QUESTION IS IN BOLD BELOW

Phase 1: Create Portfolio valued at $500,000.

Use the attached Excel Workbook as a starting point for your Stock tracking project.

You are given $500,000 to invest choose at least 5 stocks to invest in and track throughout the semester. Use the first day of class, closing price as your stock purchase price. (you can download the historical stock prices for these)

We will also track a couple benchmarks through the semester; add the following indices to your Excel spreadsheet:

• S&P 500 Index
• Russel 2000 Index
• Dow Jones Industrial Average
• NASDAQ

My question is about the statement above. I will be tracking the S&P 500 Index, Russel 2000 Index, Dow Jones Industrial Average and NASDAQ if I am understanding correctly these are the same as investing in any other stock, or is it different? I am really confused. You can read the rest of the requirements below for more context.

Create an Excel workbook to track your stock picks.

• Start by downloading the past 3 months of historical data from Yahoo Finance
• Continue to track the weekly stock price through the semester

Weekly Tracking Tab:

• Create a column for each of the stocks and indices which you will be tracking weekly
• Enter the stock price, or the average weekly price for each of the stocks, each week throughout the semester

Portfolio Tab:

• Example set up for purchase and sale of your stock portfolio. You are free to set this up any way you would like.

Phase 2:

• At the end of the semester, you will liquidate your stocks (sell them) and compute your rate of return.