Whiz kids beat market
A team of Illinois high school students took a hypothetical $100,000 and turned it into $171,640.60 over 14 weeks, walking away with top honors in the 2011 SIFMA Foundation Stock Market Game
A team of Illinois high school students took a hypothetical $100,000 and turned it into $171,640.60 over 14 weeks, walking away with top honors in the 2011 SIFMA Foundation Stock Market Game.
Kunal Kochar, Shamil Shafi, Shane Shafi and Brad Stimple, students at Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville, Ill., beat out some 6,500 students who also researched and traded stocks (through live simulations), earned interest on “cash” balances and paid trading commissions (in the softest of dollars).
The winners, along with four other high school teams from across the country, won a trip to Washington to meet members of Congress, tour the city and see how economic policies are drafted.
From the start, the Neuqua Valley students learned that investing isn’t easy.
“Early on in the challenge, I saw a group of students, very disappointed about a 20% portfolio loss, work hours together to create and modify different strategies, and turn their portfolio into a more than 50% gain,” said Kevin Geers, the team’s instructor.
Oak Hill High School in Sabattus, Maine, took the silver prize with a portfolio of $132,328.66, and Westby High School of Westby, Mont., came in third with a total of $130,233.15.
The stock market game is the centerpiece of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association’s financial education efforts.
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