By J.J. Smith. Two Rockwall-Heath High School marketing students have just won first place among 900 DFW area teams in the grades 9-12 division of the recent Dallas Regional Stock Market Game program by generating a $19,000 return in ten weeks beginning with their hypothetical portfolio of $100,000.

Juniors Taylor Ford (left) and Austin McPherson will be honored for their successful investing at the annual Stock Market Game Awards Banquet sponsored by Merrill Lynch and the Texas Council on Economic Education, Jan. 11, at the Tower Club in Dallas.

Both boys will each receive $75 and a certificate for their efforts, said Heath High business and marketing teacher Linda Rogers. September 28 – December 4, 2009

“I’m very proud of them,” she said. “I encouraged them to invest in whatever people are driving, using, reading and buying and let them figure it out.”

According to McPherson, the boys earned the most money after investing in Harley-Davidson and John Deere stocks. He said the idea about the motorcycle manufacturer came to him after speaking with his father, John McPherson, about his real-life portfolio.

“My dad was kind of in the stock market and I know what he did,” Austin said. “We also looked at John Deere because we own John Deere tractors and lawnmowers on our property.”

He said they also researched Apple and Phillip Morris, but those stocks just didn’t provide a good return.

“Pretty cool” is how he described his feelings about winning.

“It was fun,” added Ford. “It was interesting to see how stocks go up and down every day.”

He added that they looked at Google, Yahoo and Amazon stocks but they were declining too much so they sold them.

The Stock Market Game is a 10-week Internet-based simulation offered in the fall and spring of each year.  It encourages students in grades 4-12,  to learn about the American economic system and investing, while applying math, social studies, business, language arts, technology skills and more.

Teachers use the SMG and related activities to teach and reinforce required skills in many subject areas. Correlations have been developed that align the Stock Market Game program with the TEKS requirements in economics, math, social studies, and business education.