The Financial Literacy curriculum to close out the semester will be accessible through Clever on your portal. The course is called EverFi.

There are several modules which you will be able to work through at your own pace. Each module will have a brief test at the end to check how well you have learned the lessons. You will be able to review the modules and re-take the tests as many times as you need, within the time we have left.

You will be earning a full test grade on Financial Literacy based on the following criteria:

·      You must complete all modules and attain certification to earn a satisfactory grade.

·      Minimum score for each module is 80%.

·      Your grade will be based on your average score for all modules as follows:

§  80% average = 2.5 “B”

§  85% average = 3.0 “B”

§  90% average = 3.5 “A”

§  95% average = 4.0 “A”

Since you can work at your own pace and review/re-take the assessments as many times as needed to increase your score, there will be no rounding.

Be aware that the administration will want to see your grades finalized before the date of our graduation ceremony; probably well before. Each module should take no more than 45 minutes to complete, so you should have more than enough time over the next two weeks to finish strong.

Technical difficulties with EverFi/Clever must be resolved through the appropriate Help Desk (I do not control the website). Should you encounter other difficulties let me know right away. Do not wait until the last minute; we are both subject to hard deadlines which I cannot push back.

Dear Stock Market Game Participants:

As The Stock Market Game program draws to a close for the Spring 2022 semester, it's important to revisit one of the first lessons reviewed with you - why is investing important? In order to fully tie the SMG program to the real-world, understand the importance of long-term investing and that true investing is not just for ten or fifteen weeks. Time is your biggest ally as an investor. The more time you have to invest, the longer your investment can compound, or grow in value. Compounding is a financial phenomenon that makes time work in your favor. It’s what happens when your investment earnings are added to your principal, forming a larger base on which earnings may accumulate. And as your investment base gets larger, it has the potential to grow faster.

The younger you are when you start investing, the more you will benefit from compounding. Let’s say you begin investing at age 25, putting $200 a month in a tax-deferred retirement plan earning 9%. Your friend starts investing in the same plan at age 45, but puts away twice as much money as you — $400 a month. At age 65, you will both have invested a total of $96,000, but your investment would have grown to over $800,000, while your friend’s investment would be worth roughly $250,000. The reason your investment has grown so much more than your friend’s — even though you both invested the same amount of money — is because of 20 extra years of compounding. So, start saving now (every little bit helps)!

A 9% return on your investment isn’t guaranteed (especially in this market), and if you invest in stocks, chances are your portfolio will earn more than 9% in some years and may even lose money in others. But, if you invest in stocks for the long term, history is heavily in your favor - the average annualized total return for the S&P 500 over the past 90 years is 9.8 percent.

This will be the last SMG Week Ahead for the Spring 2022 semester. We hope you found the weekly newsletters informative and enhanced your SMG participation. In order for the SIFMA Foundation team to continue to provide the best Stock Market Game experience possible, please take a few minutes to complete our End of Session Survey. We want to know what you like, don't like, and how we can improve. Summer is the time the SIFMA Foundation is able to make the necessary updates to our program to keep teachers and students returning year after year!

Have a great week ahead and great rest of the semester!

Best regards,

Elizabeth Reidel

National Director

SIFMA Foundation

[email protected]

Dear Stock Market Game Participants:

For basketball fans it was a weekend to remember. The women of UCONN were handed their first championship loss in 11 years by South Carolina. But Saturday night's game between Duke and UNC was one of the greatest match ups in Final Four history. The eighth-seeded Tar Heels not only beat their despised rival, but they also ended famed Coach K's 47-year career. North Carolina took on No. 1 seed, Kansas Monday night in a nail-biter. Meanwhile, the markets are on the rise with all three major indexes in positive territory Monday with Twitter surging on news that Elon Musk recently purchased 9.2% of the company. It makes him the largest shareholder in the company. While he did not disclose the reason for the purchase, many believe Musk plans to take a more active role in how the company is run.

As it's beginning to look a bit more like Spring with the warmer temperatures and more outside activity, many are already prepping for Earth Day celebrations on Friday, April 22nd. This year's theme is so appropriate for Financial Literacy Month - Invest In our Planet™, which focuses on acting (boldly), innovating (broadly) and implementing (equitably).

On a related note, Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) has been gaining significant momentum over the past decade and may be a topic of interest for students. For investors, it can mean investing in companies that are considered socially responsible while also generating a healthy return on investment. The goal of SRI is to consider both the investor's financial needs as well as the investment's impact on society. Many SRI groups include three different activities under the socially responsible umbrella - ESG: the environmental, social, and governance practices of an investment that may have a material impact on the performance of that investment. SRI can also be driven by religious and political affiliations as well so there can be a debate on what makes a company responsible or an investment acceptable.

Each year the Ethisphere Institute, a New York City think tank evaluates companies and honors those exhibiting superior achievements in transparency, integrity, ethics and compliance. This year's list includes 136 organizations from 22 different countries. In compiling the list, Ethisphere ran the honorees through its "Ethics Quotient," which offers a quantitative way to assess a company's performance in an objective, consistent and standardized manner. The information collected provides a comprehensive sampling of definitive criteria of core competencies rather than all aspects of corporate governance, risk, sustainability, compliance and ethics.  Those making the grade include well-known companies such as Apple, Best Buy, and 3M along with lesser known companies like Henry Schein, Inc., the world's largest provider of healthcare products and services to office-based dental, animal health, and medical practitioners.

