ISSS608 2016-17 T1 Assign2 CHIA Yong Jian Introduction
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Motivation
Ever since the first stock market appeared in Belgium (http://bebusinessed.com/history/history-of-the-stock-market/), it has provided an important centre for companies to raise equity from the public, and for investors to build their capital through these stock markets (https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/stock-markets-no-longer-fit-purpose).
In the United States alone, there are now three major stock exchanges - New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System (NASDAQ) and American Stock Exchange (AMEX) (http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/08/security-market-usa.asp). These stock markets and other U.S. stock markets are among the most liquid in the world, with the first 2 quarters of 2016 seeing 8 to 10 billion shares traded (http://www.itg.com/trading-volume/quarter/). The transparency provided by these markets allow the management, investors and lenders of listed companies to make comparison of their company with other companies in the same sector or otherwise. The insights gained from such analysis allows the various parties to make more informed decision when it comes to their risk appetites and financial planning goals, for example. The US Stocks Fundamental Data (XBRL) provided for this assignment realises about such an opportunity for interactive exploration and comparison for different stakeholders in terms of financial analysis.
Objectives
For listed companies, financial analysis can come in the form of technical (using past prices or trade volume) or fundamental analysis (measuring intrinsic value of companies) (http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/131.asp).
