Problema Solution

The price of a stock appreciated by 17.6% of its value last month and then depreciated by 17.6% this month. By what percent did the stock appreciate or depreciate over the 2-month period? Express your answer as a positive or negative value based on the direction of the percentage change.

Answer provided by our tutors

let 'x' represent the value of the stock two months ago


price of a stock appreciated by 17.6% of its value last month

x + 0.176x


and then depreciated by 17.6% this month

(x+0.176x) - 0.176(x+0.176x)


simplifying we have:

0.969024x


1 - 0.969024 = 0.030976


the change of the stock over the two month period is represented by approximately -3.1%