Question

General Motors stock fell from $41 per share in 2013 to $24.98 per share during 2016.

a. If you bought and then sold 300 shares at these prices, what was your loss?

b. Express your loss as a percent of the purchase price. Round to the nearest tenth of a percent.

Answer 1

a. The total loss from buying and selling 300 shares at these prices can be calculated as follows:

Total cost of buying the stock = 300 shares x $41/share = $12,300

Total proceeds from selling the stock = 300 shares x $24.98/share = $7,494

Loss = Total cost - Total proceeds = $12,300 - $7,494 = $4,806

Therefore, the loss from buying and selling 300 shares of General Motors stock at these prices is $4,806.

b. To express the loss as a percent of the purchase price, we can use the following formula:

Loss percentage = (Loss / Total cost) x 100%

Substituting the values we found, we get:

Loss percentage = ($4,806 / $12,300) x 100% = 39.2%

Rounded to the nearest tenth of a percent, the loss percentage is 39.2%.