Lundy-Fetterman School of Business students Taye Ghadiali, Charles Knowles, McKenzie Cannon and Raelynn Cox were named as finalists for the Fall 2023 Stock Market Game after developing their investment portfolios throughout the semester.
Twenty students in both ECON 202 Principles of Economics and ECON 420 Money and Banking competed against their peers for 13 weeks under the direction of Dr. Shahriar Mostashari, associate dean for external relations and professor of business.
“Financial literacy and personal finance are added bonuses for students taking these fall 2023 classes,” said Mostashari. “In addition to mastering macroeconomics and money, banking and financial markets, students learn about the art and science of investing and the miracle of compounding.”
Mostashari said he was proud of these students and the results they we able to produce.
“Given the current geopolitical atmosphere, the soft-versus-hard landing debate in the U.S. and the prospect of yet another budgetary gridlock, the top two teams average return of 9.275 percent in 13 weeks is something to celebrate,” he said.
Ghadiali, a senior Trust and Wealth major from Warren, Michigan, placed first in the 2023 Stock Market Game. Ghadiali came in with an almost 10 percent return over the fall semester. Ghadiali invested in companies such as Amazon, Microsoft and Tesla and saw his biggest returns in those companies.
Ghadiali added, “I really loved the experience of playing the stock market game. This was my first time ever using money and actually investing into something. I had never seen a portfolio before playing this game or even looked at the stock market. I understood what it was, but it was different from learning about it and doing it firsthand. I would recommend anyone who wants to learn how to invest and get comfortable with stocks 100 percent. I learned a lot while playing the game and it got me wanting to start investing right now.”
The other finalists included Knowles with around a 9 percent return, Cannon with a 4 percent return and Cox with a 3 percent return.
“I tried to buy stocks that I knew would be flourishing with the holiday season coming up,” said Cannon, a senior communication studies major and December graduate. “I bought into Apple because they always come out with new products in the fall. I bought into Lululemon and Amazon, because I knew people would be doing a lot of Christmas shopping on those sites. I also bought into Hilton, because I knew people would be traveling for the holidays. Overall, I would recommend this game to others. I truly enjoyed it, and I feel like it taught me a lot about stocks.”
The game and the stock market are not only for business majors. Everyone can learn how to invest no matter the experience or major.
“Going into the Stock Market Game, I really didn’t know what I was doing,” said Knowles, a senior history major from New Bern. “Being able to play this game throughout the class has definitely turned me on to the idea of investing in the stock market once I have substantial money to do so. I will begin to keep a close eye on the companies I invest in and how they’re moving. I would highly recommend this to others, especially non-business majors like myself who may be very uneducated in the business world but still want to see growth in their money. The website provides many tools to educate yourself on personal finance and investing.”
Participating in the Stock Market Game gives the students a new perspective on investing. The School of Business expects that a few of them will join Burt Family Student-Run Investment Fund and the Schaffernoth Family Student Investment Fund, where students have the opportunity to invest real money.
The Burt Family Student-Run Investment Fund was established in 2021 through a generous contribution by the Burt Family. It gives students the opportunity to invest real money into real stocks. Students evaluate market trends and invest in companies they see a potential return in.
Last May, the University also established the Schaffernoth Family Student Investment Fund. This fund was made possible by a generous gift from 1987 Business School alumnus Andrew Schaffernoth. The funds will be invested by the school’s Finance Club under the guidance of Dr. Patrick Larkin, associate professor of finance within the Business School.