Investment club member Kaleb Wyse presents the club’s contribution to Ron Copeland Director of Our Community Place.

In Spring 2009 91短视频 business students, under the direction of Professor Jim Leaman, formed an investment club.

91短视频 the investment club

The club is offered every semester for one credit hour.

Students of all majors and investment experience join the club to gain further investing knowledge and gain real life experience with trading stocks while keeping a socially conscious mind.

Students who join the group receive education on the stock market and investment options with various speakers and texts.

The first investments in 2009

The first members were allotted $10,000 and given freedom to pick investments. Spring 2009 offered an optimal time to enter the markets as the economy was nearing the bottom of a recession.

The students picked a variety of stocks and funds by researching possibilities and discussing them in class.

Throughout the following year, the fund grew to a peak of $14,368.

At the end of the fiscal year a new group of students followed the fund and were given the chance to do their own research to decide what stocks to hold and if any should be sold. The Fall 2009 group traded four holdings.

‘Our Community Place’ receives first check

The group bylaws, approved by each semester’s club members, ask that 10% of the gain each year be given to a charity.

, a non-profit community center in Harrisonburg, was the recipient of $436, and this was accepted by Director Ron Copeland, a graduate of Eastern Mennonite Seminary.

When presented with the check, Ron shared with the club members what his charity does for the community and his future aspirations for Our Community Place.

In a recently-formed investment club at 91短视频, students are learning to invest in their own future by learning the strategies and logistics of investing wisely through all seasons of their lives.

Darrell Miller, Sam Buck and Matt Gehman, students in 91短视频’s investment club, study the market for opportunities.

“With the state of Social Security and the current economy’s affect on pension funds, students today will need to accumulate a significant amount of savings for their retirement,” said James M. (Jim) Leaman, assistant professor of business and economics, “and my hope is that students in this club will know they must invest and leave knowing how to successfully do so.”

The idea for the investment club originated from an assignment in one of Leaman’s classes, principles of macroeconomics.

Having trouble getting the students to connect with the macro economy, he decided to create an assignment that would involve them in the markets. He gave students the task of creating their own mock portfolio. Students researched investment opportunities, individually created their own stock portfolio and are following its value through the semester.

“I found it to be a success,” said Leaman, adding, “Students became competitive and took pride in their portfolios, following them very closely.” With the success of the portfolio assignment, Leaman began investigating in the business department about the feasibility of creating an investment club.

His proposal to create the club was approved and became reality in the fall of 2008. The 13 students invested an initial $10,000 in the stock market. The investment club is a one-credit pass/fail course, designated as a independent study. Leaman leads the group, which meets once a week for an hour, focusing on investment strategies and the logistics of actually investing.

Though the current state of the economy is problematic for many investors, it’s been a valuable learning experience for the students, according to Leaman, giving them a healthy perspective of market cycles and preventing future overconfidence.

“It’s been really interesting to track our stocks and have real money invested in the market,” said senior business major Sam Buck. “I’ve learned the importance of investing and after I graduate I definitely plan on using what I’ve learned.”

After tracking stocks last semester, students chose where to invest the $10,000, buying stock in companies such as Ford and McDonalds.