LUANDATO wrote:John bought 2 shares and sold them for $96 each. If he had a profit of 20% on the sale of one of the shares but a loss of 20% on the sale of the other share, then on the sale of both shares John had...

A. a profit of $10
B. a profit of $8
C. a loss of $8
D. a loss of $10
E. neither a profit nor a loss

The OA is C.

I'm really confused with this PS question. Experts, any suggestion about how to solve it? Thanks in advance.

Say the cost of the shares on which John had a 20% profit was 'C.' Thus the cost was C and the profit was .20C. If we add the profit to the cost, we'll have our revenue, thus .20C + C = 96
1.2C = 96
C = 96/1.2 = 80.
Profit = 96 - 80 = 16

Similarly, if the shares on which John had a 20% loss had a cost of X, then the profit would have been -.20X. Now X + (-.20X) = 96
..80X = 96
X = 96/.80
X = 120
Profit = 96 - 120 = -24.

Net: 16 + (-24) = -8. The answer is C