Glebe, Victoria Personal Finance, 2013 10/16/13

Stocks Face Off! A Stocks Comparison Target vs. Walmart Both Target and Walmart are large corporations dealing in everything from food and clothes, to home improvement and appliances. Both are highly successful so it can be difficult to choose which to invest in. however, there are some things to look at. Targets one year target is predicted to increase by 13% in the next year, while Walmart has a predicted increase of 9%, both very close. Walmarts beta (volatility) however is less than Target at .36 compared to .91. Target has gone from $50 a share in 2010 to $60-$70 per share in 2013; while Walmart had shares going for $50-$60 in 2010 and up to $80 per share in 2013. A final point of comparison, Walmart has a dividend of 1.88 and Target pays 1.72 in dividends per year. Both companies are close in their investing capabilities; not a huge difference. One might choose Walmart because it has a lower volatility which would make it potentially safer, and also pays more in dividends. I am not a fan of their company though, and since both Target and Walmart come so close I would choose Target as an investment opportunity. Merck & CO Inc. vs. Pfizer Inc. Merck and Pfizer are both highly successful pharmaceutical companies based in the United States. The latter has a 52 week range (stock prices in the last year) is between $31.15$23.55, and Merck has a range of $50.16-$40.02. Merck has a lower beta (.54) than its counterparts .74; showing it has fewer fluctuations over the years. Mercks P/E (price/earnings, the amount paid per dollar of earning) is higher at 28 than Pfizers 8. If investors are willing to pay more per the dollar, that shows a stronger trust in the company. Based off these findings I would invest in Merck &CO. over Pfizer. Apple vs. Dell Apple Inc. and Dell Inc. are both huge, billion dollar companies specializing in computer software, consumer electronics, and personal computers. Apples stock prices are going for between $652.70-$385.10 over the past year; paying out $12.20 in dividends with a yield of 2.48%. Dell is paying out $.32 in dividends with a yield of 2.31 %; and there stock prices at $14.64-$8.69 in a 52 week period. In 2010 Apples stock prices were at $200-$300 per share, with a high of $700 in 2012 than back down to $400-$500 in 2013. Dells prices did not go for nearly as much with a high of $14-$20 in both 2010 and 2013 their price actually went down in

2012 to $10 per share (much less than Apples $700). Apples beta of .98 is also lower than Dell which has a beta of 1.42, showing it has higher fluctuations as a company and may be not the best choice to invest in. I am a little biased since my cousin works for Apple and I like their phones, however I am a steadfast Dell computer fan. Yet based on their breakage rate and the statistics I compared, Apple seems to be the better choice for investment because it is making more overall than Dell and is less likely to have a large drop in price. Hershey vs. Nestl Nestl and Hershey are both chocolate manufactures, Hershey being the largest and oldest chocolate manufacturer in the US. Nestl also makes brownie and cake mixes, drinks, ice cream and of course chocolate. Nestl is a cheaper choice in how much profit is earned per share of stock; their P/E is 15.22 compared to Hersheys P/E of 29.4. Nestl pays more in dividends than Hershey ($2.11 compared to $1.95 for Hershey); yet Nestl stock price trend has been moving progressively upward to $90 in 2013, a jump from its previous price of $40 per stock. Even though Nestl has a strong growth trend, Hershey is still worth more at $100 in stock price currently. I really do not like Hershey as a company, I think it has a very corrupt managing system and they do not practice humane methods of purchasing their cocoa. Nestl is not much better though, so if it was based off principle I would choose neither Nestl nor Hershey. However, as Nestl is the cheaper choice in shares and also is increasing in stock price every year, I would choose to invest in Hershey & CO. Home Depot vs. Lowes