Monday Mailbag – Quest for Capital Questions

I’m trying to decide on a theme for the year and I’m still unsure about how Quest for Capital works.  Could you give me a little more info on how you invest in a particular stock? I guess I don’t know how stocks work myself!

I’ve been getting quite a few questions about this Quest for Capital practice incentive theme lately, so I thought it might be helpful to share a little bit more about how the process works.  Here are the guidelines that are included in the front of each student assignment book:

• Every student will receive $12 of studio cash at the first lesson of the year.
• Studio Stock prices will start at $2/share.
• Each week, the Studio Stock prices will fluctuate according to the following criteria:
  *  Stock with the most shares purchased = share price doubles.
  *  Stock with the least shares purchased = share price decreases by half (with no share ever falling below $1).
  *  Stocks with the middle number of shares purchased = share price remains the same.

• Each week, the student may purchase up to as many shares as he can afford. The number of shares purchased will be reflected on the Stock Options sheets. The student must complete as many of the stock options as he purchases for each Studio Stock (e.g. If a student purchases 3 Improvisation Stocks and 1 Listening Stock, he must complete 3 of the Improvisation Stock Options and 1 of the Listening Stock Options).
• A Stock Prospectus is available in the studio for each Studio Stock. The Stock Prospectus provides the necessary resources to enable the student to complete the Stock Option requirements.
• If a student does not complete the selected number of Stock Options, he will lose the money invested in that Studio Stock.
• Each week, the student may sell up to as many shares as he has accumulated in any given Studio Stock at the current share price.
• Throughout the year there will be special investment opportunities that will be made available to students for a limited time in order to give them a chance to earn additional capital.
• Studio cash is the only currency permitted for the buying and selling of Studio Stocks.

Here’s a glimpse of what it looks like “in action” in the studio:

This is a pretty involved theme, but students of all ages can be a part of it. And it has been one of the most motivating themes we’ve ever done in our studio. There’s nothing like giving the students an opportunity to be creative and then make real money from their projects! 🙂

Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!