You have just won $2 million in lottery! Congrats! Realizing how fortunate you are, you have
spent some of this money on a new car, a new condominium and a trip around the world. You
have now returned back from your trip and would like to take the remaining $500,000 in the
shares of one publicly traded Canadian company. You seek advice on which company to invest
from one of your friends, who is a computer programmer. She tells you to invest in a new
software company that just went public (the company’s shares begun trading on the stock
exchange). The new technology company develops new online games and receives fees from
players along with advertising revenue. This company has not had many sales yet, but expects
to in the future due to the popularity of its product. Its price-earnings ratio is 80 times
earnings, its return on common shareholder’s equity is 2.0% and its return on assets is 1.8%.
(you may need to refresh your understanding of the underlined terms). Your uncle, on the
other hand, suggests that you purchase shares in a large bank that has consistently paid
dividends for over 100 years and has increased its dividends every year for the past 45 years.
This bank has a price-earnings ratio of 11 times earnings, but unlike the software company, it
has a dividend yield of 3.0%. The bank’s net income has barely risen over the past two years
but its return on common shareholders’ equity is 10.2%, while its return on assets is 2.7%.