Explain why you chose increase/decrease/stay the same.
Explain which lengths of investments are better for that projected direction.
For a primer on the dot-plot, see https://www.investopedia.com/dot-plot-4581755
Parameters for the research and analysis report are as follows:
1. Investments selections are short-term money-market (defined as one year or less).
a. You will have investments for the entire year so when you choose an investment (4-
week T-Bill, 1-month CD, etc.), you need to invest the principal and interest in at least
one additional investment to get to the end of the year. For 2021 Spring Block I, there is
a pre-hurricane season period, a during-hurricane season period, and a post-hurricane
season period so you should consider these as different investment criteria.
b. If you decide to “cash-out,” put that money into a money market account for the rest of
the year. Do not just abandon the money when an investment ends.
2. Three short-term instrument types are to be recommended, although you can use multiple
simultaneous ones of each of these.
You must use all of these, and only these:
Treasury Bills purchased from the U.S. Treasury
(https://www.treasurydirect.gov/instit/instit.htm),
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/research/indepth/tbills/res_tbill.htm
ii New CDs purchased from the issuing bank and
iii Money market accounts.
b. No more than 35% of the portfolio can be initially invested in any individual security
type. T-Bills and CDs and money market accounts must be used.
c. When multiple T-Bills are used, they must be of different lengths (i.e., 4-Week, 8-Week,
13-Week, 26-Week). Do not use 52-week T-Bills as they cannot meet requirement 1a
above.
d. Purchase new CDs. Do not look at the secondary market for CDs that have already been
issued at some time in the past.
e. When multiple CDs are used, they must have different maturity terms (i.e., 3-month, 6-
month) Do not use 9-month or 12-month CDs as they cannot meet requirement 1a
above.
f
2. A detailed summary of the investment asset and the parameters you will use in which to base
your recommendation.
3. A detailed descriiption of the upside and downside risk of each investment. The latter is of
particular importance as the firm may decide to manage excess cash in one or more investment.
4. Source identifier for all investment selections:
a. Example: website URL.
5. A spreadsheet (embedded into the report and submitted separately) illustrating the following:
a. Asset category/classification.
b. Specific money market instrument identifier (i.e., U.S. Treasury CUSIP for T-Bills)
c. Present Value
d. Interest Rate
e. Price per $100 (for T-Bills)
f. Term/Length
g. Compounding frequency (for CDs and money market accounts)
h. Future Value
i. Profit
j. Website URL
k. Other information as appropriate
6. Total return and %return for the investment portfolio.
7. Spreadsheet model is to include all cell-based formulas for all calculations Your conclusion is to
summarize the recommendation made in item #1 above.
Format for report.
1. Submit a Word file.
2. Analysis must be between 3 to 5 pages maximum.
3. Submit an Excel file separately
