Lunchtime Meeting - 12.45pm - Speaker Helen Pocknell

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IN the The Rotary Club of Oswestry's annual Investment Competition, run in conjunction with the HSBC Bank in Oswestry, 17 teams eagerly followed the movements of the UK Stock Market over the 6 months from November 2016.  Each starting with a notional £10,000 stake, teams from Oswestry School, The Marches Sixth Form, Moreton Hall and St Martins School tweaked and adjusted their portfolio once per month aiming to be first over the line with the largest 'profit' by the close of business on 28th April 2017.

In spite of their youth, it was the Year 8 St Martins' team Bolton Investment Giants (BIG) who collected their prizes at the Rotary Club meeting recently when, having turned a £5,546.42 surplus from their stake, they received £25 each with £100 for the school and other goodies from HSBC Bank as first prize winners.

Building on his success 2 years ago when he shone as Finance Director for his primary school team in a cross-school Primary 'Dragon's Den' competition, BIG's CEO Dylan Bolton said BIG's upturn in fortune over Christmas was because his team "looked for shares that were cyclic over the last year and likely to rise over Christmas. The one we chose looked a good bet!  We'll be back next year to defend our title!”

The group's teacher John Holmes was amazed by BIG's performance and only wished that his teacher's pension could perform as well.  

Rotary Organiser Robin Sinclair thanked the teams for taking part saying that the competition "broadened the interest of students in their business studies as well as providing an extra resource for teachers" and he was delighted that only 4 of the teams this year had ended up achieving a loss.