right now for providing products and services that seem almost
elementary to the common man. What Casey's has done and continues to do is a pinnacle
in business achievement and there is little doubt in my mind to think this will change in
the coming years. Casey's would be an excellent match to any portfolio that wishes to
take some risk with a large amount of reward in the near future.

Stock Performance of CASY from October 5th, 2014 - October 5th, 2015:

Stock Performance of CASY from October 5th, 2014 - November 20th, 2015:

4. The Coca-Cola Company - KO

Since 1892, The Coca-Cola Company has dominated their market share to
unprecedented levels. They have become the ideal image of sugary drinks. In fact, instead
of asking for a soda, some just ask, "What cokes do you have available?" Coca-Cola is
considered one of the strongest companies in the drink industry because of its ability to
adapt to its competitors. One of Coke's strongest competitors is Pepsi. Pepsi has only
improved Coca-Cola's profits because of their competitive nature with one another. CocaCola continues to grow and expand because of Pepsi's ability to challenge them. With
incredible strides in the mid 1990's and continued spiking growth throughout the 2000's,
Coca-Cola is considered an extremely good investment for years to come. Coca-Cola
brings a strong addition to any portfolio because of their unprecedented presence in the
soda industry and their unwavering ability to adapt to situations that no one saw coming.

Stock Performance of KO from October 5th, 2014 - October 5th, 2015:

Stock Performance of KO from October 5th, 2014 - November 20th, 2015:

5. Google Inc. - GOOG

Google is considered one of the most successful companies in the world and they
gained this title for excellent decision making and fair investments. There is a reason why
people say, "Just Google it," because Google has all the answers. Since they began on
September 4th, 1998 the company has seen an amazing amount of growth in the search
market and very soon became the primary search engine in the world. Based in Mountain
View, CA, Google operates at a high speed of efficiency and does everything they can to
make their employees comfortable. Knowing their investments are highly profitable,
Google provides the best quality care they can to their employees; such as lounging and
napping areas, free breakfast and lunch (served by gourmet chefs from the finest
restaurants in the world), massages, and a large amount of free time. They do this because
they understand the business that they operate in. The market that they rely on is based
largely off innovation. In order to have proper innovation in the workplace there must be
an environment that stimulates thought and curiosity. Google does everything they can to
allow for their employees to relax and enjoy life so that they can have time to think and
come up with new ideas that will change the world as we know it. They understand that
all it takes is one great idea to change the rest of the world. That one idea is usually the
result of a comforting environment that allows for free thought and expression. As one of
the most profitable companies in the search engine industry, Google should always be
considered in any proper portfolio that seeks to round out its chances for highly
innovative projects that have the potential to skyrocket share prices and create an
enormous amount of wealth.

Stock Performance of GOOG from October 12th, 2014 - October 12th, 2015:

Stock Performance of GOOG from October 12th, 2014 - November 20th, 2015:

Statistics for our Investments:

Company

Purchase
Date

Price per
Share

DIS
TIF
CASY
KO
GOOG

10/5/15
10/5/15
10/5/15
10/5/15
10/12/15

$103.00
$77.90
$104.15
$40.39
$643.61

Number of
Shares
Purchased
243
231
222
332
31

Ending
Value

Total Net
Gain/Loss

$120.07
$75.14
$114.54
$42.43
$756.60

$3,980
$-833.91
$2,293
$657.36
$3,570

Stock
Performanc
e for Period
14.31%
-7.49%
10.05%
5.12%
15.11%

*All screenshots used in this essay were used from YAHOO Finance: http: //finance.yahoo.com/
What we have learned:
Our knowledge of when to sell and how to buy have greatly increased during our
experience with this project. While researching and examining the stocks we wanted to choose
we noticed trends and occurrences that allowed us to make smart decisions when investing.
Additionally, we learned that the best way to invest is to diversify a portfolio through many
different industries. This allowed us to minimize potential losses and maximize our gains within
our respected investments. Furthermore, determining how to concentrate on riding trends in the
market created an easy way for us to pin-point an excellent line of growth within our portfolio.
Through the many weeks we have been working on this assignment our group determined that
having a medium to small sized portfolio actually minimizes the losses in the short run.
Diversifying too much for the short term gain can be detrimental to the overall success of a
portfolio. It is true that diversifying for the long term investment is always the best thing to do. A
medium to large sized portfolio will most likely beat a smaller one in the long run. Putting faith
in a small number of stocks can be risky, but the pay off came through for us and we ended up
growing exponentially because of it.