CFALA Announces Winner of the California Economics Teacher of the Year.

LOS ANGELES -- The Chartered Financial Analysts Society of Los Angeles (CFALA) announces the winner of the annual Economics Teacher of the Year. Maury Zapata teaches at Abraham Lincoln High School in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles. Mr. Zapata stands out from the 300 teachers under consideration for the prize. "We're pleased to make this award to such an outstanding teacher," says Asha Joshi, CFALA Board member in charge of community outreach. "Mr. Zapata is not only improving his own skills by pursuing a master's degree at USC, but he undertakes a variety of extra projects to make sure his students gain from all available knowledge."

Mr. Zapata will be presented with the award at the 2007 Economic and Investments Forecast Dinner of CFALA. The Dinner presents panelists Abby Joseph Cohen, Goldman Sachs' savvy chief investment strategist; Stanford economist John B. Taylor, famous for the Taylor rule that central banks use to set short-term interest rates; and Paul McCulley, Managing Director of $650 billion bond manager PIMCO. Experts will be answering questions from moderator Donald H. Straszheim, vice chair of Roth Capital Partners and one of Wall Street's top economic and financial market experts. The event will be held on Thursday, February 1, 2007, from 5 PM to 8 PM at the Wilshire Grand Hotel, 930 Wilshire Blvd. in downtown Los Angeles.

Sponsors of this year's event help to support the economic literacy outreach programs of CFALA. This year's event is sponsored by numerous organizations, including UBS, Charles Schwab, Countrywide Securities Corp., Market Axess, Northern Trust and Payden & Rygel. Proceeds from the Event Sponsor, Platinum and Gold categories support the CFALA Investment Literacy Program. For the third consecutive year, CFALA will sponsor The Los Angeles Capital Markets Contest that is conducted by the California Council on Economic Education. The Capital Markets Contest is a motivating approach to learn about the American economic system and financial markets. For some students, this is their first exposure to a world outside of their neighborhood and their perceived limitations. The winning team does the best job of explaining the macroeconomic factors that affected the performance of their $100,000 portfolio during the 10-week simulation. Prizes include a trip to New York City and the New York Stock Exchange, and cash. Mr. Zapata is leading a team in the 2007 Capital Markets Contest.

The CFA Society of Los Angeles (CFALA) is an organization of more than 1,900 financial professionals, most of whom have earned or are in the process of earning the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. CFALA is an affiliated society of the CFA Institute, the global, non-profit professional association that administers the Chartered Financial Analyst[R] (CFA[R]) curriculum and examination program worldwide, publishes research, conducts professional-development programs, and sets voluntary, ethics-based professional and performance-reporting standards for the investment industry. CFA Institute has more than 79,000 members in 125 countries and territories.

For information on how to reserve a press pass for this event, call Dan Pomerantz, CFALA Public Awareness, at [phone] x703.