Port Jefferson High's Dan Scarda Invests in New Club

At the age of 10, Dan Scarda already had an understanding of the stock market, as he started a hedge fund with his friends.

With Scarda at the helm, the group saw a 33 percent return on their investment. Now a senior at Port Jefferson’s Earl L. Vandermeulen High School, Scarda intends to teach his peers the ins and outs of the market through a new high school group called the Investment Club.

The club, which will be overseen by middle school Spanish teacher Bob Ferenga, is already gaining popularity among students who attended mock meetings as part of Scarda’s effort to get the club off the ground.

“He did a lot of ground work to get this started,” Principal Dr. Matthew Murphy said.

To bring the club to fruition, Scarda gathered student signatures, secured school board approval and enlisted the help of local stock market guru Bill Russell, who is volunteering his time to work with club members.

According to Scarda, the club members will not only learn more about the financial industry throughout the year, but will also compete against other schools as part of Newsday’s stock market competition, where students must build a fictitious portfolio.

Scarda intends to have his club win, and win big, by turning $100,000 in fake money into $1 million by the end of the school year. His strategy is to have the club invest prudently by carefully researching investments through the Bloomberg mobile application, which sends students market reports and notifications.

Aside from leading the Investment Club, Scarda serves as an officer in the student organization and is a member of the school’s baseball team. He plans to attend NYU, Georgetown University or the University of Pennsylvania in the fall and study business.

Photo courtesy of the Port Jefferson School District