Inactive Tutor answered 09/15/13
Tutor
New to Wyzant
Since you're looking for the percentage increase, the stock price is irrelevant. We just need to focus on the percent changes each day.
A 30% change, as seen from Day 1 to Day 2, can be calculated by multiplying the initial price by 1.3. (As you may recall, 30% can be displayed in decimal form as 0.3, and 1 + 0.3 = 1.3)
For the second increase, mutliply by 1.2 for a 20% change.
For the third, we multiple by 0.95 (a 5% decrease is the same as 1 - 0.05 which equals 0.95). You'll notice that all the increases are calculated by calculating a number higher than 1, and a decrease is calculated by multiplying by a number less than 1.
To get the total change, we simoly multiply all three factors together.
1.3 * 1.2 * 0.95 = 1.482, or a 48.2% change.