By Victoria Mairal-Cruz, ’12, Contributor
The Investment Club was created at the beginning of this year by freshmen Michael Barton, club president, and Jack Willingham, vice president. When Barton began high school, he “convinced” Willingham to help him start the club, and “The rest is history.”
The Investment Club is “a club where students can come together to pursue their passion in investment management,” Barton said. He loves “having a time during the day when I can do what I love, investing money.” Barton has “always loved investment management,” and hopes to work at Goldman Sachs in New York City some day.
Barton has participated in the Stock Market Game twice before. He said stocks are “something I like… the interest [came] from mostly my grandfather… [who’s] big in business.” Additionally, Barton’s great uncle worked for Goldman Sachs in New York, just like the CCDS student aspires to.
“I try to read Forbes, Business Week, [and] The Wall Street Journal every day,” Barton said.
The ten member club has had a successful first year. The club’s members are currently participating in an individual Virtual Stock Market Game, in which club members compete against each other. The club began the game in February, and it continues until the end of this school year. Each member starts with a million dollars of fake “money” and invests it in different stocks. The goal of the game is to invest money in stocks that will have a good return—in other words, stock from “companies whose stock is worth more than it’s priced at,” Barton said. Barton has made a lot of money in the game by investing in Apple stock.
To make informed choices about which stock to buy, the club members individually research stock values; there are websites available to access stock screeners. Barton said, “You get analysis on the internet… you’re looking for stock that will make money in the future.”
This virtual game mirrors the New York Stock Exchange exactly— if stocks are doing well in the New York Stock Exchange, then they are doing well in the virtual game. The game uses the same prices as the NYSE, as well as the same values in stock. Thus, club members judge which stocks to buy by monitoring the NYSE.
Right now, out of all the Investment Club members, freshmen Ani Kosaraju and Michael Barton are in the top two positions in the Virtual Stock Market Game. As of April 12, Ani was first with a total profit of $1,102,473.00, and Barton was second with $1,094,687.00.
This is the fourth time participating in the Stock Market Game for club member George Kogelmeier ’13, who said he played the Stock Market Game once in the 7th grade and twice in the 8th grade. Kogelmeier said he joined the club because “It sounded like a cool idea.”
The club has an ambitious agenda for next year. During the fall, the club hopes to become the champions of the National Stock Market Game. The club is also registering to become part of the Future Business Leaders of America, the largest of all high school business organizations in the United States. In addition, they are raising funds to start a real portfolio outside of school and “invest real money with the hopes of making a profit,” Barton said.
Club member Sai Mangu ’13 said, “I think the club’s good because it prepares people in high school for what they’re going to [do] as adults.” Mangu just came to one meeting and “got drawn in.”
The club is hoping to gain members. So students with a passion for investing money, an interest in a future in business, or those who just want to play the stock market game should join the club. To join, contact Michael Barton or Jack Willingham, talk to math teacher Mr. Howard Brownstein, the club’s faculty advisor, or swing by Room 213 during club meetings.
Photo by Ilana Habib, ’11, Photography Editor