With projections for the economy looking up, some students are opening bar tabs Uptown while others are keeping a watchful eye on the stocks.
Natalie Chieffe, associate professor of finance, said it is important for all college students to learn about investing because they will eventually face decisions that deal with finance.
The objective is to set some money aside now - invest it in stocks
bonds or mutual funds she said. Hopefully you'll end up with more money than you began with.
Chieffe advises the Ohio University Student Equity Management Group, a student-run stock portfolio that manages a $1.3 million allocation of the university's endowment fund. Chieffe said the program, though small in size, offers many opportunities.
Anthony Gargano, a junior studying accounting and finance, said he has invested for the past five years and that working for the group helped him learn how to do so correctly.
It's been skewed a bit because of more money that I have put in
but within this past year I've made over 30 percent on the money that I have invested
Gargano said. It's definitely a good feeling when you have a payoff like that.
Successful investing lies partly in the decision to invest and in part with where one invests, Chieffe said.
Not every investment has the same kind of potential. Many of us would love to have invested in Starbucks years ago back when it was a tiny company
she said.
Although the stock market has improved, it is still unclear if that will continue, Chieffe said.
It's never possible to know if today is the best day to invest because nobody has a crystal ball that can tell you what tomorrow is. It's very possible that we have been seeing several months of good terms
Chieffe said.
Michael Difilippo, a sophomore studying finance and accounting, has been investing since 2008, making a $500 profit.
When I buy stocks
I look for ones that are undervalued in the market. One stock I purchased back in November had just gotten out of bankruptcy. ... I bought shares at $6 a share
and now they're selling at $100 a share
he said.
Students who want to start investing should use their interests to their advantage, Gargano said.
The thing to do is start with the industry that you work in and that way you can have a better idea of where there are outperformers within the industry or underperformers and go from there
he said.
Gargano said he is continuing to invest and has a personal goal that he uses as motivation.
The initial goal that I have is to be able to make a down payment for a house - everybody has that American dream
