What is the Stock Market, anyway? Introduction (or refresher) to the Georgia Stock Market Game

What is the Stock Market? The Stock Market is a market in which the public trades stocks it already owns.

How do I buy stock? In “shares,” or parts, of company ownership. When you buy stock, you “share” a part of the company’s profits or bear some of its losses.

Why would people invest in the Stock Market? People usually buy stocks with their savings. They do so hoping that their stocks will increase in value, thus making their savings grow. (All investment decisions involve some risk. There is the always the risk that stock may not gain value or may even lose value.) People hope that their stocks will increase in value and help them to make more money. So many people are affected by the stock market that the federal government must regulate it even though the companies being traded are private institutions.

What part of the federal government regulates the stock market? The real “S.E.C.” a.k.a. The Securities and Exchange Commission

The Language of Economics Economize: To base decisions on an assessment of costs and benefits, choosing the best combination of costs and benefits among the alternatives. Risk: The chance of losing money. Risk is the opposite of safety. Saving: Setting aside some of today’s income for future spending.

How does economics relate to our study of Latin America? TRADE of products Where are major companies based? NAFTA

REMEMBER: Stock markets allow people to benefit from growth in private businesses. No decision to save money is without cost or risk.

Which of the following decisions will guarantee that a person will make money in the stock market? (A) Buy the stock of a big company like IBM. (B) Buy the stock of a small company like Starbucks Coffee. (C) Purchase stocks after the stock market has dropped for two days in a row. (D) None of these decisions will guarantee that an individual will make money in the stock market.

If a company starts purchasing its own stock, what are the company leaders attempting to do? (A) To raise company profits (B) To increase company expenses (C) To show that the company believes the price is too low (D) To confuse the Securities and Exchange Commission

What are markets? The process through which buyers and sellers exchange with one another.

What is a Stock Exchange? A Stock Exchange is one of the organized stock markets with a centralized trading floor. In this market, auction-type trading allows traders to sell stocks to the highest bidder or buy stocks from the lowest supplier. These markets consist of the New York Stock Exchange(NYSE) and the American Stock Exchange (AMEX), both of which are located in New York City.

What about the Nasdaq? NASDAQ= National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation The Nasdaq Stock Market is an electronic marketplace where buyers and sellers get together via computer and hundreds of thousands of miles of high speed data lines. More than 5,000 companies list on Nasdaq’s computerized market. Nasdaq is not actually an exchange because it doesn’t have a central floor.

How do I find out how stock is doing in certain markets or exchanges? Your phone! Newspapers TV news Internet Stock Market Game website

What about a Stockbroker? A broker who accepts orders to buy and sell stock and then transfers those orders to other people who complete them is a stock broker. In the Georgia Stock Market Game, you will have an online broker. The broker gets commission (a percentage) of your trade. In the game we will play, there is a 2% broker fee for each transaction.

“Today on Wall Street…” “Wall Street” is an actual street name in New York City which is also frequently used to refer to the market for stocks.

More vocabulary and key points… Mutual fund: collection of stocks over time (usually a long-term investment) Preferred stock: “safe stock” --less risky than “common stock” traded on the market Remember that RISK can equal REWARD, but RISK can also equal LOSS. The market is driven by two things: FEAR and GREED!

The Stock Market Game Game takes place Groups are given $100,000 of “pretend money” to invest. Transactions are made and research can be done at the game’s website, http://www.gcee.org *Click on “Play the Stock Market Game” on the right and you are ready to begin! Each team is given a UserID and a password to enter the game and make transactions.

What CAN I do in this game? You CAN invest for ten weeks in common stocks, mutual funds, or preferred stocks online in the game. You CAN use very risky strategies to try to win this game that you would not be likely to use in “real life” with “real” money! You CAN win lots of college scholarship money and other prizes if you place among the state winners in this competition.

What CAN’T I do in this game? You CAN’T hold on to all of your money without investing any of it. There is actually a 5% savings fee if you don’t use your money in this game. You CAN’T buy or sell stock without the majority of your team’s consent. You CAN’T buy stock that costs less than $5 a share.

What MUST I do? You MUST buy “round lots” of shares (100’s). “3x3x3 rule” added last year… You must make 1st buy within 3 weeks You must own at least 3 stocks (or mutual funds) at the end of competition You must hold 3 different companies for at least 3 weeks at a time at some point throughout the competition.

Will you be checking on me? I will be checking rankings weekly and updating them in the hallway, but I will not be checking the 3x3x3 rule. That is your responsibility to implement. If you win the competition, the judges will look over your portfolio to be sure that you followed this rule! We will be doing weekly activities in class to monitor your learning about the stock market through this competition.

So how do I win? The value of the portfolio=the winning team! Last year’s winning team in the state made $1.4 million! Play with a high risk strategy, but don’t end up being a “Pig!” Don’t sell all of your stock at the end—it’s the value of your final portfolio that will be measured.

Stock Market Nicknames: “Bear market” refers to a time where stock market prices are falling as a whole. “Bull market” refers to a time where stock market prices are rising overall. “Pigs” are people who try to make a lot of money short-term in the market and end up getting slaughtered!

What can we do to get ready for competition? Begin researching companies you might be interested in investing in (look up ticker symbols—you can find these on the game website or Yahoo Finance). Look online for annual reports. Check the value of companies that interest you online, in the paper, or on the news daily. Discuss possible investments with your group.

My favorite helpful research site: http://finance.yahoo.com