Single spacing Term Project: The goal of the project is to place you in the posi

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Term Project: The goal of the project is to place you in the position of currency traders and portfolio managers. Using macroeconomic and exchange rate models taught in this course you must analyze current events in the economy and financial markets with the aim of constructing a portfolio of currencies. Economic theory can yield trading strategies for assets. Your task is to link theoretical models with practical action. Each student will manage an imaginary amount of capital which will be invested in currencies and stocks. All trades should happen in the spot market. The amount of capital to be invested is one million Canadian dollars. A report must be submitted at the end of the term describing the overall strategy and reasons for specific investments. Events that trigger key trades and portfolio shifts should also be described in the report. Explain why your stock price and currency value change over the term. Stock and currency holdings must be liquidated by the end of the term and the proceeds converted back to Canadian dollars. Report any trading profits/losses in Canadian dollars. Excluding references the report should be no more than 3 single spaced pages in length. It is possible to obtain capital gains by trading stocks and currencies at high frequency. The goal is keep informed of price movements in financial markets to ensure the best possible trades. To make the project manageable write up the reasons for trades and the results as they occur instead of waiting until the end of the course to compile results. Ideally you should buy a currency and a stock priced in the currency. Trades can be more interesting when you buy a currency with an associated stock although pure currency trades are fine. With pure currency trades two currencies should be traded. Investment in Canadian stocks is permitted but If you buy a Canadian stock make sure the company is an exporter so it encounters exchange rate risk, then discuss how currency risk affects its profits. You must still predict and explain currency movements in this case by buying the currency that affects its profits. For more information on trading Canadian companies see the Project Advice file discussed below. You might also buy the Canadian company on a foreign stock exchange to encounter exchange rate risk. Mining companies certainly meet the criteria for buying a Canadian company. You may ignore Canadian companies, focusing on foreign stock markets to confront currency risk linked to equity investment. The grade will be determined by the quality of analysis rather than overall profitability. The point is to apply economic models taught in the course to predict exchange rate and stock price movements then to explain actual movements. Macroeconomics affects asset prices so the objective of the project is to use exchange rate models to construct investment portfolios. When a trade generates a loss the goal is to explain why it happened using the models. For instance, suppose the release of economic data causes depreciation of a currency you are holding with an implied Canadian dollar loss. Explain why the data caused the depreciation and why this did not conform to previously held expectations. Also explain why events affect profits of the corporation you are holding with implications for its share price. High quality analysis will generate a high grade. A sample of the kind of analysis required is found on Quercus in the trading project file, see eco365trade2021.pdf. Remember this course is about macroeconomics and exchange rates. Motivating foreign stock purchases with both microeconomic and macroeconomic factors is fine. But give detailed attention to explaining movements of the currency in which your asset is priced. Pure currency trades unsupported by stock investment are permitted. You can use models taught in eco365 to motivate pure currency trades. A stock trade may also be justified by examining potential capital gains on the currency in which it is priced. Do not just motivate purchases of the stock and currency. It is more important to explain why the stock price and exchange rate change. Short selling stocks is permitted but you must buy the shorted stocks back by the end of trading to calculate profit. For more suggestions look at the file called project advice 2021 which is found in the trading project folder. Stock and Foreign Exchange Quotes: There are several websites useful for accessing financial quotes free of charge. You are free to find your own sites as well. 1. Exchange Rate quotes are accessed via The Bank of Canada (bankofcanada.ca/rates/exchange/). Select the Daily Currency Converter. Select the foreign currency in the box marked “From”. Select the Canadian dollar in the box marked “To” and press the box marked “Convert” to obtain the Canadian dollar price of the foreign currency. 2. Stock quotes: a. Nasdaq quotes (www.nasdaq.com/): Select “quotes” and key in the stock symbol or company name in the search box to access a quote. b. finance.yahoo.com. Type the stock symbol or company name into the “search finance” box to access a quote. This can be used for NYSE stocks. c. Toronto Stocks (Get Quotes-TMXmoney): There is a box where you can enter the company name or stock symbol to access a quote. d. London stock quotes: londonstockexchange.com lists companies quoted on the London Stock Exchange alphabetically and provides price quotes free of charge.