Newswise — With nearly 2,000 college students competing nationwide, two Central Michigan University undergraduates hold top rankings at the halfway point of the Barron's Challenge stock-picking contest for college students and professors.
CMU seniors Nick Schmidt of Fenton and Tyler Stovall of Loveland, Ohio, held the first and fifth places, respectively, as of Dec. 31 in this year's Barron's stock-picking challenge. Despite the current market decline, Schmidt has managed to generate a net gain of nearly 57 percent, more than 25 percent higher than his closest competition, and Stovall has a 24 percent gain. The contest officially ends March 28.
Each year, more than 2,300 professors and college students across the nation compete in the Barron's Challenge, trying to create the best $100,000 hypothetical stock portfolios by generating the most revenue. At the end of the contest, top portfolios receive grand prizes of $1,500, with second and third prizes in each category of $1,000 and $500.
Schmidt, a double major in personal financial planning and real estate development and member of the Professional Real Estate Society, has focused his efforts on picking alternative energy companies.
"I've learned even in down times in the market there are always ways to make money," Schmidt said.
Stovall, a personal financial planning major, attributes his success in this competition to being patient and having an awareness of the state of the U.S. economy.
"I felt that with a recession looming, the housing market slumping and many mortgage lenders writing down large sums of money, this would be a good time to bet against them," said Stovall.
Stovall not only devotes a great deal of his time to watching the stock market, he also is a member of CMU's baseball team, Golden Key Honor Society and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. Some of his baseball honors in 2007 include being selected as the 2007 Mid-American Conference player of the year, an All-MAC first team selection member, a third team All-American by the American Baseball Coaches Association and Collegiate Baseball magazine, and a second team Academic All-American. He also was added to the 2008 preseason watch list for the Brooks Wallace Award, presented annually by the College Baseball Foundation to the national player of the year.
This is not the first time that CMU has landed top rankings on Barron's lists. A CMU student and/or faculty member has placed in the top 10 in each of the contests to date.
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