College of Business and Natural Sciences Students College of Education and Behavioral Sciences Community College of Liberal Arts

SDSMG spring trading session begins Feb. 5

02 February 2018

Teachers may now register for the spring session of the South Dakota Stock Market Game Program (SDSMG.) The spring session begins Monday, Feb. 5 and ends its 10-week trading period Friday, April 20.

The SDSMG is a real-time online stock market simulation where teams of students research and purchase a portfolio of stocks. Students compete for cash prizes in the middle school, high school, and college divisions. Teachers receive weekly newsletters and online training to integrate the program into a variety of grade levels and subjects. The SDSMG program is the only online stock simulation program endorsed by the South Dakota Council on Economic Education.

A series of free, web-based teacher-training workshops will be conducted for registered teachers prior to and during the trading session. The workshops are available at multiple dates and times to accommodate teachers’ class schedules. The webinars are divided into eight topicsas follows:

SMG Basics (1 hour): How to Get Started, Teacher Support Center & Student Portfolios
Let’s Trade Today! (30 min): A quick overview of the SMG portfolio and how to get the student teams to execute their first trades
Basic Company Research (30 min): Using Yahoo and Nasdaq, basic terminology and company headlines review
Winning with Diversification (1 hour): Strategies for building a diversified portfolio with stocks, mutual funds, bonds, and ETFs in the SMG Portfolio
InvestWrite (1 hour): Learn more about our national and statewide essay competition as a culminating activity for the SMG Program
Invest It Forward (1 hour): Learn how a Financial Advisor Can Enhance Your SMG Experience
Trading Mutual Funds (30 min): Researching and Trading mutual funds in the SMG program
Weekly Portfolio Analysis (30 min): Team analysis of major indices and portfolio holdings

A $10 team registration fee includes access to online team-trading screens and a Teacher Support Center. The Teacher Support Center has online lesson plans and classroom activities unique to grade level and subject. To register, go to www.stockmarketgame.org.

Students who participate receive free entry into InvestWrite, a culminating writing activity where students submit online essays to be judged by investment professionals. Essay questions focus on the importance of long-term saving and investing, sharpening their critical thinking skills. Winning essays receive state and national awards including a chance to win a paid trip to the New York Stock Exchange. Learn more at www.investwrite.org.

The Black Hills State University Center for Economic Education has an exclusive license to operate the program in South Dakota with the Securities Industry Financial Markets Association (SIFMA). This SMG program is consistently identified as the leader in youth financial education and the only program proven in rigorous, independent studies year-after-year to raise math, economics, and personal finance test scores, and to change financial behavior for the better for students and teachers. Nationwide, over 600,000 students from all 50 states participate each year. In South Dakota last year, 1,052 students participated in the program, forming 475 teams from 45 schools.

The South Dakota Stock Market Game is sponsored by the Black Hills State University Center for Economic Education, the Securities Industry Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), and the South Dakota Council on Economic Education. For more information on the program or the webinars, contact BHSU Professor Don Altmyer, SDSMG coordinator, at DonAltmyer@BHSU.edu or 605-642-6266.

SDSMG spring trading session begins Feb. 5

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