1st Annual Stock Market Challenge Comes to End

For Immediate Release 5/5/11

Turn in your pencils, charts, and calculators because not just the spring semester finals, but the 1^st Annual Stock Market Challenge has officially come to an end.  Sponsored by FREE, the stock market challenge offered an opportunity for students to make real-life trades in the market.  This opportunity allowed students to see how the stock market affected their portfolio.  Students competed not just against each other but against the markets with the top three performers receiving a Kindle and cash 

prizes.

FREE would like to congratulate the following students in their efforts and exceptional performance in the 

Stock Market Challenge:

1^st Place - Rob Fedo:  rob not only lead the challenge with the highest profits, he almost doubled the performance of S&P 500 with his overall portfolio reaching a %13.61 profit amounting to $113,610.  Rob entered the competition in late March which meant he profited $13,610 in 1 month! Rob received an Amazon Kindle for 1^st prize. Congratulations Rob, St. Francis might have the next Warren Buffet on their hands.

2^nd Place – Shannon Olsen:  Shannon took 2^nd place with her portfolio finishing at $107,315.  Shannon not only came in 2^nd overall for stock performance but received the highest points in research and stock analysis.  This goes to show that research and success go hand in hand.  Shannon’s portfolio finished with %7 profit margin, and she will be awarded an American Express Gift Card.  Congratulations Shannon!

3^rd Place – John Shoop:  John joined the top performers with his portfolio reaching $105,857.  With his portfolio finishing almost %6 profits, Shoop was recognized with the most noteworthy trade.  As the challenge neared end Shoop bought a stock that appreciated $2,800 in one day, Baidu is a foreign search engine used in China similar to Google.  Shoop also showed loyalty to his favorite truck manufacturer Ford and will he will also be awarded an American Express Gift Card.  Congratulations John!

FREE offered the challenge to every student February 14, the challenge was managing their own $100,000 portfolio.  Through an online investing platform (Investopedia), students could watch each other and compete for the highest profits.  Through stock analysis and research USF students were able to compare themselves to the investing pros like the Nasdaq, Dow Jones, and S&P 500 (Large cap, and volume index investors use to rate portfolios).

 

Listed above are the rankings of all participants.  FREE would like to thank all who participated in the 1^st Annual Stock Market Challenge and cannot wait till next year!

Tim Plett

FREE VP of Operations

timothyplett@stfrancis.edu