Economics students at Ripley-Union-Lewis-Huntington Jr./Sr. High are already running full financial profiles on companies.

Yet the Stock Market Game doesn't begin in Greater Cincinnati until Oct. 4.

That means students and adults have time to register for this fall's game, which gives teams nationwide a mock $100,000 to invest in the stock market to teach basic investment principles. At the end of 10 weeks, the elementary and secondary students who hold the highest Greater Cincinnati portfolios can win trips, cash and plaques. The trips are a new feature this year, and adults are eligible to win cash only.

But if you're going to play the game, start your research now, said Adam Braun, 15, of West Chester.

Adam's three-man Lakota Plains team took home the top middle-school prize in last spring's game with a portfolio worth $154,615.

"Make wise decisions early," he suggests. "You'll get too far behind otherwise."

TO REGISTER

Register at www.stockmarketgame.org • Deadline: Nov. 1, although play starts on Oct. 4 and ends Dec. 10. Look for results every Saturday in the Enquirer's Business section. • Cost: $20 per team • Team divisions: High school (grades 9 to 12); middle (grades 6 to 8); elementary (grades 4 to 5); university/college; teacher/adult. • More information: Call Rob Rude, game coordinator, at (513) 556-2949. • Sponsor teams by sending donations to: Economics Center for Education and Research, P.O. Box 210223, Cincinnati OH 45221.

What Lakota Plains teacher Becky Falato loves about the game is that it teaches critical thinking, cooperation and decision making. All of Falato's 8th-grade language arts students participate - doing research on the Internet and in newspapers, making transactions weekly on their game Web account and creating a PowerPoint presentation about their portfolios.

But it's also designed to be fun, as teams compete against each other, their teachers and parents in building simulated portfolios.

Russ Curtis, who teaches economics at the Ripley school, shares his own game strategy with students. "I tell my students 'This is the arena in which you can make your living ... Look, you can do this ... even if you're in rural Brown County.' "

A team of Curtis' students took top honors in the Stock Market Game several years ago.

This year, parents are encouraged to participate with a half-price registration rate of $10. That way, whole families can learn market ins and outs together - including buying mutual funds (new this year), selling short, buying on margin and paying commissions.

For teachers, the Stock Market Game offers lesson plans and curriculum materials on the Internet, plus hands-on local support.

Thousands participate

More than 6,200 area students and adults participated last year, said game coordinator Rob Rude of the Economics Center for Education and Research at the University of Cincinnati. The center has a far-reaching educational mission that includes teacher training and development.

Rude calls the Stock Market Game "an extremely valuable lifelong learning opportunity." It also can help students meet the financial literacy standards of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, he said.

The game was developed by the national Foundation for Investor Education, a nonprofit agency. Nationwide, about 700,000 students and 25,000 teachers play the game each year.

In Kentucky, a version of the Stock Market Game got under way Sept. 21.

Teams can buy and sell daily on their Internet account, paying a 2 percent commission fee and earning interest on cash holdings. Most local students reevaluate their accounts weekly, but Curtis says his students check their accounts at the beginning of every class period.

Because of the game, Falato said her students were able to follow the Martha Stewart insider trading case with ease. "I couldn't have asked for a better lesson," Falato said.

Short-term tactics

Obviously, the game rewards short-term investment strategies, which aren't the best tools for building capital long term.

"Most of us are going to need equities to help us reach our goals in life," said Dennis C. Fehlinger, an Edward Jones investment representative in Anderson Township. "So that's a huge benefit to learn it through a game."

He suggested that students and parents take it to the next level and plan a long-term investment strategy.

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