This June, the SIFMA Foundation hosted two middle-school and two high-school students, their families, and their teachers in the financial capital of the world: New York City. The students earned their tickets by placing first nationally in the fall and spring sessions of SIFMA Foundation’s InvestWrite essay competition. InvestWrite challenges students to think critically, and analyze various investment scenarios and generate long term recommendations. The four winners were selected from more than 20,000 participants.

Meet the Winners
The fall 2015 winners are seventh grader, Abigail Teitelbaum from Pleasant Hill, Mo., and eleventh grader, Zachary Andrews, from Lancaster, Pa.
Sixth grader, Dmitris Salas, from Roslyn, N.Y., and eleventh grader, Dylan Carey, from Ridgefield, Conn., claimed the top spots for the spring 2016 competition.

New York Stock Exchange
The visit started with a trip to the New York Stock Exchange trading floor where the students had the opportunity to learn about the history of the stock exchange, speak with market makers and traders, and view the Closing Bell ceremony. Carey and Andrews spoke with market makers seeking to learn more about the exchange and their role in the greater market structure.

But the trip to the New York Stock Exchange was not without frivolity. While waiting for the Closing Bell ceremony, a spirited discussion arose between Andrews and Carey as to how the supervillain, Bane, managed to break into the stock exchange in The Dark Knight Rises.

Nasdaq Opening Bell Ceremony, Plus a Surprise!
The next day the winners convened in Times Square, where the group watched Nasdaq’s Opening Bell ceremony. When the group was escorted outside for pictures in front of Nasdaq’s jumbo-screen, no one was expecting a major surprise. Believing that they were on the trip because of they were New York state champions, Salas and Carey were unaware they placed in the national competition. The group posed for a photo, then turned around to see the announcement that Carey and Salas were, in fact, national winners!

After the surprise, the group returned to the Nasdaq offices where they had an opportunity to hear from Sam Stovall, U.S. Equity Strategist at S&P Capital IQ and Jeffrey LaRocque, Director of the Market Intelligence Desk at Nasdaq. Stovall shared his background and investment outlook for the upcoming year, imploring the students to be disciplined investors that think long-term when making decisions.

After Stovall stepped off the stage, LaRocque spoke to the group about equity markets. LaRocque discussed the basics of how equity markets function and their enormous importance to the economy. Once LaRocque concluded his talk, the winners had an opportunity to present some of their InvestWrite insights and stock picks.

Federal Reserve, Museum of American Finance and a Bull
After traveling downtown to Wall Street for a tour of the Federal Reserve and a trip underground to the gold vaults, the group visited the Museum of American Finance and even made a special stop for a photo with iconic Charging Bull.

BATS Closing Bell Ceremony 
With the day almost complete, the students participated in the BATS Closing Bell ceremony.
As a way to conclude the day, those not afraid of the height took a 1,250-foot elevator ride to the top of One World Observatory for a stunning, 360-degree view of New York City.

From the opening to closing bell, the students got to experience what a day on Wall Street is really like. The SIFMA Foundation thanks all those involved who took time to make the experience so special for the winners. To learn more about InvestWrite and this year’s Wall Street Experience, visit the 2016 highlights page.