For more than a decade, Santa Maria High School (SMHS) teacher Cindy Quaid has incorporated the Stock Market Game, an online simulation of global capital markets intended for grades four through 12, into her business economics and marketing courses. The program, started by the SIFMA Foundation, is meant to spark participating students’ interest in economics and personal finance.
“My goal [with the project] is that all of the students learn about different types of investments, return on investments, diversification, broker fees, and how to trade,” Quaid told the Sun.
Also the school’s chair of the Department of Business and Technology, Quaid has seen SMHS teams rank as high as 30th place in the Stock Market Game’s Los Angeles regional competition over the years. The bar was recently raised substantially, however, after two of Quaid’s economics students placed sixth out of more than 1,000 competing teams.
“I was elated,” Quaid said. “When I first saw the ranking, I had to look up all of the rankings [to verify].”
No amount of double takes could have changed the good news. SMHS seniors Jose Garza and Josue Lopez Vega were the duo responsible for the victory.
“Josue and Jose did a good job of investing early on,” Quaid said. “I prefer to allow students to work in a team of two players, which I select, because they often gain confidence from one another in venture.”
The project granted each team a hypothetical amount of $100,000 to use however they best saw fit. The investments corresponded to real-time trading, which obligated Garza and Vega to buy stocks at the closing price of the day prior, as their class was during the afternoon when the New York Stock Exchange was already closed, Quaid explained. Broker fees were also applied to the project and deducted from each team’s earnings accordingly.
“Since the money was ‘virtual,’ I did require each team to spend as much as they could,” Quaid said. “There was only an eight-week span of participation, and the stock market was crazy during the time.”
The duo didn’t make gains on all of their purchases, of course, Quaid said, but enough to rank as high as they did in the regional competition. Garza and Vega researched as much as they could before strategizing their game plan and choosing companies to purchase stock from.
The companies included Verizon, Visa, Vanguard, Honda, CRH, PepsiCo, ExxonMobil, CVS Health, and American Water. The highest gain the duo managed to score during the project was a 32 percent gain with Tesla.
“They had already researched and selected their stocks [prior to the project], and they spent the majority of their virtual money right away,” Quaid said. “I think that investing early paid off for them. They didn’t sell anything once the simulation began, they just sat back and watched.”
For more information on the Stock Market Game and its regional competitions, visit stockmarketgame.org. To find out more about business courses and other programs at SMHS, visit santamariahighschool.org.
Highlights:
• The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, in partnership with Allan Hancock College and Cal Poly, will offer free tax help to people who generally make $54,000 a year or less, persons with disabilities, and limited English speaking taxpayers who need assistance preparing their own tax returns. Preparation begins on Feb. 2. Call (805) 922-0329, Ext. 103, to make an appointment.
• The Santa Maria Public Library Foundation hosts its fifth annual fundraiser, Love Your Library, on Feb. 10 from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. at the Santa Maria Public Library. The event includes guest speaker Rona Barrett and live music from the Tri City Sound Chorus. Admission is $50 and includes lunch, wine, and beer. Call (805) 925-0994 for more information.
Calendar Editor Caleb Wiseblood wrote this week’s Biz Spotlight. Information should be sent to the Sun via fax, mail, or email at spotlight@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jan 31 – Feb 7, 2019.
