The Stock Market Game's Top 10 Stocks of Spring 2008

3. MasterCard (MA Quote): This is a global payment solutions company that provides various services in support of the credit, debit & related payment programs to financial institutes. A falling interest rate environment as well as MasterCard's steady earnings and strong earnings growth in overseas markets made it a slam dunk for SMG students this past semester with a 60% increase in market value. Priceless.

4. Visa (V Quote): Not to be outdone by its chief rival in the credit card business, Visa's IPO on March 19 was the most successful in history, raising $17.9 billion from investors. Blue skies and a sunny earnings outlook continued to bless the world's most recognized global financial services brand. From the time of it's IPO to the end of the SMG on May 2, Visa stock increased 46% -- that's everything an investor could want it to be.

5. United States Steel (X Quote): This company is an integrated steel producer with production operations in the United States and Central Europe. It is also engaged in several other business activities, most of which are related to steel manufacturing. Recent acquisitions, a weak dollar and strong earnings significantly improved this stock's strength, allowing it to post a 40% gain over the course of the spring semester.

The Rest

Rounding out the top 10 list are Research In Motion (RIMM Quote) (37% gain); Potash (POT Quote) (24% gain); First Solar (FSLR Quote) (23% gain); Baidu.com (BIDU Quote) (6% gain); and Apple (AAPL Quote) (1 % gain).

Six percent and one percent gains for Baidu.com and Apple, respectively, may not seem like much, but both of these stocks were very volatile from January to May, which created significant buying opportunities for many a Stock Market Game student.

Potash and First Solar demonstrate that the green trend among SMG students is alive and well.

Research in Motion and Apple revealed a continuing fascination with tech among our computer savvy students.

The Stock Market Game Program Top 10 Stocks, Spring 2008 The following ten stocks were the best-performing stocks in the portfolios of the student team leaders in SMG's ten largest programs (CA, FL, GA, IL, MA, NJ, NY, PA, VA, TX).
Ticker	Company	Closing Share Price 1/14/2008 (except Visa)	Closing Share Price 5/2/2008	Per Share Gain	Rate of Gain
1. CXP	Corporate Express (ADR )	$6.65	$11.61	$4.96	75%
2. DAIEY	Daiei (ADR)	$10.50	$16.95	$6.45	61%
3. MA	Mastercard	$178.22	$285.04	$106.82	60%
4. V	Visa	$56.50 (IPO on 3/19)	$82.75	$26.25	46%
5. X	U.S. Steel	$112.32	$157.06	$44.74	40%
6. RIMM	Research In Motion	$96.35	$131.92	$35.57	37%
7. POT	Potash	$150.12	$186.61	$36.49	24%
8. FSLR	First Solar	$224.76	$276.24	$51.48	23%
9. BIDU	Baidu.com	$340.4	$361.5	$21.11	6%
10. AAPL	Apple	$178.78	$180.94	$2.16	1%

To learn more about The Stock Market Game, go to www.stockmarketgame.org.