Rossford team in lead again chose volatile stocks

Health industry firms give boost

3/21/2017
BY JON CHAVEZ
BLADE BUSINESS WRITER
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    • When Rossford Junior High teacher Bo Evarts was coaching his four eighth-grade teams to pick stocks before The Blade’s School Stock Contest, he gave them one big piece of advice: go for volatility.

    “I’ve been at this contest for a few years but my advice was, you can pick a safe stock but you’ll probably end up in the middle of the pack,” he said.

    One team, Alpha, agreed and chose stocks with up-and-down performances and led the 85-team field the first week. They have never been below sixth place.

    Their choices continue to look solid because Alpha again leads the pack after week 7 of the 12-week contest.

    “They kind of predicted we’d be back in first. Last Wednesday, they had a really big day when the stock market was flat and [their imaginary portfolio] went up 3 percent,” Mr. Evarts said. “They were like, ‘That should put us in first again if things go well.’”

    The contest provides each team with a hypothetical $40,000 to be split evenly among four U.S. stocks. The team with the highest portfolio after 12 weeks wins. The first place team and school win $1,500, second place $250, and third place $100.

    The contest is being sponsored by the University of Toledo’s College of Business and Innovation, which is tabulating the results, Fifth Third Bank, The Blade’s Newspaper in Education program, and the Taylor Automotive Family.

    Alpha’s portfolio of four stocks totaled $45,703, up 3.2 percent for the week and 14.3 percent for the contest. In second was the prior week’s leader, the Pumas of St. Pius X elementary, at $45,030, up 0.2 percent for the week. GBumpus, of St. John’s Jesuit Academy, another former leader, was third at $43,974, down 0.4 percent for the week.

    Alpha has remained near the top because of its two health industry stocks, Bluebird Bio, a gene therapy firm that is up 30 percent for the contest, and Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, a firm developing cancer treatments, which is up 16 percent since the start of the contest. Alpha also has Legg Mason, an asset management firm, up 14 percent, and transportation firm Ryder System, down 4 percent.

    After seven weeks, 55 teams have portfolios in the black with 30 teams below $40,000 and in the red. One of those in the red is another Rossford Junior High team, Kodak, which was in 84th place this week.

    “We’ve talked about that,” Mr. Evarts said. “It kind of gives all of my students a good perspective of how you don’t always make money in the stock market.”

    Contact Jon Chavez at: jchavez@theblade.com or 419-724-6128.

     

    Here are the Week 7 standings, with team name, school, city, and portfolio amount.

