It all came down to timing when 12-year-old Eric Eagle was picking stocks for The Blade's School Stock Contest.
The sixth-grade student at Perrysburg Junior High School said spring and Easter were the driving forces behind his group's stock picks. Eric and his teammates opted for shares of Nike Inc., The Hershey Co., Dollar Tree Inc., and Exxon Mobile Corp.
"All these are about to go up," he said. "A lot of people are buying candy for Easter, and Nike will go up because people are getting ready for spring sports."
His team -- dubbed "Que" because one of its members loves the letter "Q" -- stuck with familiar choices that its members felt would profit during the 12-week contest.
"I think we chose stocks that make the most sense for the holidays and the time of year that's coming up," said Carly McGoldrick, an 11-year-old sixth-grader on the team.
Students in classrooms from northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan are battling it out to create the best-performing stock portfolio for the annual contest. The event kicks off at the close of the stock market Friday and runs through April, 27.
The deadline to sign up was Friday, and 156 teams will take part this year.
Each team was allowed to choose four stocks worth at least $5 a share. They were given a hypothetical $40,000 budget to purchase their shares, with the money allocated evenly among the four stocks.
The participants have one chance to change their stocks, on March 16.
The team with the best-performing portfolio will receive $250 for the students and $250 for the school. Second-place will receive $250 for the school, and third place gets $100 for the school. The prizes can be cash or gift certificates.
The contest is sponsored by The Blade's Newspaper in Education program, Fifth Third Bank, and the University of Toledo, which calculates the results.
Karen Schrock, a sixth-grade math teacher at Perrysburg Junior High, said her students are participating because it's a way to learn math and life skills simultaneously. Team Que's members are Ms. Schrock's students.
"This is like a no-lose, no-win situation," she said. "They can learn by investing but not really lose any money. … We can talk about what's happening in the country politically and economically.
"It's just broadening their horizons."
Matthew Faltys, vice president of Fifth Third Bank of Northwest Ohio, said students learn they can do more than just put money away in a savings account by participating in the contest. By investing, they're making their money work for them. "It's teaches them what it's like to be a shareholder in a company," he said.
Bank Bros., an eighth-grade team at Byrnedale Elementary in Toledo, also opted for well-known companies when choosing its stocks. Mohamed Ahmad, a 13-year-old member of the team, said he and his teammates went with stock in Nike, Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., and RSC Holdings Inc. "We know they are big companies so they would have big stock prices," he said.
Beth Huffman teaches the math class that includes Bank Bros. and said she chose to opt into the contest because students learn math with a real-world application. The stock market determines a huge part of the country's financial future and students should grasp that, she added.
"I'm hoping they are going to understand what the stock market is and what its place is in our society," she said. "I'm hoping they see what impact stocks have."
Jennifer Schmidt teaches a math class of gifted fifth-graders at Park Elementary in Swanton and said the competition also allows students to bond with their parents by talking about how to invest. Mrs. Schmidt said most of her students most likely would be stock owners some day.
"Being the gifted kids, chances are they will go to college and have better paying jobs," she said. "The sooner they start looking at the market the sooner they are prepared for it."
Contact Kris Turner at: kturner@theblade.com or 419-724-6103.
First Published January 29, 2012, 5:15 a.m.
