Playing the market
Fall Stock Market Game and InvestWrite winners celebrated
12:49 p.m., March 11, 2015--Last week the University of Delaware’s Center for Economic Education and Entrepreneurship (CEEE) honored winners of the Stock Market Game (SMG), which teaches students in grades 4-12 to invest in stocks at real-time prices.
The Delaware SMG, offered by the CEEE since 1983, included 772 students on 179 teams from across the state. Over the course of 10 weeks, each team invested a virtual $100,000 in stocks traded on the New York and Nasdaq exchanges.
Honors Stories
National Medal of Science
Warren Award
“But before they invest, they do their homework,” said Marion Jacobs, CEEE staff member and SMG coordinator. “They research companies; they research stock performance. They try to determine the impacts of national and international events, and even weather conditions, on stock prices.”
At the end of the game period, the winning team in each grade-level division is the one with the highest dollar-value portfolio.
“We’re always eager to hear how students achieved these wonderful results, often outperforming adults,” Jacobs said.
The winning elementary division team, for example, turned their initial $100,000 into an impressive $113,060 in 10 weeks.
Led by teacher Timothy Werbrich, Leasure Elementary School students Jared Blackburn, Jalen Manson, Alexis Nsafoah and Jean’Day Tucker made about $10,000 on EA Sports stock alone.
“It was fun to invest in all these stocks,” said Nsafoah, who enjoyed working with her friends in class to choose stocks. She plans to participate in the SMG again next year.
To other kids who are interested in the SMG, Nsafoah’s advice is to just give it a shot.
“Try something new,” she said.
The winning team in the middle school division saw similarly notable results, earning $113,357 from their original $100,000.
Under the guidance of teacher Keith McKenica, Holy Angels School students Madison Boggs, Gianna Corbett, Caroline Cords and Thomas Marzulli credit their success to investing in Bluebird, a biotech company.
The team said that their 300 shares of Bluebird stock more than doubled in price, from $41.50 per share at the SMG’s beginning to $84 per share by the end.
The winning high school team took a different approach to choosing their stocks. Chester Burnett, Haolin Chen, Jacob Freeman and Matthew Lupton from Sanford School, working with teachers Gloria Diodato and Sandy Sutty, utilized a random stock generator at the beginning of the competition.
However, when that didn’t produce strong enough results, the team switched strategies. This resulted in an end total of $105,755.
Lupton said that the team’s best stock choice was Delta Airlines, “because oil prices were at an all-time low.”
CEEE Director Carlos Asarta was impressed by what he called the students’ “wonderful results.” He congratulated and thanked both teachers and administrators for their support of the SMG.
“And of course, I want to thank the parents,” Asarta said. “I know that for students to do well they need your support.”
InvestWrite winners
Participants are also invited to submit essays for the SMG’s InvestWrite competition, which challenges students to demonstrate their knowledge of investment strategies.
This year’s InvestWrite elementary-level winner was Madelyn Degnars from Etta J. Wilson Elementary School, taught by Jenny Rovner. This is the second time that Degnars has won the InvestWrite competition, having also been named the winner in the fall 2013 contest.
“I was shocked the first time and now it’s really an honor to be here again,” said Degnars. Her essay gave advice to a fictional girl named Melissa on how to wisely invest her piggy bank.
InvestWrite middle school level winner Michael Baker from Gauger-Cobbs Middle School wrote an essay on one stock that would be a sound long-term investment.
“I chose Bank of America stock because people will always need banks,” Baker said.
During his research, Baker studied graphs of Bank of America stock prices over the past five years and found a consistent upward trend. He also learned that the company made $88.94 billion in revenue as of 2013.
Baker, who said that finding lucrative companies was his favorite part of the game, added that he learned to always “spend your money wisely.”
Baker’s teacher, Kerry Waugh, said that her students find the SMG exciting because it allows them to take risks and see how those risks pay off. This is Waugh’s second year using the SMG in her classrooms and she plans to participate again next year.
“It helps students understand how banking, investing and researching all go hand in hand,” Waugh said. “It’s a real life skill for the future.”
During the ceremony, Craig Weldon presented trophies and certificates to the winners. Weldon is chief investigator of the Investor Protection Unit at the Delaware Department of Justice, which funds Delaware’s SMG.
“Without their support, we couldn’t do this,” said Asarta of Weldon’s office.
After awards were presented Weldon took some time to explain the role of his office in law enforcement. He also encouraged teachers to reach out to the Investor Protection Unit, saying that they are “more than happy to come speak to classes” about subjects like identity theft.
Of the Investor Protection Unit’s relationship with the CEEE and the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics, Weldon said, “We have a great partnership that’s not going away.”
Weldon also congratulated SMG student participants for learning a skill that will certainly pay off in the future.
“I love the fact that all of you take interest in this, because the sooner you do, the better off you’ll be financially.”
Team registrations are still being accepted for Delaware’s spring SMG, which runs from March 2-May 8. The cost is $5 per team and more information can be found here.
Article by Sunny Rosen
Photos by Duane Perry