ORONO – Student investors who play the market with money from the University of Maine Foundation don’t make their decisions hastily. Research must be presented, and students must vote on all investments.

At last Tuesday’s meeting, Maria Grant, a sophomore from Presque Isle, made a pitch to buy Boeing, citing the aircraft maker’s overall prospects, including development of a new, longer-range commercial jetliner.

Although the group usually waits until the week after a presentation to vote on a trade, Grant had already circulated her research to other SPIFFY members and the secret-ballot vote was taken immediately. All but one member endorsed her proposal to buy 200 shares of Boeing.

Next up was Jaime Bakeman, a junior from Bucksport, who proposed a shift in one of the fund’s financial holdings, selling its 117 First Union shares that the fund has held for five years and using the proceeds to buy Citigroup.

“First Union isn’t doing much for us,” said Bakeman, who had concerns about its pending merger with Wachovia.

Steven Fellows, a sophomore from Rockland, also was partial to Citigroup. “It’s too big to fail,” he reasoned.

The vote on the bank stocks will be held Tuesday, when SPIFFY’s final meeting of the school year will end with a pizza party.

The last item was Fellows’ proposal to put a $4 stop-loss order on its 328 shares of Williams Communications, which the fund obtained as a spinoff from its holdings in Williams Co.

“Things don’t grind to a halt just because we go away for the summer,” said Fellows, whose plan was approved.

Stop orders are essential to a fund whose managers are away from campus between mid-May and September.

They proved their value last summer when some declining tech stocks reached the stop price and were sold, helping to generate the pile of cash that put SPIFFY in good shape for what it expects will be a market upturn.