Question

In the 3-month period November 1, 2014, through January 31, 2015, Hess Corp. (HES) stock decreased from $80 to $64 per share, and Exxon Mobil (XOM) stock decreased from $96 to $80 per share.† If you invested a total of $20,960 in these stocks at the beginning of November and sold them for $17,120 3 months later, how many shares of each stock did you buy?

Answer 1

130 shares of HES and 110 shares of Exxon were bought

Step-by-step explanation:

Given;

Initial price of the HES stocks = $80

Final price of the HES stocks = $64

Initial price of the Exxon stocks = $96

Final price of the Exxon stocks = $80

Amount invested in buying = $20,960

Amount received on selling = $17,120

let the numbers of share of HES bought be 'x' and Exxon be 'y'

thus, we have

$80x + $96y = $20,960 ..........(1)

and,

$640x + $80y = $17,120 ..........(2)

on solving the equations we get

64 × ( $80x + $96y = $20,960 )

- 80 × ( $64x + $80y = $17,120 )

--------------------------------------------------

- $256y = - $28,160

or

y = 110

substituting the y in 1 we get

$80x + $96 × 110 = $20,960

or

x = 130

Hence,

130 shares of HES and 110 shares of Exxon were bought

Answer 2

HES stock has 110 shares and the Exxon Mobil stock has 130 shares

Step-by-step explanation:

In this question, we have to assume the HES stock be X and Exxon Mobil stock be y

So, the equations would be

80X + 96Y = $20,960

64X + 80Y = $17,120

Now, we have to compute this equation by multiplying the 64 in equation 1 and 80 in equation 2

So, the updated equation would be

5,120X + 6,144Y = 1,341,440

5,120X + 6,400Y = 1,369,600

Now we have to add the subtract sign in both the equations

So,

X should be deleted and Y would be

-256Y = - 28160

So, Y = 110

Now multiply the Y value with any of the equation, to compute the X shares

So,

80X + 96Y = $20,960

80X + 96 × 110 = $20,960

80X + 10,560 = $20,960

80X = 10,400

X = 130 shares