FIC Mock Stock Round 2 (6th Oct, 2014)

RULES

• This is the last and final round of the mock stock.

• Selling of shares is allowed in this round. If you chose to buy new shares or hold the existing shares in anticipation of further gains, your portfolio will be squared off with the final prices.

• Any cash balance remaining will be added back to the final revenue figure to calculate the net worth of the portfolio.

COMPANIES

1. IBM (Technology and Consulting) - $195
2. P&G (Consumer Goods) - $88
3. Walmart (Multi-brand Retail) - $66
4. ExxonMobil (Oil & Gas) - $81
5. JP Morgan (Banking & Finance) - $63
6. Nike (Apparel & Accessories) - $100

NEWS 

• JP Morgan Chase & Co., the biggest U.S. Bank reveals a major data breach by hackers where data on 76 million households and 7 million small businesses were compromised which included user contact information, names, phone numbers, addresses and e-mail addresses. However, JP Morgan officials say there is no evidence that hackers stole account numbers, passwords, user IDs or Social Security numbers.
• P&G reports a slight growth in organic sales in its last quarterly filing but subject to only limited gains due to currency exchange-rate fluctuations and policy changes in Venezuela.
• After selling its German and South Korean units in 2006 and a series of disappointing results in Asian markets, the Rank #1 Fortune 500 Global Company and world's largest retailer, Walmart is now facing stiff competition from local chains in South America.
•  As Mexico opens doors to private investment in oil industry, Exxon Mobil Corp signed an agreement with Mexico’s state oil company Pamex to jointly explore upstream and downstream business opportunities. Upstream projects include exploration and production of crude oil or natural gas, while downstream ventures include refining, storage or oil and gas transportation projects.
• Procter & Gamble Co, the world’s largest household products maker, is considering to sell or discontinue about 90 to 100 non-performing brands in the next two years and cut jobs to revive sales growth and save costs.
• Afresh after their World Cup win, Germany National Football Team overtakes Brazil as the world's most loved sports team; Adidas wins official merchandise rights for Manchester United from 2015.  
• The Chinese government is recommending the country's domestic banks against the use of high end servers from IBM Corp. on account of the nation's financial security policy.

Send in your responses latest by 3 PM, 7th Oct at the following link: http://goo.gl/Wl2MSV

FIC Mockstock Round 1 (5th October, 2014)

RULES 

• Every team has a budget of $10,000 at the beginning.
• There are 6 companies in which you can invest your amount depending upon the news and rumors given.
• You cannot invest more than 60% of the budget in one stock at a time. You need to invest in at least 2 stocks in each round.
• The first round only includes buying of shares. Short selling of shares is not allowed.
• The team with the maximum profit at the end of both the rounds is the winner.

COMPANIES

1. IBM (Technology and Consulting) - $180
2. P&G (Consumer Goods) - $80
3. Walmart (Multi-brand Retail) - $70
4. ExxonMobil (Oil & Gas) - $90
5. JP Morgan (Banking & Finance) - $60
6. Nike (Apparel & Accessories) - $90

NEWS 

• International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) amassed more US patents than any other company for the 21st straight year, helped by its push into big-data services, which gleans insights by mining large quantities of information.

• Walmart Stores Inc. said it spent $439 million in the past two years to investigate the possible payment of foreign bribes, making it one of the most expensive probes in US history.

•  Proctor & Gamble co. (PG), the world's largest consumer goods maker, posted second quarter profit that topped analysts' estimates as sales of products rose in emerging markets.

• After its FIFA World Cup marketing campaigning fuelled profit and sales, 4th quarter net income of NIKE Inc., the world's largest sporting goods maker, rose 23% y-o-y comprehensively beating the analysts' estimates. The stock has already outperformed the S&P 500 Index this year.

• The U.S. and European Union are poised to halt billions of dollars in oil exploration in Russia by the world's largest energy companies as the new sanctions over Ukraine would prohibit such corporations in searching Russia's Arctic, deep seas or shale formations for crude.

• Despite a sub par growth in net income, falling revenues and a declining pattern of EPS over the last year, some street experts rate JP Morgan in BUY category based on the convergence of positive investment measures by the company and attractive valuation levels.

Send in your responses latest by 3 PM, 6th Oct at the following link: http://goo.gl/igs3DY