InvestWrite

Each Student will need to submit an entry to the InvestWrite contest. The topic of the contest is on the InvestWrite website.

Topic for Fall 2009 InvestWrite Essay

With school work and school activities, a job or chores, plus your friends and hobbies, retirement is probably the last thing on your mind. After all, it's still decades away and right now you might be working to have a bit more spending money in your wallet. However, it's important to make investing a priority even when you're young and on a limited budget.

In your essay, discuss the difference in a saving strategy for an immediate want, like a new computer or car, versus a saving strategy for your retirement. Would you select stocks, bonds, mutual funds or a combination of the three for each of those two strategies? Why? Discuss two of following and how they will affect your personal investing strategy for your long term investment or retirement goals: risk, diversification, compound interest. Conclude your essay by describing the most important thing you learned through your participation in The Stock Market Game.

Deadline for Post Entry: December 3, 2009

Here are the rules for the entry.

The entry will be made as an entry on your group blog. Each person needs to complete this assignment as a separate entry. I will know who has created and edited each entry. I may submit up to 5 entries from the class.

• Each student may submit only one entry with a maximum of 700 words.
• The title chosen by each student (excluding the author's name) must appear at the top of the first page of the text. If references are cited, include them following the last page of the text. (Please note: only the body of the essay will be included in the word count, the title and the works cited will not count against the 700 word limit.)
• The format for references or works cited can be chosen by the teacher.
• Identification of the student or teacher in the essay will result in disqualification.
• Since the judges will base their decision on the author's understanding of the subject matter, rationale, and writing style, please do the same when you judge. View judging criteria.
• All essays must be submitted in plain text; no charts, graphs or symbols will be accepted.

What do you get if your are a finalist Nationally?
Fall 2009 9-12th Grade Awards*

	1st place (1)	2nd place (1)	3rd place (1)
Student	3 Day/2 Night Trip to New York City and a "Wall Street Experience"	Mini Notebook Computer	Mini Notebook Computer
Teacher	3 Day/2 Night Trip to New York City and a "Wall Street Experience" 1-Yr Subscription to Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition	$250 Gift Card 1-Yr Subscription to Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition	$100 Gift Card 1-Yr Subscription to Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition
Class	Classroom Pizza Party	Classroom Pizza Party	Classroom Pizza Party
School	InvestWrite Trophy	InvestWrite Trophy	InvestWrite Trophy
Parents	InvestWrite Plaque	InvestWrite Plaque	InvestWrite Plaque

Short Sell Required Transaction

Each group needs to be sure to sell short a stock that they expect that will be going down. Rules on Short Selling for the SMG. Be sure to include in your portfolio review what stock you sold short and every week that you hold that short sell what the current value of the stock is compared to what you sold it short on.

Rankings as of Monday, November 30

204 out of 962 WI_40_ZZ771 $100,384.09
220 out of 962 WI_40_ZZ768 $100,280.36
265 out of 962 WI_40_ZZ772 $100,004.92
388 out of 962 WI_40_ZZ773 $99,169.67
413 out of 962 WI_40_ZZ770 $98,977.25
432 out of 962 WI_40_ZZ767 $98,770.44
859 out of 962 WI_40_ZZ769 $89,179.10

Thanksgiving Week Review

Week in Review – Thanksgiving Edition

Stocks were gobbling up good news today as investors seemed sanguine about the increase in new home sales, better-than-expected unemployment numbers, and a slight rise in the consumer sentiment figure. While the large number of jobless Americans remains a serious concern to economists and the powers that be in Washington, market participants appear to be heading into the holiday season with a positive outlook. May we be thankful for our blessings and hopeful for our fellow citizens that are still struggling through this tough economy.

In this season of tradition, the Stock Market Game has a tradition of it’s own to observe and that is to let you know about some of the top stocks that are fueling the leading student portfolios. The list is compiled from the states with the largest number of SMG teams, so it’s not exhaustive, but it’s designed to give you a peek at some of the best performing companies this semester. The list of the top five stocks and brief descriptions follow.

Top Five Stock Market Game Stocks – Fall 2009

Company	Ticker	9/8/2009	11/24/2009	% Increase
5. A-Power Energy Generation Systems	APWR	10.16	14.59	43
4. Diedrich Coffee Inc.	DDRX	21.5	33.91	58
3. Amazon.com	AMZN	80.9	132.94	64
2. Bon-Ton Stores Inc	BONT	7.88	13.43	70
1. Revlon	REV	5	17.91	258

5. A-Power Energy Generation Systems – This Chinese company’s main business is building onsite distributed power generation systems and micro power grids for industrial companies. They also build wind turbines, proving the green energy play is still popular with SMG students.

