Part of Lesson Plan: Researching Biotechnology Companies for the Purpose of Investment

Activity Overview / Details

After I have taken students through a company website.  I then go to yahoo finance. I show how the three main stock markets are represented.  I type in the word Nektar into the "get quotes" part and click.  This brings up the companies finanical profile. I point out to students the "last trade" which is how much the company's stock value currently is.  I show them all the different types of charts that are available.  This is a good time to explain to students how you can use past performace as a indicator on how the company will do but its not a guarentee.  I show them the "headlines" section and explain how any news about the company you can find here. I then show them the "More on" column on the left.  I point out the "Analyst Coverage" and explain how there are people who are in the finance industry who recommend on purchasing a company or not.  I explain that it is their job to become knowlegable in two companies and using this page is a good starting point to do research.