K-State Collegian
Tyler Sharp
Published: Monday, November 17, 2008
Updated: Monday, November 17, 2008
Discussions of current financial issues fill the classroom at a modest volume.
Novice and experienced investors pepper Eric Higgins, associate professor and department head of finance, with questions surrounding their next move in the markets. The aspiring investors watch the progress of their two portfolios with moderate enthusiasm and crack jokes about their stocks that have decreased in value.
These days, stock market excitement does not stop with traders in the Big Apple. In this K-State class, students are just beginning to get interested in the way the market works.
This real-life investing experience is available to students in Security and Portfolio Analysis, or FINAN 653. The experience includes managing two investment portfolios. The portfolios already contain some stocks, but students add to them through research in particular industries.
Presentations to the class followed by a vote determine whether or not the stocks will be added to the portfolio. With the status of the markets constantly in question, Higgins said the portfolios’ results are not as good as usual.
“Obviously, in the current market as a class, it hasn’t been as successful,” Higgins said with a laugh. “But, it’s still a great learning experience for the students, and that’s the point of it: seeing how the market really works, seeing how valuation really works when you go to apply it to an actual company. It’s a lot different than what you are going to get in a textbook.”
The money used in the portfolios comes from a variety of sources. K-State finance alumnus Dennis von Waaden, former vice president of the American Century Corporation, an investment management firm, donated $1.1 million in 2007, according to Higgins and the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
The KSU Foundation also has supported the class financially, and the class has been working to raise money to use and ultimately replace the Foundation’s money.
Higgins said he has been trying to incorporate current events into the class because of the recent rare drops that have been occurring in the market.
Utilizing news resources from Yahoo Financial to the Wall Street Journal, students are exposed to a variety of facts and perspectives.
Taylor Calcara, senior in finance, said he is appreciative of the connections to current events. “It’s a really neat experience because you are talking about what’s going on in the market,” he said.
Between imparting financial knowledge and analyzing stocks and the class portfolios, Higgins brings his own style to the class. Tracing the fluctuations in the Dow Jones Industrial Average during Friday’s class with his arm, Higgins mimicked the voice of an indecisive trader caught in the throes of the market’s massive amounts of volatility.
Reaching the peaks and valleys, Higgins alternated between buy-and-sell and garbled language amid laughter from the class.
Levi Russell, senior in finance, said Higgins’ lectures are his favorite part of the class because they make everyone laugh.
As for Higgins, he said he would like to see the class continue to grow and educate more students about investing.
“What I hope is that we are going to be able to get more participation in this whole process from not only in the college, but those that have may interest in it,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to grow that. I have a lot of hope that we’ll be able to expand around that initial idea.”
