The team performed an in-depth analysis on the casual dining restaurant, Kona Grill (NASDAQ: KONA). The overall analysis took a top-down approach. First, macroeconomic conditions and trends pertaining to the restaurant industry were analyzed. Next, a comprehensive financial analysis was performed on Kona Grill and its closest competitors. Finally, various absolute and relative valuation techniques were performed to determine the intrinsic value of the stock, which came out to $8.29. Compared to the current price on 4/08/2013 of $8.83, it was determined that the stock was fairly valued, warranting a hold recommendation.

The team performed an in-depth analysis on the casual dining restaurant, Kona Grill (NASDAQ: KONA). The overall analysis took a top-down approach. First, macroeconomic conditions and trends pertaining to the restaurant industry were analyzed. Next, a comprehensive financial analysis was performed on Kona Grill and its closest competitors. Finally, various absolute and relative valuation techniques were performed to determine the intrinsic value of the stock, which came out to $8.29. Compared to the current price on 4/08/2013 of $8.83, it was determined that the stock was fairly valued, warranting a hold recommendation.

The team performed an in-depth analysis on the casual dining restaurant, Kona Grill (NASDAQ: KONA). The overall analysis took a top-down approach. First, macroeconomic conditions and trends pertaining to the restaurant industry were analyzed. Next, a comprehensive financial analysis was performed on Kona Grill and its closest competitors. Finally, various absolute and relative valuation techniques were performed to determine the intrinsic value of the stock, which came out to $8.29. Compared to the current price on 4/08/2013 of $8.83, it was determined that the stock was fairly valued, warranting a hold recommendation.

For my finance, honors thesis I participated in the 4th annual CQA Investment Challenge. The goal of the challenge is to successfully manage an equity long-short, market neutral portfolio (hedge fund). I worked on a team with three other guys from the Applied Portfolio Management class to invest and manage $20,000,000 of hypothetical money. Our investment horizon ran from October 30, 2015 – April 1, 2016. The stock universe we had access to was the Russell 1000, which mainly consists of the highest-ranking large cap stocks in the US equity market. Thirty-one teams from different universities were judged at the end of the competition on absolute return rank, adjusted return rank (the Sharpe ratio) and evaluation of the team video, which discussed investment strategy. The University of Arizona team achieved an absolute return of 6.47%, Sharpe ratio of 0.36 and abnormal return (alpha) of 20.05%. We finished with a ranking of 7th place out of 31 participating schools.

The study of finance seeks to explore the possibilities, causes, and effects of money market trading. The objective of every financial analyst is to understand what moves the market and how one can benefit from its dynamics. There is little agreement between investors and analysts over which investment paradigms and modes of measurement and prediction are viable. The six financial viewpoints that will be discussed in this paper, though different in content, share one authentic theme: the value of experience. Although GenSpring (advocates of passive investment), Don Seeley (advocate of using financial statements to predict companies’ success in the market, and advocate of the importance of frequently overlooked financial information), Bob Kuberek (advocate of using performance attribution to measure value added by managers, and advocate of fixed income strategy analysis), and Peter Brimm (advocate of stockpicking strategies) may have different views as to what matters when investing, they all derive meaning from experience in the field, whether it’s using statistical analysis, historical analysis, or mathematical analysis.