Marilyn Hauser Wins 2016 Closing Dow Contest
Tampa Resident's Prediction Off by Only 113.60 Points
Marilyn Hauser of Riverview, FL, is the winner of the CAA's second "Guess the Closing Dow" Contest–and the second winner from the Tampa area!
The IT professional's prediction of 19,876.20, made in September 2016, was off the actual close of 19,762.60 by only 113.60 points.
Hers was the second highest prediction. One optimist predicted considerably over 20,000, and only 10 of the 75 contest participants thought the Dow would go over 19,000.
"I randomly guessed that the Dow would go up. I thought it would hit 20,000, and I'm sure it will do that in 2017," said Hauser, who thinks the milestone will be reached before the Trump Inauguration. "I feel that we have been in a slump for too long and that things will change direction."
"I knew that the Dow would go up whoever won because the market hates uncertainty. Once you knew who was in, then you can make decisions," she added.
A Chicago native, Hauser grew up on the city's south side and went to Catholic schools. She graduated from Clarke University in 1975 with a dual major in Computer Science and Math. She has a Masters in Information Systems from DePaul University.
Hauser worked for two Chase heritage banks, but never the new Chase. From 1977 to 1982, she was a computer programmer in Trust Accounting Systems at First National Bank of Chicago. After raising her children and jobs at other financial and insurance institutions, she worked as an application developer in Commercial Loan Systems at Bank One, from 2002 to 2005, losing her job after the Bank One merger.
She started working in credit card processing at Discover and then at US Bank and moved to Wisconsin. Tired of commuting over an hour in the cold winter and driving in the snow, she moved to the Tampa area last year. Hauser is currently a contractor working at FIS Global in St. Petersburg as an application developer in Credit Payments.
Hauser has two daughters, a son and one granddaughter, with another on the way. Her son lives with her, and her daughters live in Tinley Park, IL, and Olympia, WA.
She also loves her Honda scooter (see photo, right). "Riding around Clearwater is great!" she said.
Hauser herself doesn't play the market. "In 2010 I started working for US Bank, and they had an adviser for employees. He would come to our office every month to help employees with retirement plans. After 2008, I was nervous about my money running out, so I decided to invest in a guaranteed annuity."
As winner of the contest, Hauser is receiving a $200 gift certificate to a local spa.
