WITH nerve, patience, excellent research skills and a real will to win, teenager Sam Adams is a stockbroker in the making.

WITH nerve, patience, excellent research skills and a real will to win, teenager Sam Adams is a stockbroker in the making.

The 17-year-old sixth former has single-handedly turned around the fortunes of his school's participation in the Shares4Schools competition - making hundreds of pounds on stocks and shares on the London Stock Market in just a few weeks.

Sam, a student at Orwell High School in Felixstowe, took over after his school had lost �600 on its original investment.

Within weeks he had restored its fortunes, and it is now firmly in the black, quite a coup considering the delicate nature of share prices worldwide.

During the past month, his hard work and creative investing has enabled the Orwell team to reach a top-ten position of schools taking part across the country -including the likes of Eton.

Sam said: “It's been very unpredictable in the current economic climate, but I've remained focused on the challenge of investing wisely.

“I've also taken a couple of nerve-wracking risks but they weren't reckless and they paid-off.

“The secret is to research the market properly and that's what I will continue to do and hopefully clinch the top-spot by June when the competition ends.”

Shares4Schools, which began last October, gives teams the chance to run their own share portfolio with investment funds provided by The Share Centre and business sponsors to bring a “real world” approach to learning.

Tim Berni, who oversees business studies at Orwell High, said: “Sam has shown that our business students are able to compete against the very best.

“I am confident that he will continue to do very well as he certainly seems to understand the growth areas of the stock market.”

Head teacher Peter Tomkins added: “At Orwell High we believe in developing students with entrepreneurial skills, the sort of 'can do' skills that will make them successful and effective world citizens.

“Sam has demonstrated all those skills, underpinned by thorough research, and been prepared to take the necessary risks!”

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