4. Diedrich Coffee Inc. – Company brands include Diedrich Coffee, Gloria Jean's, and Coffee People. Its business includes wholesale, franchise, and retail operations. Watch out Starbuck’s, someone might be gaining on you.

3. Amazon.com – Fueled by expectations of strong holiday sales and increasing revenue from the Kindle, the online retailer has been popular with both investors and SMG students this semester. It’s had a nice run, but is now trading at 78 times earnings, so caveat emptor.

2. Bon-Ton Stores Inc. – This company runs independent retail department stores in the US, offering an assortment of brand-name fashion apparel and accessories, cosmetics, home furnishings and other goods. Its stores include Bon-Ton, Bergners, Boston Store, Carson Pirie Scott, Elder-Beerman, Herberger's and Younkers. The company recently re-negotiated credit agreements earning it a boost from the ratings agencies.

And the winner is...

Revlon Incorporated – Rising 258% since September 8, 2009 is quite a spike. What did our savvy SMG students see in this cosmetics company? Well, it wasn’t lipstick on a pig. Revlon in recent quarters has greatly improved its finances by cutting costs and increasing market share in the lipstick market, regaining its position as number one in this category. It also conducted a swap of preferred shares for common shares, thus reducing the number of common shares available – always good for the common share price. Congrats to the SMG students who recognized Revlon’s inner beauty.

Example of Great Posts

Example of great Market Post
Example of great article review

Different Ways to Make Money on the Market

So what are some ways to make money on the stock market. Buy stock today at $12 and then hope the price goes up to $20. That way you make money.

What about if I sell Short stock at $20 and buy it back at $12. I also just made money! What the stock went from 20 to 12, how do you make money that way. Read this explanation on selling short.

If I have no extra cash but I think a stock will be going up I can buy on Margin to get the stock and then pay back the loan. So buying on Margin is also another way to make money.

Looking for some Tips on your Brochure??

Here are some more articles to help you

http://www.brassmagazine.com/article/investing-information-basics-get-your-started

http://www.brassmagazine.com/topics/investing

Gives you some more ideas on the brochure

Market Review Week 4

While most of downtown New York City is basking in the Yankees recent World Series win with the celebratory parade, a few short blocks away the rest of Wall Street is reviewing the unemployment stats released this morning. The unemployment rate rose above 10% for the first time since October of 1983, a much worse jump than many expected as employers continued to trim jobs from payrolls. Despite an overall growth in the economy during the third quarter, the unemployment reading is a sign of the continued weakness in the labor market. Perhaps the only good news for those out of work is the extension of unemployment benefits. Yesterday Congress voted overwhelmingly to extend benefits for the unemployed to 20 weeks. There are now a record 5.6 million people who have been unemployed for six months or longer, as the average time an unemployed person has been out of a job hit 26.9 weeks.

With the recent unemployment news, many investors are starting to reevaluate gold and bonds as safe investment havens especially after gold rose to $1,110 an ounce this morning. Gold is benefitting from a “flight to quality,” said Adam Klopfenstein, senior market strategist at commodities brokerage firm Lind-Waldock. Investors expecting an economic recovery “threw in the towel” after the jobs report and “want to own something tangible,” said Klopfenstein. While Stock Market Game teams cannot trade commodities, they may be interested in researching companies that mine gold. Some worth taking a closer look include: Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX); AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE: AU); and Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE: NEM).

For those Stock Market Game students who would like to add a little stability to their portfolios, have them explore bonds. In essence, bonds are loans investors make to the issuers in return for the promise of being paid interest, usually but not always at a fixed rate, over the loan term. The issuer also promises to repay the loan principal at maturity, on time and in full. While bonds have a reputation as a dull investment in part because they are less volatile than stocks and produce a lower long-term return, their appeal has risen due to the current economic climate.

While all bonds share basic characteristics such as terms, rates, and par values (the face value, or named value of the bond – usually $1,000), they are not all alike. One of the major differences is that they’re issued or sold, by four distinct entities in the U.S. Corporations issue bonds to raise money for expansion, research and development, and other expenses of doing business. While corporations can also raise money by selling new stocks, they may prefer bonds because the existing stocks lose value when new stocks are issued. Municipal governments, such as states and cities, sell bonds to fund projects for the public good like building bridges, sewers, roads, and schools. The U.S. Treasury also issues bonds to meet its regular and unusual obligations. And finally, government agencies issue bonds to raise money to do their work, such as provide mortgages as well as student loans.