Mathematics Standard • Year 12 • Investment and Loans • Lesson 14
Share Tables and Price Graphs in Context
Read a real share table row, reproduce the column the paper prints for you, and interpret a price graph over time. The arithmetic is small here; the reading is the skill.
1. Reading the table
A share table prints this row for Corbin Ltd: Last $24.00, Change +0.42, High $27.80, Low $19.15, Div 96c. 2 marks each
Q1.1 Calculate the dividend yield, correct to 2 decimal places.
Q1.2 Which two columns did you use, and which did you ignore? Say why.
2. A parcel
Q2.1 Ravi holds 2200 Corbin shares. Find the dividend he receives.
Q2.2 Explain why Ravi's dividend yield is the same as that of someone holding 50 shares.
3. Value over time
A share closes at $12.50, $13.10, $12.80, $13.90, $14.40 and $14.75 over six months. 2 marks each
Q3.1 Find the overall percentage change, correct to 2 decimal places.
Q3.2 Describe what the graph shows, in a way that "it went up" does not.
How did this worksheet feel?
What I'll revisit before next class:
Q1.1
96c = $0.96. Yield = 0.96 ÷ 24.00 × 100% = 4.00% [2].
Q1.2
Used Last and Div [1]. Ignored High, Low and Change: those describe the year's trading range and the day's movement, and the yield is defined against the current price only [1].
Q2.1
2200 × $0.96 = $2112.00 [2].
Q2.2
Yield is a property of the share, not of the holding [1]. It is a ratio of two per-share quantities, so the parcel size cancels out of it entirely; both investors earn 4.00% on every dollar invested, and only the dollar amounts differ [1].
Q3.1
(14.75 − 12.50) ÷ 12.50 × 100% = 2.25 ÷ 12.50 = 18.00% [2].
Q3.2
The trend is upward but not steady: the price fell in month 3, from $13.10 to $12.80, before resuming [1]. "It went up" describes only the two endpoints and hides the fall, and an investor who sold in month 3 would have made a loss on a share that ended 18% higher [1].