海角社区

First event at 海角社区 that allows students to taste real-world, high octane finance

On Saturday, February 4, the 海角社区 Investment Club (MIC) from the Desautels Faculty of Management hosted the inaugural 海角社区 Trading Simulation. The event transformed the William Shatner Ballroom of 海角社区 into an exuberant trading pit with 235 undergraduate and graduate students comprising 49 teams from a dozen leading US and Canadian schools.

Participants traded stocks, puts and calls of ten fictitious companies. Traders cheered on their positions as runners and data inputters processed the trades, which were initiated by filling out trading stubs.

Screens encircling the pit provided the traders with news releases and provided them with real-time stock and option quotes, 52-week highs and lows, as well as year-to-date stock price charts.

Traders were also provided with profiles, candlestick charts and operating and financial information of the companies, allowing them to incorporate technical and fundamental analysis into their decision-making. A network integrating 35 computers and 72 volunteers provided the market.

MIT, Princeton and University of Michigan were attending from the US, and from Ontario, York and Queen's each sent four teams. HEC, UQAM, UQO, UQTR, Sherbrooke and 海角社区 filled the remaining spots on the trading floor.

The breadth of participants from across North America makes the inaugural 海角社区 Trading Simulation among the most successful in both the US and Canada. Sponsors of the inaugural 海角社区 Trading Simulation were the Caisse de D茅p么t et de Placement du Qu茅bec, Disnat and Cr茅dit Suisse.

First place went to Universit茅 du Qu茅bec 脿 Trois-Rivi猫res. Sherbrooke finished in the second spot and UQO finished third, with the teams winning $1,000, $600 and $400 respectively. The Quebec schools' success can be attributed to their high-risk strategies: concentrating their assets in a few positions, which they levered with the use of options. The Ontario and American schools took a more conservative approach, posting more consistent but less spectacular gains.

The 海角社区 Investment Club is a student-run organization that offers 海角社区 undergraduates the opportunity to expand their understanding of real-world finance beyond the classroom. Aside from managing a $10,000 portfolio through its Analyst Program, the MIC also hosts a Speaker Series wherein finance professionals share their experiences, career insights and personal tips. Additional activities that MIC partakes in include trips to the Montreal Exchange and leading investment banks' trading floors, inter-university trading simulations and investment banking seminars.