    1. Alpha, Rossford Jr. High, $45,703.04

    2. Pumas, St Pius X, Toledo, $45,029.68

    3. GBumpus, St. John's Jesuit Academy, Toledo, $43,973.51

    4. MKMJ101, Chase STEMM, Toledo, $43,698.99

    5. Klang, Chase STEMM, Toledo, $43,682.94

    6. K5MLK, Martin Luther King Jr. Academy for Boys, Toledo, $43,287.51

    7. eagles, Regina Coeli, Toledo, $42,769.53

    8. Frights, St. John's Jesuit Academy, Toledo, $42,695.28

    9. Diamond, Chase STEMM, Toledo, $42,650.17

    10. TKDB, Springfield H.S., Holland, $42,635.35

    11. Sbeezts, Springfield H.S., Holland, $42,538.68

    12. JETS216, Riverside, Toledo, $42,348.96

    13. IDC, Rossford Jr. High, $42,274.78

    14. Trump, Anthony Wayne H.S., Whitehouse, $42,238.88

    15. Panther, Stryker Local School, $42,198.24

    16. 3LChap0, Penta Career Center, Perrysburg, $42,165.81

    17. K4MLK, Martin Luther King Jr. Academy for Boys, Toledo, $42,119.33

    18. DDA, Chase STEMM, Toledo, $42,108.42

    19. MbcD, Springfield H.S., Holland, $42,103.42

    20. Sporkz, Rossford Jr. High, $42,093.48

    21. PBStock, Perrysburg H.S., $42,082.14

    22. noodles, Regina Coeli, Toledo, $42,060.45

    23. squad, Regina Coeli, Toledo, $42,040.99

    24. PLever, St. John's Jesuit Academy, Toledo, $41,930.48

    25. Venals, Springfield H.S., Holland, $41,909.56

    26. Devils, Springfield H.S., Holland, $41,841.80

    27. suphero, Springfield H.S., Holland, $41,830.71

    28. 5Riley, Edgewater Elementary, Toledo, $41,810.04

    29. 752DAVE, Riverside, Toledo, $41,739.32

    30. Apache, Anthony Wayne H.S., Whitehouse, $41,585.76

    31. CBI710, Penta Career Center, Perrysburg, $41,499.34

    32. Gray, Anthony Wayne H.S., Whitehouse, $41,428.78

    33. Niffler, Springfield H.S., Holland, $41,392.34

    34. rainbow, Regina Coeli, Toledo, $41,163.48

    35. Fab5, Springfield H.S., Holland, $41,136.69

    36. Unlucky, Anthony Wayne H.S., Whitehouse, $41,030.52

    37. Avocado, Fallen Timbers M.S., Whitehouse, $41,014.41

    38. JJGA, Springfield H.S., Holland, $40,996.85

    39. JohnSon, St. John's Jesuit Academy, Toledo, $40,961.09

    40. 6simon, Edgewater Elementary, Toledo, $40,865.14

    41. JMDR, Springfield H.S., Holland, $40,791.26

    42. Forte, Springfield H.S., Holland, $40,760.75

    43. Blue, Stryker Local School, $40,705.73

    44. JaJeLa, Springfield H.S., Holland, $40,660.66

    45. Cards, Cardinal Stritch Catholic H.S., Oregon, $40,627.33

    46. Stockup, Fallen Timbers M.S., Whitehouse, $40,617.49

    47. Stocker, Anthony Wayne H.S., Whitehouse, $40,599.02

    48. Wiggles, St. John's Jesuit Academy, Toledo, $40,544.42

    49. Thunder, Chase STEMM, Toledo, $40,519.04

    50. JJRT, Chase STEMM, Toledo, $40,444.92

    51. Kilshot, Chase STEMM, Toledo, $40,342.36

    52. Savages, Chase STEMM, Toledo, $40,291.28

    53. JHall, St. John's Jesuit Academy, Toledo, $40,241.60

    54. TAAA, Springfield H.S., Holland, $40,194.04

    55. bestMLM, Riverside, Toledo, $40,129.24

    56. 9Gs, St. John's Jesuit Academy, Toledo, $39,995.36

    57. Ksquad, Chase STEMM, Toledo, $39,980.01

    58. MLK5, Martin Luther King Jr. Academy for Boys, Toledo, $39,828.02

    59. MLK6, Martin Luther King Jr. Academy for Boys, Toledo, $39,729.44

    60. Stritch, Cardinal Stritch Catholic H.S., Oregon, $39,673.37

    61. 3 Mmms, St. John's Jesuit Academy, Maumee, $39,671.45

    62. Oreo, Springfield H.S., Holland, $39,567.25

    63. ChaseSS, Chase STEMM, Toledo, $39,404.02

    64. General, Anthony Wayne H.S., Whitehouse, $39,384.22

    65. Jordans, Chase STEMM, Toledo, $39,237.57

    66. H Heat, St. John's Jesuit Academy, Toledo, $39,233.07

    67. 13Kyles, St. John's Jesuit Academy, Toledo, $39,048.38

    68. Delph1, Penta Career Center, Perrysburg, $38,993.92

    69. TXDA, Springfield H.S., Holland, $38,811.66

    70. BookIt, St. John's Jesuit Academy, Toledo, $38,597.81

    71. AWBiz, Anthony Wayne H.S., Whitehouse, $38,508.26

    72. YBAS, Springfield H.S., Holland, $38,229.25

    73. Gold, Chase STEMM, Toledo, $38,133.13

    74. Delta, Springfield H.S., Holland, $38,067.44

    75. Patches, Anthony Wayne H.S., Whitehouse, $38,007.96

    76. ChaseJH, Chase STEMM, Toledo, $37,841.23

    77. AWECON7, Anthony Wayne H.S., Whitehouse, $37,694.29

    78. Delph2, Penta Career Center, Perrysburg, $37,466.42

    79. Nerds, Chase STEMM, Toledo, $37,377.01

    80. BEAST45, Riverside, Toledo, $37,267.08

    81. Googol, Springfield H.S., Holland, $36,877.47

    82. TJMP, Springfield H.S., Holland, $36,613.35

    83. 4 Star, Anthony Wayne H.S., Whitehouse, $36,593.29

    84. Kodak, Rossford Jr. High, $34,863.37

    85. Yaross, St. John's Jesuit Academy, Toledo, $34,016.10