When Green River High School student Alan Halverson signed up for an investment class, he had no idea a paper he would write in that class would lead to a state award.
Halverson recently found out he was named the winner of the 2014 Wyoming InvestWrite Fall Essay Contest.
About 16 to 20 students, Halverson included, were in Mickey Kleinman’s investments class. Halverson said he had tried to get into the class a couple of times, but it was full so he had to wait until his senior year to get it.
“I have a little bit of interest in business,” he said. “This class was one of the few they had left that I haven’t taken.”
According to a press release from the Wyoming Stock Market Game coordinator, as part of the class, students had to learn about the stock market and investing opportunities. To help with this process, students participated in the Wyoming Stock Market Game, which is sponsored by the Wyoming Council on Economic Education and The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Associations.
Halverson and his team where given an imaginary $100,000 dollars to invest. Before the students set out to make their investments, they were taught different strategies to use when putting their money in stocks, bonds and mutual funds. These strategies showed them how to try an obtain maximum profits while concentrating on long-term investments.
For example, the students were told they could not buy a whole bunch of stock in recently added businesses to the stock market because those stocks were selling really cheap; and chances were that the stocks would easily increase in value over the two-month, which would be an unfair advantage in the game.
Halverson said his group conducted research on the companies they thought would be successful in the future. A well-known company they selected was Netflix; and another company they chose was Lightbridge.
According to Lightbridge’s website http://www.ltbridge.com, “Lightbridge is a leading provider of nuclear energy consulting services to commercial and governmental entities worldwide, and is developing next generation nuclear fuel technology that will significantly reduce nuclear waste and proliferation.”
Halverson said his group was attracted to this company because it is currently working on a new form of nuclear fuel made out of a uranium zinc alloy. He said that the group’s research also showed this company has developed cooling rods that are better shaped, which will help cool down the nuclear plant, which will in turn increase the efficiency of the plant.
“It was one of those that really didn’t loose value, but it didn’t really grow. It was steady,” Halverson said about the stock.
Not only were the students ask to make investments, they were asked to choose a product or service offered by a company that they thought would be valuable in a long-term investment. Halverson selected Lightbridge because it has produced a revolutionary new nuclear fuel that has not only increased plant safety, but also efficiency. Both of these will make such fuels attractive to nuclear power plants and this in turn will make nuclear power more attractive to consumers.
Halverson said his paper also focused on how the finance industry can affect the rest of an economy. He also wrote about how the use of the stock and bond markets can help the economy of a company, which could allow that company to commercialize their company.
Halverson was told by Kleinman that their essays would be submitted for an award, but he didn’t think much about it.
However, he did not forget about it; and a couple of months later, he was told that he had won.
The whole experience has taught Halverson a lot about investing.
“I think I learned to invest for the long term; and in companies that will make a difference,” Halverson said.
He said he also learned how important it is to research a company before investing to see if it will have the potential for long-term growth.
When Halverson is not busy in class, he is busy preparing for speech and debate competitions. He was named the 4A State Champion in policy debate for three years in a row.
He was also recognized at the 2011 Wyoming State Science Fair. As a National Merit Finalist, Halverson will receive a University of Wyoming Trustees’ Scholars Award. He plans to major in mechanical engineering at UW.
Halverson, Kleinman and Green River High School will be honored during the Wyoming Stock Market Game Banquet of Champions May 15 in Casper.
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