Stock Converges to Zero

The price of a stock starts at $100, then drops 1%, then grows 1%, then drops 1% again and so on. What does the price converge to?

Answer

Every “down 1% then up 1%” cycle multiplies the price by

\[ \frac{99}{100}\times\frac{101}{100} \;=\;\frac{9999}{10000} \;<\;1. \]

Hence after \(k\) cycles the price is

\[ 100\Bigl(\tfrac{9999}{10000}\Bigr)^k, \]

and as \(k\to\infty\) this tends to \(0\).

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