Kula students take a bath in Indigo stock trading

Market volatility, the dreaded learning curve, and daylight savings time combined to cost Kula High & Intermediate School students nearly $10,000.

While playing the stock market with specialized Indigo trading software, the students got jammed up mainly by the mainland spring change to daylight-saving time, which put the close of market smack in the middle of the students’ core-class periods, explained Scott Mijares, Kaua’i representative for Indigo Investment Systems, Inc.

The class was geared to make investment decisions before the close of market during weekdays, and because they were in their core classes at that time, that became impossible.

Indigo put up $100,000 for the students’ use, confident that the trading software would direct them to money-making decisions.

Trading from January through March, the students managed to reduce the value of their account to $91,000, or a loss of around 9 percent, Mijares explained. They made no trades after the school’s spring break.

All things considered, a loss of 9 percent would likely be coveted by some investors, especially those who saw their retirement nest egg dwindle, or their net worth plummet, as a result of the market’s current wild ride.

Mijares said the money will be left in the school’s trading account, though he has yet to make a decision whether or not to offer some sort of summer trading program for students, or wait until they return in the fall to resume the real-world instruction.

The Kula students rebounded a bit during the first quarter, according to Mijares.

“For the first month we managed to reduce the value of the account by approximately $11,500,” said Mijares in February. “Like any trading system, ours has experienced a period of drawdown. No excuses,” he said.

“It’s just one of the realities of trading. We will stick to our system and hopefully have a strong recovery in the months to come.

“In the meantime, the students have progressed tremendously,” he continued.

“They have learned how to enter live orders, calculate returns, and are learning to be disciplined when it comes to trading this system. They have also received an important lesson in humility,” he added.

“They now know what it’s like to lose money in the stock market. It’s good for them that it’s not their own.”

Business Editor Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).