LUFKIN, Texas (KTRE) – It was a normal day at the New York Stock Exchange, decision making chatter and stockbrokers eager to buy and sell.
“We kept two stocks the whole time to maximize our gains. Every time we heard news, we reacted to the news, we bought in and were quick to sell. That’s how we made a lot of money,” Jackson May, a Hudson High Schooler said.
Instead of Wall Street, it was the Lufkin Convention Center, the Junior Achievement Stock Market Challenge, and the stockbrokers were young.
May and his team placed first in the competition. He said he’s been investing in stocks since the sixth grade, he started during the pandemic.
“I just had a lot of extra money and nothing to buy so I just started investing,” May said.
But investing on their own wasn’t a requirement. Students were given a curriculum to learn about investing and trading prior to the competition.
Amber Youngblood, the executive director for the Junior Achievement for Angelina County said the experience is like how it is on Wall Street.
“It’s like the stock market floor; it’s just that they’re not using real money but to them it’s real money,” Youngblood said.
Teams work through the stock exchange based on the news they read about companies.
“You’re just basically saying I’m going to sell; I’m going to make money; I’m going to trade or oh my gosh I made a bad investment, and I lost some money for that,” Youngblood said.
While it may look like students competing, she said students are learning about financial literacy.
“By understanding investments, how to spend your money, how to save, is so important,” Youngblood said.
Teams from Hudson High School placed first through third and received awards.
The first and second place teams will compete in Atlanta, Georgia this summer in the Junior Achievement’s National Stock Market Challenge.
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