INVESTIGATION: Record and graph a share

We are now going to record the value of a particular share each day over a period of time. We will record the value in a spreadsheet and then graph the data in order to analyse how the value changed. 

Activity 1: Choose your share

• Go to the following website: https://www.marketindex.com.au/asx20 and scroll down to find the ASX 20 Share Prices table. Choose one of the companies from this list. Try to choose a company that you know of or have an interest in. 
• Click on the code for your chosen company, the code is in the first column, to see how the share price has been changing over the past year. You should see a chart.
• Based on what you see in the chart, describe what you think will happen to the value of this company's share over the next month.

 

Activity 2: Track your share

• Decide on how long you will track your share for. Will it be 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month? 
• Set up a spreadsheet like the one shown below for your chosen share for the number of days you plan to track your share. In the example, the Coles Group Ltd share is being tracked: 

• Enter the Price of your share today next to day 1. Note to make the formatting of the price column look like currency, highlight the cells where the prices will go and choose: Format > Number > Currency. 

• Once you have recorded the price of your share over your chosen number of days, graph the value of the share over time by highlighting the Day and Price columns:

            Then choose: Insert > Chart.

• You should get a graph similar to the one below:

Activity 3: Analyse and research your share

• Looking at your graph, did the value of your share behave as you described that it would in activity 1? Describe how it was similar or different to what you predicted.
• If there were significant changes to the value of the share, use the internet to research why this may be. e.g. If you were tracking the Coles share, research if there were any particular issues with that company over the time period that you were tracking it. e.g. Were employees on strike? Were stocks of particular items low? Did wholesale prices change? Are people buying more or less from the Coles Group stores for some reason?