Eight WHS students compete in 2021 JA Stock Market Challenge
Team 1 jumps from 90th to 16th place finish on "go big or go home" strategy; Team 2 finishes in 86th place (of 174 teams)
Launch the media gallery 1 playerThere are many things in life that offer an adrenaline rush: parasailing . . . a good roller coaster . . . bungee jumping . . . sky diving . . . and throwing a million dollars into the stock market.
Two teams of Wahoo High School students competed in this year’s Junior Achievement Stock Market Challenge, held on Tuesday, April 20.
The competition started with each team being given $1,000,000 to invest in a 60-day stock market simulation. Each “day” of trading lasted approximately one minute. The event was virtual this year and featured celebrity guests Brian Baumgartner, Tom Bergeron, and Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts.
One of Wahoo’s teams, consisting of Cooper Hancock, Trevor Ehrlich, Jordan Broome, and Payton Ricks, placed 16th out of 174 teams, with a final net worth of $1,593,445.83.
Team 2 (Hayden Griego, Tate Nelson, Gavin Pokorny, and Ben Thrasher) finished 86th with a net worth of $1,159,128.91.
Need investing advice? WHS senior Hancock has some words of wisdom.
“Go big or go home,” Hancock said, after persuading his team to sell all of its stock and reinvest the money in a new IPO.
This strategy turned out to be successful, boosting them from 90th to 16th in the last 20 days.
“The students were disappointed it was a virtual competition this year, but when it was all over, they said they still had fun. They also said it was highly intense and could be a little nerve-racking at times!” commented WHS Business and Economics Instructor Barb Shanahan.
Overall, the students all competed well and learned countless lessons about the exciting (and sometimes heartbreaking) world of investing in the stock market. It definitely is a “wild ride!”
Wahoo's team members work hard throughout the game studying charts and reading news reports on stocks and calculating their trades.