You may have noticed in tour SMG portfolio that you can easily track your socially responsible investments. The Stock Market Game™ has partnered with Newday Impact to identify more than 150 sustainable companies - companies that have been determined to be in alignment with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Newday is an investment management and technology company that researches and reports on ESG themed investing. They work with the largest ESG data providers to identify best practices and standards for responsible investing. The sustainable companies they have chosen for SMG all have high ESG ratings.  You can visit the "Enter a Trade" screen or the Account Status section of your portfolio home page to see if you have invested in any of SMG's sustainable companies.

Have a great week ahead!

Best regards,

Elizabeth Reidel

National Director

SIFMA Foundation

[email protected]

Dear Stock Market Game Participants:

     While many college basketball brackets were busted over the weekend, much of the East Coast was able to enjoy Sunday's official start to Spring with some warm(er) weather. Green grass and warmer temps still seem to be far in the distance, but as the old adage goes if March comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb. The markets also had a sunnier disposition ending in the green last week, but it didn't last long as each of the major indices erased last week's gains Monday morning.

     For you SMG Peloton investors (or you other teams in the red), you could use a bit of stability. It may be a good time to review the subject of bonds. Generally, when the stock market is on a roller-coaster ride (or when a correction seems inevitable), bonds can help steady a portfolio because they tend to be a safe investment tool to help balance the overall risk in a portfolio. In essence, bonds are loans investors make to the issuers in return for the promise of being paid interest, usually but not always at a fixed rate, over the loan term. The issuer also promises to repay the loan principal at maturity, on time and in full. 

     While all bonds share basic characteristics such as terms, rates, and par values (the face value, or named value of the bond – usually $1,000), they are not all alike. One of the major differences is that they’re issued or sold by four distinct entities in the US. Corporations issue bonds to raise money for expansion, research and development, and other expenses of doing business. While corporations can also raise money by selling new stocks, they may prefer bonds because the existing stocks lose value when new stocks are issued. Municipal governments, such as states and cities, sell bonds called “munis” to fund projects for the public good like building bridges, sewers, roads, and schools. The U.S. Treasury also issues bonds to meet its regular and unusual obligations. And finally, government agencies issue bonds to raise money to do their work, such as provide mortgages and student loans.

     Yield refers to the return the investor earns. The simplest version of yield is calculated by using the following formula: yield = annual interest (or coupon amount)/price. When an investor buys a bond at par value, yield is equal to the interest rate. When the price changes, so does the yield. The relationship of yield to price can be summarized as follows: when price goes up, yield goes down and vice versa. Technically, you'd say the bond's price and its yield are inversely related.

     And be sure to check out our Asset Allocation: Bonds & Beyond and Entering Bond Trades videos - part of our SMG Essentials video series.

     Also -- now's the time to InvestWrite!

     As some SMG sessions have passed their half-way mark, students in the red may be looking for another opportunity to “get back in the game”. InvestWrite is the perfect chance for you to review some of your investment choices and apply them to a real world writing prompt (the prizes are pretty awesome too!).

     Have a great week ahead!

Best regards,

Elizabeth Reidel

National Director

SIFMA Foundation

[email protected]

Basketball fans know March means MARCH MADNESS! Have you completed your bracket yet? The 2022 NCAA tournament begins March 15th and to help celebrate, Dr. Astuto has created an activity to capture the excitement by having your class create its own "bracket" with companies competing to make it to the Final Four. Follow the instructions posted in Schoolnotes to play and compete against the other teams in your class for the Bonus Points prize!

The uncertainty with Ukraine and Russia along with Wednesday's anticipated interest rate hike by the Fed, continues to weigh on the markets. But in more positive news, you may be thrilled by the recent Amazon announcement - a stock split is in the works making the inclusion of the company in future SMG portfolios a bit easier. Andy Jassy, Amazon's CEO announced last week a 20-1 split, putting the company in contention to be included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. What does this mean for Stock Market Game students? We will see in next year’s SMG session to see the effect! Distributions from the stock split will be made to shareholders at the close of business on June 3rd, and its new split-adjusted pricing will begin on June 6th.

For those new to investing, a stock split refers to a corporate action that increases (or decreases) the number of shares in a public company. A 2-for-1 stock split, for example, doubles the number of outstanding shares and divides the price by two. If you own 100 shares of a stock selling at $50 a share, for a total value of $5,000, and the company's directors authorize a 2-for-1 split, you would own 200 shares priced at $25, with the same total value of $5,000. While 2-for-1 splits are the most common, stocks can be also split 3-for-1, 10-for-1, or any other combination (20-1 in the case of Amazon). In addition, a company can reverse the process and consolidate shares to reduce their number by authorizing a reverse stock split. The effect of that would be to raise the per-share price of the stock.

You may be curious about the purpose of a stock split. It's basically an accounting procedure. Instead of a $20 bill in your wallet, you now have two $10 bills. If a stock split simply rearranges the numbers, why do companies do them? The typical reasons include: making the stock appear cheaper than it really is (to encourage more buyers), to increase liquidity, to meet stock exchange listing requirements, and to express a bullish management attitude. Amazon stated, “This split would give our employees more flexibility in how they manage their equity in Amazon and make the share price more accessible for people looking to invest in the company.”

Have a great week ahead!

Best regards,

Elizabeth Reidel

National Director

SIFMA Foundation

[email protected]