Some of you are starting this course with significant personal investment experience, others have little experience. the purpose of this assignment, and a related assignment in Week 5, is to focus your attention on a small number of individual stocks and their relationship to a benchmark for performance.

Construct a one-page report with the following information:

1. Identify three stocks in the same industry. any industry is fine but you should pick one you have an interest in. your stocks must be traded on one of the two major U.S. exchanges, Nyse or Nasdaq. For example, if you selected the airline industry, you could choose ual, luv and dal. those are the ticker symbols for United, Continental, Southwest, and Delta. Provide a one paragraph description of each company. Cite your source(s) of information.
2. Identify a benchmark for your industry. This could be a mutual fund, etf or index that focuses on the overall performance of your industry. For example, the Fidelity Select Air Transportation Portfolio (fsaix) or the Arca Airline Index (xal) would be reasonable benchmarks. Briefly explain why your benchmark is appropriate for the industry chosen. cite your source(s) of information.
3. Identify the closing price for your three stocks and your benchmark as of Monday, Week 1. You can find these prices at finance.yahoo.com by using the historical prices function. Or you can use another source. cite your source.
4. What is the outlook for your industry for the upcoming year? Search the internet for reports or discussion. Provide a one paragraph summary of your findings. Focus on the reasons for the outlook, not just forecasted returns. Cite your sources of information.