Financial Management Class Picks Up Victory

 By Jordan Meyer

 November 2, 2008

The Fall 2008 Stock Showdown ended on October 30^th, and was won by Mr. Adamson’s Financial Management Class.  While the “Adamson 22” portfolio of stocks was victorious, the victory was most certainly bittersweet, as both portfolios in the contest experienced dramatic declines.  Throughout the few months of the Stock Showdown, the United States economy has been highly volatile to say the least.  Monumental events have occurred on a variety of fronts, and just a few of them are: Government regulation of Fannie May and Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers collapse, Bank of American buying Merrill Lynch, $85 billion AIG bailout, government restriction on the short sale of financials, Washington Mutual failure, governments $700 billion bailout bill, numerous 400-900 single day gains and losses in the DOW, and numerous rate cuts initiated by the Fed.  The Adamson portfolio experienced a loss of 30.69%, or $736,376 of the original $2.2 million investment.  The MLC Ticker portfolio was dealt a 33.88% loss, or $779,256 of an original $2.2 million investment.  Out of the 44 stocks entered into the contest, only two stocks experienced gains over the past three months, those stocks being Wells Fargo Corporation and JPMorgan.   Both the Financial Management class and MLC Ticker staff have enjoyed bringing this event to the website, and look forward to the spring semester showdown that should take kick off in February.