MARCH MADNESS

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Need some help getting your students motivated?

Activity:Each student chooses a Company.

List of Companies I had my students use for the competition

(or students can pick their own)

Domino’s Pizza (DPZ) vs. Papa Johns (PZZA) / Verizon (VZ) vs. Att (T)
Pepsi (PEP) vs. Coke (KO) / Kellogg (K) vs. Post brands (POST)
Nike (NKE) vs. Under Armor (UA) / American Express (AXP) vs.Visa (V)
McDonalds (MCD) vs. Wendy's (WEN) / Lowe’s (LOW) vs. Home Depot (HD)
Wall Mart (WMT) vs Target (TGT) / Starbucks (SBUX) vs. Dunkin (DNKN)
Whole Foods (WFN) vs. Sprouts Farmers Mkt (SFM) / Facebook (FB) vs. Google (GOOG)
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) vs. Wells Fargo (WFC) / Twitter (TWTR) vs. Facebook (FB)
Panera (PNRA) vs. Yum Brands (YUM) / Exxon Mobil (XOM) vs. Chevron (CVX)
Apple (AAPL) vs. Microsoft (MSFT) / Ford Motor Co. (F) vs. General Motors (GM)
To find other Face-Off competitors go to →
  • My students made a giant bracket on butcher paper. I downloaded company logos and had them laminated. I attached magnets to each one and placed them on the bracket. However, you could do this on the Smart Board or a White Board.
  • Using a student portfolio, we made a buy trade of each company in the March Madness challenge. Each week we would have to re-buy those stocks, of those companies moving on in the challenge!
  • March Madness: Every 7 days we checked to see which company had the highest rate of return. The company with the highest rate of return moved onto the next round.
  • Finding the rate of return: I buy Ford (F) at $10.00. Seven days later it is trading at $11.00. Finding rate of return: (three steps)

11.00 - 10.00 = (1.00) (current stock price – initial stock price)

 1.00 ÷ 10.00 = 0.1 (divide the difference by the initial stock price)

0.1 • 100 = 10%. (multiply the decimal value by 100 to find the percent)

The rate of return for Ford is 10% (each week students have to re-calculate the rate of return)

At this point you may choose to go in many different directions. Students can research why their stock(s) is increasing or decreasing in value. This research can be as simple as reading the latest headlines about the company and/or comparing this company with its competitors. Students can discuss why some stocks are increasing in values and why some are decreasing in values and they can purchase some of these stocks for their stock market game portfolio.

To find the latest headlines you can use one of the following financial websites. Enter the company name or ticker symbol and the latest headlines along with much more about this company will now be available to you.

  • Barron’s Stocks to Watch
  • CNBC – Analyst Interviews
  • CNBC – CEO Interviews