WEBVTT

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Good evening everyone.

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I'm John Tomack and I'm an 8th
grader at IS 187,

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the Kristen McAuliffe School.

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And I'm just truly honored to be
here today representing one of

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the many students who have
learned so much about money,

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teamwork, and the real world,

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as well as patience through the
stock market game.

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I've learned a lot of patience
of the Jets fans,

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so give me a break.

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When I first heard about the
stock market.

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I thought it was something only
adults with a lot of experience

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and degrees can understand.

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But once I started playing the
stock market game,

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I realized that investing is not
that complicated as it might

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seem.

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No offense to all the people
here who have all the investing

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degrees. I'm the.

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The But I, I view that the stock
market game makes it clear,

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exciting, and actually pretty
fun to learn.

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One of my teachers, he shared
how he started to invest early.

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He built a very strong portfolio
and he was able to retire at a

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young age. He's now traveling
the world, living his best life,

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and I thought that really stuck
with me.

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It made me want to also make
some more financial choices as well,

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like it.

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I began playing the stock market
game in the spring of 2025 with

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a team of five classmates. I was
the director,

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which was to keep the group
organized as well as managing the

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portfolio and making sure every
voice was heard.

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I'll admit this, I'm a big fan
of the tech sector.

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I believe that innovation drives
everything.

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But I also learned how to invest
to balance enthusiasm and

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strategy.

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We agreed only to an investment
company where we thought we

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could at least make $1000
profit.

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It really kept us disciplined
and prevented a few bye bye bye

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moments.

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So we use Yahoo Finance to
research companies.

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We track their 52 week high and
lows,

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and we explored new
opportunities in technology, retail,

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but also healthcare.

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We even took uh some chances on
smaller startups to diversify

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our portfolio. And of course,

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we also had to include some
bigger companies like Costco,

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which I'm guessing a couple in
there this weekend.

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It's OK.

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I also started to watch uh the
morning news to see how world

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events like inflation in product
watches such as the iPhone 17,

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and different global headlines
such as the tariffs are connected

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to our investments,

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and that really made the game
feel very rigor.

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If there's one thing I share
with futures investment, investors,

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it's this, don't be afraid of
losses.

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Every investor takes risks and
sometimes losing a little is how

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you earn the most.

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The stock market game has taught
me that investing is not just

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about money.

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It's about understanding the
world, thinking critically,

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and making informed decisions
about your future.

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I've learned so much already and
I'm only 13.

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The Messenger will know at your
age.