Taking 'Stock' in Her Future

Nickolina Doran has always been passionate about Disney. From the movies to the amusement park, which she has visited four times, the company has always seemed like an attractive option when it comes to investing stock.

But the seventh-grade student at and member of the school’s stock club is rethinking that option after doing some additional research – an effort that has led her to be named a Connecticut first-place winner in the Security Industry and Financial Markets Association’s national essay contest.

“It was one of the stocks that the stock club bought as part of [SIFMA’s] countrywide 600,000 annual Stock Market Game,” said Nickolina. “I thought it was a safe decision, but after doing research, I wrote in my essay that there are several factors that could make it a hard stock to recommend.”

Nickolina was chosen from a group of more than 20,000 students who submitted essays in the 2011 InvestWrite Challenge, a contest that SIFMA hosts annually for student in grades 4 through 12. One winner is selected at the elementary, middle and high school level in each state.

The 2011 entrants were asked to select a real-world company from the stock market and describe one thing that could increase the price of its stock and one that could decrease its price. 

Doran selected Disney as the company and wrote that installing a new ride and creating new movies could positively influence the price of the company’s stock while an increase in prices and natural disasters could have a negative impact. 

“Everybody loves movies and Disney movies are some of the best. With a new one coming out, it may lure people to the theaters, which would bring in money for Disney,” wrote Doran.  “Movies cost a lot to make and if the movie is not a success, then Disney would be in trouble, but almost all of their movies have done well especially with little kids.”

The Fall 2011 winning InvestWrite essay composed by Doran was chosen through rigorous judging by thousands of teachers and industry professionals who evaluate students’ analysis of asset allocation, the investment potential of various publicly traded stocks, their overall understanding of the stock market, and the manner in which they express their investment ideas in essay form.

“Year after year, thousands of volunteer judges are astounded by InvestWrite students’ ability to effectively plan for long-term financial goals such as saving for college, buying a first home, and even retirement” said Melanie Mortimer, Executive Director of the SIFMA Foundation. “It proves the adage ‘it’s never too early to start’ and inspires us to do all we can at the SIFMA Foundation to equip millions of students like Nickolina with personal financial skills for lifelong success.”

The aspiring 12-year-old mathematician said she was surprised when she learned her essay won first prize, which included a trophy and $100 gift card. In fact Nickolina wasn’t even going to enter until she read the contest rules and felt it would be a fun learning experience.

Although it may have been a surprise to Nickolina, Kennedy math teacher and stock club advisor Liz Sterner said Thursday she knew after first reading the essay that Nickolina submitted, she had a good chance at winning.

“Nickolina has been not only an excellent student, but a very self-motivated one,” Sterner said. “She was one of five students from our school who entered and she put a lot of work into researching the stock. It was wonderful to see her being recognized for it.”

Nickolina said her parents knew before she did, but kept her award secret until Sterner could announce it to the class.

After doing the research, Nickolina said she learned just how difficult trying to predict stocks can be. She isn’t sure if she wants to get into investing in the future, but said the experience reinforced her love of math and she certainly wants to find a career in a mathematics-related field.

“It was definitely a good experience,” Nickolina said. “I learned so much about Disney, the stocks and how everything is affected in many ways by things other than just whether something is popular.”