The Ohio Stock Market Challenge - NEW!!!

2009-2010 Play Dates:
Fall Game: October 5 – December 11, 2009
Winter Game:  February 15 – April 23, 2010

Welcome to the Ohio Stock Market Challenge! We are delighted you recognize the value of the program as a powerful experiential learning tool. The OSMC is a great way for students to be exposed to the stock market, without the fear of losing real money! We encourage you and your students to research stocks that interest you and attempt to build the best performing portfolio. There are a number of lessons, activities and linked resources designed to help with the process. Then sit back and watch the market in action! In addition to being a great team building activity, the SMC is a resource that reinforces concepts and build skills within Mathematics, Social Studies, Economics, Language Arts, Business Education and Technology curricula. And it’s fun! 

How does the Challenge work?  Students in grades 4 through 12 form teams to create and manage a hypothetical portfolio of stocks, bonds and mutual funds over a ten-week period.  Each team has $100,000.00 in “imaginary funds” to invest in stocks, bonds and mutual funds listed on the major stock exchanges.  Using state-of-the-art software provided by the Stock-Trak Group you’ll research stocks, obtain quotes, look up ticker symbols, submit trades, and review your team's ranking.  Stocks are traded via personal computer by simply typing in the ticker symbol and the transaction (buy, sell, short-cover, or short-sell). Trades are filled in real-time using the latest available bid/ask prices from the market-not delayed or end-of-day pricing like other simulations use. In addition, the platform provides players a real-time glimpse into the performance of the top players through a streaming leader board component. Your students will be drawn into the action by seeing how the top players are doing on a position-by-position basis that is refreshed every few seconds. Picture the trading floor of the NYSE - but with a little less noise!  

Awards:  Prize money is awarded to the Top 3 teams for both the elementary/middle and high school divisions. Please note – the rankings posted on the OSMC website are “unofficial” until an audit has confirmed each top team’s portfolio holdings. Checks will be made payable to the school.  

 Training and Practice: The Stock-Trak software is very easy to use, but if you’d like a bit of help working your way around the Ohio Stock Market Challenge website you can participate in one of our web-based trainings to get familiar with the mechanics. We have three web-based training programs planned:

Monday, September 21^st from 4-5 PM

Saturday, September 26^th from 9-10 AM

Tuesday, September 29^th from 7-8 PM

To register for training, contact Linda Spencer at 216.831.7791 or LSpence1@ashland.edu. Once you register, you and your students will be able to practice buying and selling investments and watch the market in action. The practice accounts will be zeroed out right before the challenge begins on October 5^th. 

Registration and Pricing:  The cost to play is $15 per team of 4-5 students. Please enroll only the number of teams needed as you will be invoiced for the number of teams you enroll.  To access the registration form and register your teams, visit the OSMC website – http://ohiosmc.stocktrak.com and follow these steps:

1.  Click on the red “Registration” tab in the left corner  of the home page

2.  Complete the fields as requested. Be sure to note if you will paying for your teams with a Purchase Order

3.  After you have reviewed the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy, click the “Create My Account” button

Log-in information will be e-mailed directly to you

Be sure to visit the Teacher Resources links.  You’ll see great information on how to manage the program in your classroom and maximize its effectiveness as a teaching tool. 

You may also contact The Center for Economic Education, Wright State University at (937) 775-2322 for further information.