SEMO STUDENTS WITNESS START OF WALL STREET FALL

A group of Southeast Missouri State University students hope to accumulate some wealth, even if they can't spend it.

"We definitely want to make money," said Jennifer Kraft.

Kraft and other students in the portfolio management class of finance professor Dr. Michael Devaney took Monday's stock market plunge in stride.

The portfolio management class' diverse group of 11 stocks lost some ground Monday on Wall Street, but the students say most of the stocks remain profitable.

Even Microsoft, which took a hit, has been a money maker for the investment class in recent years.

Devaney said his students have made about a 140 percent profit on the Microsoft stock since it was added to the portfolio two yeas ago. The stock is now selling around $131 a share.

Devaney said the portfolio management class' stocks had a total value of $34,000 at the height of the market in early August.

Stock prices then dropped some even before Monday's decline.

As of Tuesday, Devaney said the class' investments were worth about $29,000.

Many of their stocks such as Campbell Soup weathered Monday's investment woes with little problem, he said.

The stock portfolio began with an initial investment of $10,000 in 1988. Prior to that, Monopoly or other fake money was used in the class.

But investing isn't a game to students in Devaney's class; they take their task seriously.

Devaney and this year's portfolio management students remain optimistic about stock prices despite Monday's decline.

Their optimism seemed well founded as the stock market rebounded Tuesday.

Devaney and six of his students wrapped up a trip to New York with a visit to the Stock Exchange Monday morning.

They had a first-hand look at the stock decline: The Dow Jones dropped 30 points while they were there. "It was going fast," student Nova Crawford said Tuesday.

Devaney said, "It was pretty hectic, to say the least."

Monday's historic drop of 554 points in the Dow Jones was a learning experience for the students and other investors, Devaney said.

It is often hard to get across to students the risk of investing in the stock market and the need for having a diverse stock portfolio.

"It just looks so easy to make money; buy a few technology stocks and they go up 30 percent," he said.

But Monday's decline demonstrated to students and investors alike that investing has its risks, Devaney said.

Correction in the market was inevitable, he said. He compared the stock market to a volcano: Sooner or later, it erupts.

Each year, students in Devaney's class buy and sell stocks. The class portfolio had 13 stocks at the beginning of the fall semester. But it sold two stocks last week, including its shares of Upjohn, a pharmaceutical company.

The class may sell Nike too. The athletic footwear company is doing poorly, students and Devaney said.

The sale of two stocks last week has provided the class with $3,000 to $4,000 to spend on buying more stocks.

Devaney said the class probably will buy two to three stocks, depending on whether it sells Nike.

Devaney said he leaves the buying and selling decisions to the students. The students likely will decide on what stocks to buy within the next two weeks, he said.

Student Scott Washburn said Monday's decline in stock prices wasn't the end of the world. "Over the past three or four years, the gains have been astounding," he said.

"I tried to get hold of my stockbroker this morning and it took one and a half hours to get through," Crawford said Tuesday. He sold one of his personal stocks and put money into a growth mutual fund.