The Stock Market Game Week in Review: Oct. 22-26

4. Cardica (CRDC). The company assists surgeons treating patients with coronary heart disease by making products such as the C-Port and PAS-Port systems that offer a less time-consuming and simpler alternative to hand-sewn suturing. Cardica received FDA approval for the C-Port system in 2005 and sells the PAS-Port system in Europe and Japan. The company's stock price experienced a 112% gain since September when the stock was selling just above $5 per share.

5. China Finance Online Co. (JRJC). The company provides financial information to individual investors as well as financial professionals such as investment bankers, stock analysts and financial reporters in China. Since early September, the stock price has gained 221% from $10.94 per share to $35.13 per share at the time of this writing.

While the "buy what you know" strategy is a great introduction to stock selection, it's also important to emphasize the importance of diversification . Most likely all of the companies listed above are unfamiliar to your students (and are beyond the consumer sector which makes up most SMG portfolios). For more information about diversification, be sure to check out the "What is Diversification" lesson in the Teacher Support Center located in the "In the Classroom" section under "Lesson Sequence."

>To order reprints of this article, click here: Reprints