Following Are Specifics About the Game

September 17, 2014

Dear Educator,

You have either signed up or asked for more information about the Joplin Globe’s bi-annual Stock Market Game, which will begin Thursday, October 2, when you select stocks, and end Wednesday, Dec. 3. Following are specifics about the game:

OVERVIEW The Stock Market game is an educational program for students in grades six or above, and the object of the game is for students to have a chance to “play” and learn about the stock market by “investing” their “money” in an experimental, no-risk environment. Each school has one (or more) team(s), and throughout the game, each team tries to grow its stock portfolio by tracking, trading, and holding stocks listed in the financial pages of The Joplin Globe. Typically, 40-50 school teams participate, and at the conclusion of the eight-week game, the top five teams with the highest portfolio win REAL prize money totaling $500: 1st place=$150; 2nd place=$125; 3rd place=$100; 4th place=$75, and 5th place=$50. Only teams or clubs are eligible for prizes. The Globe encourages teachers to contact brokers from our educational partner, Edward Jones, to visit their classrooms during the game to discuss the investing and the stock market. Teams are encouraged to research carefully their stocks, as they are allowed to TRADE only twice during the game!

MATERIALS NEEDED Access to the Globe’s e-Edition is available to teachers participating in the game, or classroom sets of the Joplin Globe will be delivered FREE twice per week—on Wednesdays and Thursdays. You may order one newspaper per student, or students may work in groups and share papers. Call or email me a week before the game begins with your team names and number of newspapers—e-Edition and/or print copies.

GAME RULES & PROCEDURES The contest will begin on Thursday, October 2 and will end Wednesday, December 3.  Each teacher may register up to three teams. Students may select their teacher-approved, “publication- appropriate” team names used for identification in the newspaper.  When teams begin their portfolios, $2,000 will be “invested” in each of the stocks they select for a total of $10,000. The portfolio must have five stocks at all times.  The stocks may be selected ONLY from those listed in each THURSDAY’S Globe. The stocks from which teams may choose are listed on the “Money” page, usually located in Section B of the Thursday Globe. You may select from any of the stocks listed alphabetically under the U.S. Stock Exchanges header, from those listed under the Stocks of Local Interest header, or from those listed under Market Summary of the NYSE, AMEX, or NASDAQ. You must include both the stock name AND the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) ticker when you submit or trade stocks!!!  If you select a stock from the Globe on a Thursday and the Globe drops that stock from its financial pages later during the game, we will continue to honor that stock and its price throughout the game.  The portfolio values will be based on the closing price of each stock the day it is selected or traded. (Closing prices of Thursday’s stocks are published in Friday’s Globe.)  The portfolio values will be figured by our partner, Joplin High School, under the direction of Mrs. Brigman, Accounting II teacher.

STARTING PORTFOLIOS & TRADING  Opening stock choices to start the team portfolios must be submitted via the Internet between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 2. To submit your stock, visit www.globenie.com and click on the Stock Market Game link with the bull/bear icon on the home page. When the stock grid is pulled up, enter the teacher’s name, the school, the team(s’) name(s), and type the team’s first five stock selections into the boxes in the left grid entitled “CURRENT.” Click “submit” to send your first stocks to the Globe.  Stock trading must be done between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. each Thursday. If you WISH to trade, visit www.globenie.com and click on the Stock Market Game link on the home page. o When the stock grid appears, enter the teacher’s name, school, and team(s’) name(s). o List all current stocks each team holds in the left-column grid entitled “CURRENT.” o In the boxes directly to the right of your current stocks, under the column entitled “TRADES,” list the stocks AND tickers for which the team(s) wishes to trade. If you do not wish to trade a stock, place HOLD in the box directly beside it. Click the “submit” button to send your trades/holds to the Globe.  Teams may monitor their portfolios and their competitor’s portfolios by checking out the official Stock Market Game standings, which will be published in each Wednesday’s Globe.

FINAL STANDINGS & PRIZES  The final values of the team portfolios will be calculated from the closing prices of stocks held by the teams on Thursday, November 20, 201 4. There is no trading on this day.  The final portfolio values and winners will be published in the Globe on Wednesday, Dec. 3.  $500 will be divided among the top five teams with the highest portfolio values at the end of the contest. Allow two to three weeks after the game ends for checks to arrive.  Prizes will be awarded only to the school, class, or club. No prizes or money will be awarded directly to any individual.  The decision of the judges is final. The Joplin Globe does not intend for this game to be used as financial advice. All trading is intended for educational purposes. The Joplin Globe is not responsible for typographical errors.

WHAT’S THAT STOCK? The stocks listed in the Joplin Globe are listed by what is called the “stub” name. Some stub names make obvious what the stock is, such as “WshPst” for Washington Post or “OffDpt” for Office Depot. However, many stub names are not that easy to understand! To ensure that your students understand what stock they are actually selecting, use the Associated Press (AP) Markets website at http://www.markets.ap.org/home/ Go to the top listing (AP Markets) and see in the lower right-hand corner of the page “Ticker/Stub Lookup” box. Enter the stub name of the stock you are trying to identify. This function is SPACE and CASE sensitive, so you must enter the stub name EXACTLY as it appears in the Joplin Globe for it to work. Once you enter the stub, press the “GO” button. The site will pull up the name of the stock and the ticker. This will help eliminate a lot of guesswork and frustration for students trying to identify their stock selections.

*ATTENTION classes on block scheduling: If you cannot send your trades on Thursday because your class meets on MWF, you may select your stocks from Wednesday’s paper and email them to me rather than using the online Bull/Bear trading grid; let me know if you are so I’ll know to expect an email!

Thank you to Joplin High School Accounting II class for calculating the weekly portfolios, and to our NIE business sponsor EDWARD JONES, whose reps are listed on the letter on the weekly ad during the Stock Market Game, for providing prizes and newspapers!

Kristine McCulley, NIE Coordinator [email protected] 417-627-7288