Oakwood students excel in Wall Street 101

UD’s Portfolio Competition teaches high schoolers about investing.

Oakwood High School students had more than a lump of coal in their “stock-ings” this past Christmas.

The occasion was the annual University of Dayton Davis Center High School Portfolio Competition. At the end of the 10-week period of stock market trades, OHS teams finished first, second, third and sixth. After a two-year slump, OHS “return-ed” the championship trophy to its rightful place.

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The class is aptly named Wall Street 101, with Michael Rado as their instructor. It is a popular subject, as he teaches two full classes.

“The competition begins in September, and each team is given $100,000 to invest. They must keep $5,000 cash in reserve, and purchase stocks in at least five of the 11 sectors: no penny stocks, commodities, mutual funds or more than 25 holdings,” said Rado.

The teams are selected in each of his classes, with anywhere from 2 to 6 members. The game is monitored daily by the U.D. Davis Center team. They report any issues to the director, who would then inform the school. At the conclusion of the competition, Oakwood placed 4 teams in the top 10 out of a total of 48.

“At the end, the Rich Homie Quans had a portfolio valued at $114,800. They did an excellent job at the presentation to the Davis Center judging panel, thus retaining their lead and ultimately, the championship,” said Rado. “The Bodacious Billionaires were in third place, but their presentation was exceptional vaulting them into second place.”

The Rich Homie Quans: Jake Sargent, Ava Millard, Kurt Ackerman, and Andrew Varley. The Bodacious Billionaires: Carter Winch, Jack Henry, and Jack Danis. As you can see, the students were quite creative when picking their team’s name. Other students participating were Tommy Lunne, JV Bozell, Josh Leasure, Robin Frejborg, Max Diodoardo, Lily Banke, Aidan Hand and Abbey Randal.

“Our main goal at first was to look at the current stock market and see what stocks were high at the time. Then we decided which ones would be the best for a profit,” said Sargent, a junior who wants to go to Ohio State or Miami University and major in business. “Throughout the competition, we kept looking at the background of each stock that we bought shares in. As time went on, we checked which stocks were gaining money or losing money, and that would tell us what to sell and what to reinvest in.”

UD students serve as mentors throughout the 10-week process. Students can see their own portfolios, as well as other teams’ holdings during the competition. Their platform, MarketWatch, was active with the NYSE. So students were dealing with live stock market trading every day.

“I am extremely proud of all four of our teams and the way they represented Oakwood High School. They are confident and sharp, and just good people.” said Rado. “When the winners were announced, it brought me to tears. I was so excited that I could hardly control my enthusiasm with the teams.”

The OHS students will be honored at the next Board of Education meeting.

The Davis Center for Portfolio Management at the University of Dayton integrates academic theory with real-world investment skills. The center’s alumni network now boasts over 200 professionals. This program lays a solid foundation for careers in the investment industry.

Contact this contributing writer at PamDillon@woh.rr.com.

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