Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Fargo 6th-graders beat college students in picking hypothetical stocks.


Two 6th-grade math classes at Fargo's Oak Grove Lutheran School participated in a game of money management, in which their teacher used two online investment companies to hypothetically select companies to buy stock in.

One of those online investment companies was holding a challenge for colleges and universities, where the collegiate investment club that selected the best collection of stocks (in terms of return) would win $5,000.

The rate of return for the best university investment club? 18.5%.

The rate of return for Fargo's Oak Grove Lutheran School middle schoolers? 22%.

How did they do it? According to the Associated Press, the 6th-graders picked companies they knew about with solid track records. That's all, nothing special. The students used an investing app called Motif that bundles stocks based on a common theme and idea. For example, there's the "No Glass Ceilings" collection of stocks, which Motif's founder, Hardeep Walia, credits his wife with creating--a motif in which all the bundled companies are led by female CEOs.

One student, Eloise Baker, selected Under Armour for logical reasons.

"That's what I wanted for Christmas. I thought that's what a lot of other kids wanted," she said of Under Armour clothing to the AP. "I also found it to be a little bit cheaper than Nike, so I thought it was a good buy."

Ben Swenson, another student, has a different take on the class's success.

"I think it was sheer luck."



photo: Yahoo, via Associated Press



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