Youngbiz Teens The teen’s guide to youth business, youth careers, youth investing, stocks, startups, entrepreneurship.

The Amazing David Leung

By Marita Ensio Robinson

Stock Market Wizard Has the Golden Touch

By the age of 16, investor David Leung was worth about $360,000. The California teen says there’s no trick — he owes his fortune to good financial planning and an early investment program. It all began in 1993 when, at 10 years old, he bought 100 shares of Microsoft stock.

Start an Investment Club

That first 100 shares led to more individual investing, but David’s stock market activity is also a family affair. His dad is an entrepreneur who grew a small business into a sizeable real estate empire. His mom is an accountant. His younger sister has her own financial Website. Together they formed an investment club — a group of people who research and buy stocks together. As a general partner in his family’s club, David helps with portfolio management and stock selection.

David’s investing motto is research the companies that interest you and invest in what you know, and he follows his own advice. This savvy investor picks computer technology stocks because that is the field he’s most interested in. David became fascinated by computers — especially the Internet — about the same time as he began investing, and has held summer jobs including everything from the installation of PCs for school computer labs to educational software design. Today he has shares of Intel, Novell, LSI Logic, Computer Associates, and Spyglass, as well as Microsoft.

Use the Internet

David uses the Internet to research and learn more about the stock market, and now he’s helping other young investors do the same. David, with the help of other students and teachers, developed two educational Websites for ThinkQuest, an annual Website development competition for students ages 12-19. Both the “Invest Smart” Website (http://tqd.advanced.org/10326), created in 1997, and the “Investing for Kids” Website (http://tqd.advanced.org/3096), developed in 1996, made it to the final stages of the competition. Over three million users log on to the Websites every week.

Learn David’s Way

In “Investing for Kids,” David takes you through:

1. Financial goals calculation (What do you need money for? How much will you need? When must you have it?);

2. Types of investments (long-term, short-term, etc.); and,

3. Concepts of investing (How does money grow? Why should I invest?).

Next, you can take a “Financial Quiz” to find out how much you know about investing, and then take investing “classes” at the beginner, intermediate, or advanced level. Then you can go to the “Stock Learning Center” for help with picking stocks, stock analysis, investment strategies, owning stocks, as well as to view a glossary of stock market terms. David’s Website also includes links to other Internet investing sites, as well as a message board where you can chat with other young investors.

Play the ThinkQuest Stock Game

One of the coolest features of David’s “Investing for Kids” Website is the “ThinkQuest Stock Game.” David describes the game as “a four-stage approach to the stock market to help you do your homework before you invest.” You set up an account, and the program then helps you pick, buy, monitor, and sell stocks using $100,000 in “fantasy money” credited to your account. Each time you log on to David’s stock game, you automatically get an update of your total portfolio, showing the real market gains and losses of each stock you own. “Previously, to learn about the stock market,” says David, “investors had to perform a tedious process of crunching numbers from the previous day’s stock quotes. Our Website will allow you to trade stocks like Wall Street professionals, using real-time data.” Stock quotes are delayed 20 minutes, due to the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations.

Buy Stocks for Real David with his family

With the game’s $100,000 fantasy money, you might get the idea that you need to be rich to buy stocks in the real world. “This is not true,” says David. “There are ways that you can own stocks for as little as $10, although $20 is better.”

David, a junior at Palos Verdes Peninsula High School, has perfected his long-range financial plans, so he has more time to spend on short-term goals. David is currently studying and preparing for college, improving his tennis game, volunteering at a local hospital, and presiding over an Internet club for a local non-profit organization. He plans to use what he’s learned to, someday, start his own business.

“After college,” says David, “I may start my own business as an entrepreneur — in computer technology, possibly Internet-related.” While he may be a stock market wizard, David says that good financial planning — not magic — is the key to his success. “Saving and investing,” he says, “are habits and lifestyles.” David stresses that anyone can choose how they want to live, and can learn good habits.

After all, he says, as a young person, you have “time” — one of the key elements in investing — on your side. With good research and smart stock picks, you have a good chance of earning enough money to do whatever you want later in life, especially if you start today!

My Hero

Warren Buffet's book is a top seller

Before David bought his first shares of stock, he did his homework. “I read some books about the stock market before I got my first shares of Microsoft stock,” says David. “My role model is Warren Buffet.” Buffet is worth approximately $10 billion and earned much of his money through investing. David learned many stock market strategies from the book The Warren Buffet Way: Investment Strategies of the World’s Greatest Investor. “I don’t sell stocks very often,” David says. “Like Mr. Buffet says, ‘The best time to sell stocks is never.’”