The Stock Market Game - SMG! - Kingsport Times-News Online

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The Stock Market Game - SMG!

Published Monday, September 28 2009 - (0) Comments

Well, fall is officially here and that means one thing for us at the Kingsport Times-News – The Stock Market Game, of course! Now, I am, by far, no guru when it comes to the stock market. My understanding is very basic, if that. I realize that right now might be the best time to invest, what with being so young and having time to deal with a risky investment. But what money am I going to invest with? Well, if the Stock Market Game were real, I could just pull out that virtual $100,000 each team gets to play for a ten week period, and then I'd been having a grand old time! Since I do not have a bottomless pit of funds (not yet anyway), the kids can play around with learning how to work the Stock Market with fake "moo-lah".

Each semester students in grades 4 through 12 have the opportunity to join up and play in our Stock Market Game. The game starts on Monday, September 28 and ends on Friday, December 4. You do not HAVE to be a part of NIE, so anyone can do it! Even home school families. Any teacher may have as many teams as desired, with no more than five kids per team. Each team costs $15.00 to play for the ten week period. A virtual $100,000 is given to every team, and they must use that money wisely to buy and sell stocks. There is a rule that must be followed (the result of not following results in disqualification); it is the "5 by 5 by 5" rule. Each team must buy 5 stocks, spend no less than $5,000, and within 5 weeks. If any one team doesn't do it then they are disqualified and will not know it until the end of the game. This is a steadfast rule and the consequence is never waived.

One of the best parts is that the team's name or captain's name is printed in the newspaper when the weekly rankings come in. Yes, the schools here complete against one another and quickly learn who they are up against. By the end of the ten weeks, final rankings are given and there are official winners for each semester. There is a senior (grades 9 through 12) and a junior (grades 4 through 8) division, and both get the chance to be honored by their work.

All those details, and still more! This brings me to discuss the end of the year ceremony of awards we give for the winners. The top three winners for each division, including family members, are all invited to a special pizza dinner at a designated location where students will get metals for their effort. We have cake, candy, and a lot of door prizes to give away! This is really great for kids because we want to show them how awesome they are for their hard work and, more importantly, to show off what they've learned!!! It was pretty funny to have adults ask them about their strategy. "How did you do it! How did you know?" Each student usually shrugs with a smile – they're going to hold on to that secret!

In all seriousness, the Stock Market Game is a wonderful way to get kids interested and involved in learning more about how money, companies, and brands work. The earlier the better and we at the Kingsport Times-News are making this available. Maria Edlin from Middle Tennessee State University works to make this happen and The Johnson City Press is also a partner. We are happy to bring this to families and schools as not much is nicer than bonding over our children's success. Don't you think?

Call me, Elaine Riner, at 423-245-4954 for more information on how you can get your kid to sign up! Or better yet, we can see if their school would want to sign up and get more kids involved!

Happy Investing!

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