Your Next Financial Advisor, Age 11
A team of fifth graders won first place in the state-wide Stock Market Simulation in Wisconsin, by doubling their initial “investment” of $100,000 in just ten weeks. Six of the school’s other twelve teams also finished in the top 20. The kids bought a lot of foreign stocks, heavily investing in China.
The winning team of Jordan, Julia, Kevin and Cecelia bought stock in Chinese companies such as China Natural Resources Inc., China Automotive Systems Inc. and PetroChina Co. Ltd.
Cecelia said the team made a majority of its profits in a single day.
“It was really crazy,” she said. “Every single hour we would look (at our portfolio) on the computer, and it would go up.”
Jordan offered straightforward advice for investors. “Pick a stock that looks good, and hopefully it will go up,” he said. “That’s pretty much what we did.”
Hopfensperger said the team’s timing of the market was impeccable. After realizing the initial gains, the team capitalized on short selling, a trading strategy used to profit from the falling price of a stock.
For their hard (but non-bonus-paying) work, the team gets an all-expense paid trip to NYC to see a Broadway show, Ground Zero, the Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island. They also get to walk onto the floor of the NYSE.
Kudos to the kiddies for doing so well, especially when stacked against a bunch of high schoolers, who apparently called foul:
Jim Guenther, president of Economics Wisconsin, said he received a call from a teacher in Madison inquiring how a team of elementary students could win the gameGuenther said the results are audited to ensure accuracy.
“I can say confidently that Tim’s kids won this fair and square,” he said.
The scary part:
Hopfensperger’s teams have had success in past contests. Since 2001, his students have earned three top-three finishes in the state and 23 top-three finishes in the junior division for grades kindergarten through eighth.
