In Detroit, where more than 70 percent of children qualify for free school lunch, talk of Wall Street and stock portfolios may seem like a foreign language. But a group of black children is learning about investing by putting its allowance, baby-sitting and part-time job money into companies such as Disney and Sony. 

Every third Sunday, about 100 boys and girls ages 8 to 18 gather in the atrium of a downtown office building to learn stock market terminology and theory and to discuss the next stock they should invest in. 

At a recent meeting, 12-year-old Lauren Lamb sat at one of the tables with eight other girls around her age while her mother explained how stocks split. 
“What I heard here today is that everybody is interested in making money,” said Saundra Lamb, the group’s facilitator. 

Gail Perry-Mason started the youth investment club with a group of boys in 1997 because a parent wanted her son to learn about investing and asked for her help. Perry-Mason is a stock broker and vice president of financial services for First of Michigan, a division of Fahnestock & Co. 

“You know how parents want to give their children more than they had or more than they were exposed to,” she said. “I think this generation will leave an inheritance. This generation is giving the next generation the money and the knowledge.” 
Each investment group is divided by gender and age: 8-10, 11-13 and 14-18. They follow Robert’s Rules of Order and are led by a president. Each has a parental facilitator. 

Perry-Mason said that most of the parents who want their children to learn about investing are the first generation to get a college degree, be among the middle-class and send their children to private schools. Across the country, concerned parents and various organizations are teaching black youth the principles of investing. 

Ariel Capital Management Inc., a Chicago-based investment management firm, teamed with Chicago Public Schools in 1996 to create a small public school called the Ariel Community Academy, which includes economic empowerment for its students as an objective. Students from an inner-city neighborhood are chosen by lottery to attend the Academy. At the school, each first-grade class receives $20,000 for its class portfolio. The teachers explain to the children about investing and money management.

 Representatives from the Academy and the investment firm manage the portfolio. 
Starting in the fourth grade, the students take over management of 25 percent of the portfolio. By the eighth grade, the students become responsible for managing 100 percent of the class assets, according to Mellody Hobson, president of Ariel Capital Management. 

Upon graduation, a portion of the senior class’ investment portfolio will be used to fund the incoming first grade’s investment portfolio. The balance will go to fund scholarships, philanthropy and the Academy. 

“One of many ways we thought to narrow the gap was to start with young people, so that they are socialized to the stock market and investing,” Hobson said. “Instead of having hypothetical paper portfolios, we thought the way it could really be embraced was if the children had skin in the game.” 

Black Enterprise magazine started two magazines six years ago, The Kidpreneurs Club and The Teenpreneurs Club, targeted at teaching black youth about saving and investing, according to product manager Melvin Crenshaw Jr. “Children and adults need to learn about economic empowerment,” he said. 

Experts say investing in the stock market is one way blacks can begin to build assets and close economic disparities with whites. “The problem is that we don’t grow up in households where the stock market is discussed,” Hobson said. 

Surveys by Ariel Mutual Funds and Charles Schwab & Co. over the past four years consistently have shown average net wealth lower for blacks than whites with more than $50,000 in family income. The 2001 survey found that, not including primary homes, total wealth for blacks surveyed was $158,000, while for whites it was $273,000. 

The 2001 survey polled 500 blacks and 500 whites and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points. The survey showed that 69 percent of blacks own stocks, up from 57 percent in 1998. White stock ownership over the same period remained flat, at about 80 percent. 

Perry-Mason’s group of teen-age boys, who call themselves the U.S. Young Investors Club, has used its $10 monthly dues to build a stock portfolio that includes Compuware, Disney, Sony, Donna Karen and the World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Corp. 

“Their portfolio now is worth several thousand dollars,” Perry-Mason said. “They’re thousandaires trying to become millionaires.” Because of firm confidentiality, Perry-Mason said that she could not disclose the exact value of their portfolio. 
Two boys act as research analysts and sift through stocks prospecting for potential purchases. They present them to the group at the monthly meetings. They also comment on the status of their portfolio. “I always tell them to buy what they know,” Perry-Mason said. “They do their research.” 

Brandon Celestin, who is one of two appointed researchers for his group, said that he combs Web sites and reads the tips from analysts and experts for information on stocks the group should be considering. “Really, we want stocks that will do better on the long haul,” the 16-year-old said. 

The boys aren’t discouraged with the current market slump and see it as an advantage to buy more while stock prices are low. “We still have made quite a bit of profit,”despite the drop in the stock market, Celestin said. 

The younger members of Perry-Mason's investment club each pay a $10 monthly dues and invest through the Low Cost Investment Plan of the National Association of Investors Corp. After a $7 setup charge, they decide at the meetings how their dues should be invested into their individual accounts. 

“The teen-age girls are taking a different approach to paying their dues. Instead of investing their own money, they raise it,” said Perry-Mason. 

The girls, who call themselves The Future Leaders of Wall Street, have held a commissioned art sale and book sale to raise money. For Celestin and his fellow club members, the investment club has given them a wealth of knowledge. 

“I think we will all gain experience from this investors club,” he said. “And when we become wealthy adults, we will be able to look back on this experience and say ‘This is a start.’”