FHS Economics students sweep Stock Market Game awards

FALLBROOK – Eleven Fallbrook High School Economics students collaborating on three teams swept the 2009-10 Stock Market Game competition and will be honored Wednesday, May 26 at the San Diego County Office of Education.

The students participated in the year-long Stock Market Game sponsored by the Foundation for Investor Education. Competing against 79 other high school teams in the San Diego region, FHS teams took the top seven places and ninth place overall.

Finishing first were seniors Mayra Hernandez, Patricia Herrera, and Adelita Puga on Team Profit Ladies from Economics Teacher Dave Evans’ sixth period class. Finishing second were seniors Allison Brown, Emily Bryant, Katelyn Cook, and Katherine Kelly on Team Money Sharks from Evans’ first period class. Finishing third were seniors Luis Galvan, Jennifer Kellerman, Carla Mercado, and Luis Ramirez on Team 2LCJ from Evans’ fourth period class.

Each of the 11 students will receive special prizes for their first, second, and third place finishes and each of the three teams will be given an opportunity to share their experiences and what they learned about financial markets and investing.

The Stock Market Game gives students the opportunity to experience the stock market in real time. Each collaborative team is given $100,000 to invest. Initial investment decisions are made after the students research stocks and mutual funds and decide which ones to invest their capital in. All buy and sell transactions are made online at the Stock Market game Web site in real time. If the teams so choose, they can sell and reinvest capital at any time during the game, whether to stem losses or to capture profits.

Performance is measured against the performance of the Standard and Poors 500 index from September 8, 2009 through April 30, 2010. The first, second, and third place teams at FHS outperformed the S&P 500 by 20.13 percent, 17.85 percent, and 17.55 percent, earning profits of $36,049, $33,578, and $33,281 respectively.

“It is a great credit to these students for giving forth the effort necessary to be successful investors, especially in a volatile market like this,” said Evans. “We at Fallbrook High congratulate them and wish them well as they move on to real investing in the real world!”