SAN FERNANDO : Economics Classes Talk With SEC Head
Watch out, Wall Street: Park Cockerill knows stock. And so do the students in his economics classes at San Fernando High School.
Over the last five years, his seniors have made more hypothetical profits in a Los Angeles Times-Merrill Lynch stock-picking contest than hundreds of other students in the region.
Their secret? Meticulous mathematics, a penchant for perfection and a conservative buying approach that targets blue-chip stocks sold at low prices.
“What I’m teaching them,” Cockerill said, “is investment. I do not teach speculation. I do not teach them to look for short-term gains. We go for the long-range winners.”
In a good semester, Cockerill’s students have earned returns as high as 40% on their investments.
On Wednesday, Cockerill and his economics class also earned a private visit with Arthur Levitt, chairman of the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission, one of the world’s most powerful financial regulatory agencies.
Levitt, in Los Angeles for a town hall meeting, requested the meeting with the traders and buyers of tomorrow.
“The chairman had heard about the contest and wanted to meet with some successful participants,” said Kathy Graham-Headly, southern regional manager of Times in Education and creator of the contest. “Mr. Cockerill’s class has come in first, second or third place every semester the program’s run.”
Upon entering the program, classes invest $10,000 in a hypothetical stock portfolio, then chart the progress of their investments using newspaper stock reports.
Students work in teams of four or five, with each team buying as close to $10,000 worth of stock as possible, including the cost of commission for a broker.
Cockerill attributes his students’ success to the research they do, comparing stock prices to those in previous years. “We try to pick the stocks selling at the low end. Logically, that means they have the greatest potential to increase.”
Sam Valdivia, 17, said he didn’t know a thing about the stock market before taking the class.
Now, he finds himself scanning the business page, marker and ruler in hand, plotting graphs of the ups and downs of his investments.
He bought into Sears, Roebuck & Co., and Chevron, among others. But his stock in a large tire company has outgained the rest.
“I guess everybody needs tires right now,” Sam said when asked about his investment strategy.
