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Unique True-to-Life Stock Market Tournament Launched for Students | November 14, 2007
Canadian ShareOwner Group announces a first-of-its-kind “reality” stock-market competition to increase financial literacy among young Canadians
Toronto, Ontario – November 14, 2007 – Building on the success of reality television competitions, a leading Canadian financial educator has introduced a “reality” investment training tournament for university and college students.
This one-of-a-kind stock market tournament is being launched by the Toronto-based Canadian ShareOwner Group, a leader in practical investment education for the average investor since 1987. (See news release, below, entitled “Canadian ShareOwner Group Teaches Average Canadians to Become Successful Growth Investors”).
The goal of the competition – called the Growth-Stock Challenge – is to encourage greater financial literacy among university and college students from all disciplines, explains John Bart, ShareOwner founder and Chief Education Officer. The first of its kind in the world, the tournament is unique because it involves real money – as opposed to “pretend” or “phantom” dollars used by all other stock market contests.
“The best time to start investing is when you’re young,” he says. “Our tournament provides young people with an easy and inexpensive way to try out real-life growth-stock investing. By investing $1,000 (either individually or as a small group), contestants can draw from our pool of pre-screened stocks. They will have free access to our education resources and free trading, so the risk for tournament participants is minimal,” Bart adds.
The competition gives participants an unprecedented opportunity to develop and test their stock selection skills and emotional responses to gains and losses – without unduly burdening their time or financial resources.
Running from January 2 through November 28, 2008, the tournament is open to Canadian residents who are currently enrolled at a Canadian university or college. There’s no charge to enter the competition, to buy and sell securities during the 11-month tournament and cash them in at the end, using ShareOwner’s dollar-based, co-operative investing service.
To maximize portfolio diversification, there’s no minimum purchase, so students can divide the $1,000 any way they like: buying $25 worth of one stock, $40 of another, and so on. Whole and fractional shares are credited to a student’s account at ShareOwner’s training affiliate, Canadian ShareOwner Investments Inc., a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund and the Investment Dealer’s Association of Canada.
“The opportunity to invest a modest amount of your own money in a diversified portfolio makes for an educational tournament that pretend money just can’t duplicate,” Bart points out. “The competition provides students – from all disciplines – with the prospect of a brighter future through greater financial literacy, something they’ll need to help them invest more successfully in their retirement and other portfolios later on.” He adds that tournament competitors can access, without charge, ShareOwner’s special online investment course – including video instruction, monthly webinars, and stock study software – both before and during the competition.
With a pool of $20,000 in prize money, tournament participants can win in two ways: through the return on their investment and by winning cash prizes, which will be awarded to the 21 top performing portfolios. The student (or small group) whose portfolio achieves the highest gain at the end of the 11-month tournament will receive the grand prize of $10,000 – a 1,000 per cent return no matter what the market does. The remaining 20 prizes range from $5,000 to $100.
As part of the tournament, 21 Education Leadership Awards will be given to the student societies that provide campus sponsorship for the competition. The societies sponsoring the 21 winning portfolios will share in a prize pool of more than $8,000.
The deadline to register for the tournament is December 14, 2007. For more information or to register, please visit www.shareowner.com/2008tournament
About Canadian ShareOwner Group (www.shareowner.com)
Established in 1987, Canadian ShareOwner Group provides investment education resources and online courses to help Canadians select and manage portfolios of high-quality growth stocks that can earn superior rates of return.
ShareOwner’s training affiliate, Canadian ShareOwner Investments Inc., operates Canada’s only dollar-based, co-operative investing service for individual investors and investment clubs.
The service combines all orders to buy or sell a specific security into just one consolidated order that is executed on the security’s principal stock exchange. Each security is traded on a fixed schedule every week, every two weeks or monthly, depending on popularity. Buyers pay, and sellers receive, the same average price paid (or received) for all share/units included in a consolidated order.
Toronto, Ontario – November 14, 2007 – Building on the success of reality television competitions, a leading Canadian financial educator has introduced a “reality” investment training tournament for university and college students.
This one-of-a-kind stock market tournament is being launched by the Toronto-based Canadian ShareOwner Group, a leader in practical investment education for the average investor since 1987. (See news release, below, entitled “Canadian ShareOwner Group Teaches Average Canadians to Become Successful Growth Investors”).
The goal of the competition – called the Growth-Stock Challenge – is to encourage greater financial literacy among university and college students from all disciplines, explains John Bart, ShareOwner founder and Chief Education Officer. The first of its kind in the world, the tournament is unique because it involves real money – as opposed to “pretend” or “phantom” dollars used by all other stock market contests.
“The best time to start investing is when you’re young,” he says. “Our tournament provides young people with an easy and inexpensive way to try out real-life growth-stock investing. By investing $1,000 (either individually or as a small group), contestants can draw from our pool of pre-screened stocks. They will have free access to our education resources and free trading, so the risk for tournament participants is minimal,” Bart adds.
The competition gives participants an unprecedented opportunity to develop and test their stock selection skills and emotional responses to gains and losses – without unduly burdening their time or financial resources.
Running from January 2 through November 28, 2008, the tournament is open to Canadian residents who are currently enrolled at a Canadian university or college. There’s no charge to enter the competition, to buy and sell securities during the 11-month tournament and cash them in at the end, using ShareOwner’s dollar-based, co-operative investing service.
To maximize portfolio diversification, there’s no minimum purchase, so students can divide the $1,000 any way they like: buying $25 worth of one stock, $40 of another, and so on. Whole and fractional shares are credited to a student’s account at ShareOwner’s training affiliate, Canadian ShareOwner Investments Inc., a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund and the Investment Dealer’s Association of Canada.
“The opportunity to invest a modest amount of your own money in a diversified portfolio makes for an educational tournament that pretend money just can’t duplicate,” Bart points out. “The competition provides students – from all disciplines – with the prospect of a brighter future through greater financial literacy, something they’ll need to help them invest more successfully in their retirement and other portfolios later on.” He adds that tournament competitors can access, without charge, ShareOwner’s special online investment course – including video instruction, monthly webinars, and stock study software – both before and during the competition.
With a pool of $20,000 in prize money, tournament participants can win in two ways: through the return on their investment and by winning cash prizes, which will be awarded to the 21 top performing portfolios. The student (or small group) whose portfolio achieves the highest gain at the end of the 11-month tournament will receive the grand prize of $10,000 – a 1,000 per cent return no matter what the market does. The remaining 20 prizes range from $5,000 to $100.
As part of the tournament, 21 Education Leadership Awards will be given to the student societies that provide campus sponsorship for the competition. The societies sponsoring the 21 winning portfolios will share in a prize pool of more than $8,000.
The deadline to register for the tournament is December 14, 2007. For more information or to register, please visit www.shareowner.com/2008tournament
About Canadian ShareOwner Group (www.shareowner.com)
Established in 1987, Canadian ShareOwner Group provides investment education resources and online courses to help Canadians select and manage portfolios of high-quality growth stocks that can earn superior rates of return.
ShareOwner’s training affiliate, Canadian ShareOwner Investments Inc., operates Canada’s only dollar-based, co-operative investing service for individual investors and investment clubs.
The service combines all orders to buy or sell a specific security into just one consolidated order that is executed on the security’s principal stock exchange. Each security is traded on a fixed schedule every week, every two weeks or monthly, depending on popularity. Buyers pay, and sellers receive, the same average price paid (or received) for all share/units included in a consolidated order.
