Learning Life Skills with the Stock Market Game™

As the only stock market simulation program endorsed by the New York Stock Exchange, the Stock Market Game ™ is an education tool aimed at teaching essential life skills such as decision making, critical thinking, independent research, cooperation, communication, saving and investing, with the latter being especially appropriate in the current economic climate. Launched in 1977 the program has been used in thousands of classrooms across the United States, not only to encourage the life-skills already mentioned, but also to add an exciting dimension to other critical academic subjects such as social studies, mathematics and language arts. It is estimated that more than ten million students have played the Stock Market Game ™ since its inception.

Participating students start off with $100,000 in a virtual cash account. Working together in teams, students make use of real news updates and internet research to create a realistic portfolio. Through the trading of AMEX, NASDAQ and NYSE common stocks and mutual funds, students earn cash balance interest, pay interest when buying on margin, and pay commission on all trading transactions. The Stock Market Game ™ requires that students have an understanding of the workings of the economy in order to determine why individual stocks perform the way they do, as well as why the overall market moves up and down, and how to calculate their returns.

The competitive environment in which the students work encourages leadership, as well as negotiation, cooperation and organizational skills. In addition to the more measurable benefits of the Stock Market Game™, teachers have found that participating students have displayed a noticeable increase in confidence and self-esteem. Moreover, the program has resulted in reduced dropout rates as students become fully engaged in the program.

In addition to the Stock Market Game ™ being endorsed by the NYSE, the overall not-for-profit program is supported by over 650 securities firms which interact at school and community level. Supporters include Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association Member Firms (SIFMA); Merrill Lynch; The McGraw-Hill Companies; Standard and Poor’s; Wachovia Securities; Reuters Ltd, AG Edwards, The Investment Company Institute; and Morgan Stanley.