Paper details:Company Analysis Paper:

Using the analytical tools learned about in the first part of this course, prepare an analysis of a public company, evaluating the company from the standpoint of both fixed income securities (e.g. should you buy the bonds?) and equities (should you buy or sell the stock?)

Approaches to the analysis should include:
What does the company do?
Current state of financial health of the company. Address each of the key financial areas – liquidity, asset utilization, leverage, profitability & cash flow – as well as market-based ratios.
Trends in that financial health over recent years and potentially into the future
Comparison of the subject company with competitors and/or the industry sector
Analysis of the subject company’s industry sector – relative strength or weakness, factors affecting the industry such as product / technical innovation, regulation, economic cycles, etc.
Assessing the company’s position within the industry context – is it a leader; does it have clear advantages vis a vis other industry participants; is it subject to extreme competition or pricing pressure?
The papers should at least address:
Nature of the company’s business
Competition & Industry Factors
Financial Analysis & Key Financial rations– Liquidity, Asset Utilization, Leverage, Profitability & Cash Flow
Market Analysis – Key market based ratios.
Note that your analysis of these factors (not just presenting the numbers, ratios, etc. themselves) is the most important aspect of this project.

Your paper MUST include your recommendation / conclusion regarding investment in the company. They also MUST include a bibliography of information & works cited.

The company chosen is up to the student, but should not be something so complex or one for which information is not readily available that it makes the analysis more difficult than necessary. Students should pick a subject company outside of his/her usual frame of reference –to expand their frame of reference. The papers should not exceed 15 pages, double spaced.

The papers will be due at the start of Session 12, April 20. The paper is to be submitted as both printed copy and electronically (either via e-mail or through Blackboard). Remember you can turn in your paper ANY TIME before the final due date and you are encouraged to do so.

The paper is to be prepared using the APA writing style and guideline for references format. They must contain a bibliography and all direct quotations and data sources must be properly cited. The Department uses the APA style as it lends itself well to both reading the paper and understanding references without being cumbersome as some of the other styles are (such as Chicago or MLA).Students can download the student style guide from the American Psychological Associationhttp://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html) web site or you can purchase the APA style guide from the book store. There is even a help disk that can be purchased for about $ 40 (http://www.apa.org/software/ ) that will work the student through the process as you write your paper if you desire a more “personal assistance”.

Papers are to be RESEARCH PAPERS. Remember that work that you use from other authors MUST be referenced. Since it is assumed that you are not an authority on the topic that you are writing on it is expected that this paper is an overview of many different sources of information. These must be contributed to the author using the APA format. This is your paper and not the cut and paste of someone else’s work. The internet has led to a false sense of what research is all about. Those new to research tend to think that it means spending an afternoon surfing the internet and then an afternoon cutting from material available. Keep in mind the internet is: (1) not quality oriented as it has good stuff and not so good stuff but the internet does not know the difference and (2) the internet is NOT a sole source location. In particular, sources such as Wikipedia are the works of individual submitters which are not reviewed. Thus while many entries provide excellent information, some are fundamentally flawed or just plain wrong. Keep in mind that the Boston University Library as well as your local, state and the national US Library of Congress have extensive on line services. USE THEM.