By Cathy Wang | Opinions Editor

This year, the Stock Market Club made its debut at Irvington. Juniors Rishabh Meswani and Tejas Harith founded the club under adviser Mr. Pham to help students understand how the stock market and economy work.

“We started this club in hopes of not only emphasizing financial prudence but also helping students to take advantage of opportunities that will be available upon graduating high school and later, college,” said Harith. “Plus it gives people an understanding of how business growth, funding, and expenses have an effect on the economy.”

Club President Meswani was inspired to try stock trading in middle school after hearing his dad’s conversations about finance. He discovered SIFMA’s Stock Market Game (SMG) and has since participated in this virtual competition. Vice President Harith has also competed for a couple of years, and together, they want to give other students this opportunity to compete in a realistic financial environment. SMG encourages competitors to try to maximize profitability by analyzing stocks, trends, and price-to-earnings ratios with current events.

In addition to preparing members for competition, the Stock Market Club intends to bring financial experts to Irvington for guest lectures. However, their monthly club meetings have yet to start, as officers are currently planning the curriculum and technicalities for teaching members about the stock market.