Question

a person sold 100 shares of a stock at a loss of 40%. If the selling price of the 100 shares was $3000, which of the following comes closest to what was paid for the stock? a. $4200 b. $4800 c. $5000 d. $7500

Answer 1

So let's set up an equation:
x-.4x=3000
, where x is the original price of the stock (which is what you want to find)
we subtract .4x since the .4x is denoting that 40% of the original price was taken away from the original value (x) which then equals 3000
So,
.6x=3000
x=3000/.6
x=5000

Answer 2

The answer is C) $5000 
If you multiply 5000 by 40% or .40 that will give you the amount will be lost which is 2000. 5000 - 2000 = the total amount $3000.