Student Spotlight
Andrew O’Flaherty a senior at Farmingdale has set the bar for his classmates. Andrew is pursuing a major in Computer Programming and Information Systems and a minor in Business Management while working full time as a supervisor for Staples technology department. Andrews selected to take Quantitative Techniques in Finance, a special topics class offered by Dr. Rogers this past Fall. Dr. Rogers challenged her students to participate in “The Stock Market Game” as a part of their course work. The competition has a few simple guidelines, each participant began with a hundred thousand dollars in digital money to trade and invest in over the length of the semester. Approximately 3,615 students in New York participated in the fall competition, and at the conclusion of the competition, Andrew came out victorious. He was only sixteen dollars short of reaching a hundred percent profit on his investments.
For Andrew investing and trading is his great passion, and as he demonstrated in class it is also an area that he excels in. But this was not due to luck, Andrew does his research. A majority of the stocks he invested in “The Stock Market Game” and in his personal portfolio are based in the pharmaceutical industry. Andrew explains that historically these stocks can be risky but if you follow the companies closely, “nothing is guaranteed” but it can be a cause for a huge pay off. Subscribing to a company’s clinical research and press releases are great telltale signs for Andrew. This allows him to analyze the market value and make his investments accordingly. Andrew plans on following his passion and pursuing a career in finance.
