Author Archives: Kevin Smith

Kevin is the content manager and editor for HowTheMarketWorks and is from Chicago, Illinois. He has a Master's Degree in Economics from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, and is a Google Certified Educator. In addition to an economics background, he has also built training manuals to prepare finance companies for licensing requirements in mortgage loan origination and insurance sales.

Using Spreadsheets – Graphing

Graphing is one of the most important features of spreadsheets. When you need to present your findings, whether as a written report or a presentation, summarizing your data in graphs is the best way to quickly communicate large amounts of data. This guide will walk through taking your raw portfolio data, making some simple calculations, Read More…
Categories: Software

5 Tips for Your Spring Stock Game

  If you are using the HTMW stock game for the first time, or if you’re a veteran looking for some tips, here are the Top 5 Best Practices for your late Spring stock game! Why More Teachers Start Their Games In The Spring The school year is entering its final stretch, and your students Read More…
Categories: Teacher Resources

Fall 2017 Challenge

Win prizes in our stock market contests! Find all of the information for any stock contests with prizes we are currently running here! You can also find information on past contests and their winners. Register Here To HTMW Fall Challenge Who can join? Anyone can join! Joining our stock market contests is completely free, so Sign Up Read More…
Categories: Contests

Trade Notes – Justify Your Trades

HowTheMarketWorks is all about education – we want students to learn about investing and personal finance by managing their virtual portfolio with carefully-selected trades. How It Works Every time your students place a trade, they will be prompted to enter their “Trade Notes” – a short sentence mentioning why they are placing this trade (almost Read More…
Categories: Updates, Using HTMW

Income Tax Filing and the 1040

What is income tax? Income tax is the tax you pay on your income, usually directly taken out of your paycheck. Everyone who works in the United States should be paying income tax on their earnings. Income is more than just wages and salaries too. If you earn rents from rental properties, investment income, interest Read More…
Categories: Personal Finance

Types of Business Ownership

A key first step for any entrepreneur is setting up an organization that will be used to formally embark on the business journey, but many new business owners struggle to identify the best way to move forward. These are the most common ways to organize a business, from the simplest through the most complex. Sole Read More…
Categories: Business

Price Controls

Definition “Price Controls” are artificial limits that are put on prices. If the limit is put in place to prevent prices from getting too high, they are called Ceilings. If they are in place to prevent the price from getting too low, they are called “Floors”. Price Ceilings Price Ceilings are controls put in place Read More…
Categories: Economics, N - T

The Business Cycle

What Is The Business Cycle? The Business Cycle is the broad, over-stretching cycle of expansion and recession in an economy. The Business Cycle is concerned with many things – unemployment, industrial expansion, inflation rates, but the most important indicator is GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth. Below you can see a graph of the GDP growth Read More…
Categories: A - G, Economics

Credit Cards

What are Credit Cards? Credit cards is a form of unsecured credit (meaning a loan without collateral) that you can use to make everyday purchases. All credit card purchases are made using a loan – you borrow money from your credit card issuer, and later pay it back with interest. Credit Cards Vs Debit Cards Read More…
Categories: A - G, Personal Finance

All About Budgeting

If you want to start building your first workable budget, it is important to know exactly what should be in it, how to keep it updated, and the specific reason you want to have this budget. What does a budget look like? A budget is usually a spreadsheet or table. On one side or column, Read More…
Categories: Personal Finance