Sink or Swim: Student Traders Stay Afloat Winners Earn Up to 13 Percent During Three-Week Competition
Wednesday, May 9 2007
May 9, 2007 MOSCOW, Idaho – Take 14 students, give them $100,000 each and three weeks to invest the funds. The return-on-investment was well worth it this spring for University of Idaho business students. The inaugural Barker Trading Competition provided College of Business and Economics students the opportunity to invest $100,000 each to see how much return on the money they could garner in just 21 days. Students had to factor in real-world news events that affected the foreign exchange market as part of their trading strategy. The competition provided a beneficial hands-on risk-reward element found in trading real markets. Another key feature of the competition is the Barker Bulls and Bears Trading Room, which gives students hands-on access to the latest financial data and trading strategies. The trading stations provide access to real-time exchange data feeds from the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ stock market, American Stock Exchange, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) and the participant members of the Options Pricing Authority. "The students showed a good understanding of the products they were trading, and used concrete risk management parameters on cutting their losses and banking their profits," said competition judge Jason Barker, a professional trader. "It's phenomenal to have a University offering the student's state of the art technology and a top rate education in an arena that is so difficult to succeed at. These students will graduate way ahead of the game." Contestants were judged on the basis of financial results, with consideration also provided for how risk was managed and the quality of their trading strategy. Contestants used thinkorswim, the top-ranked, software-based trading platform for the last two years. Trading was restricted to a select number of contracts. Optional E-mini futures contracts included: S&P 500; Russel 2000; Nasdaq 100; CBOT Dow; Euro; Euro Dollar; CBOT Gold; CBOT Silver. Full futures contracts open for the competition included corn, soybeans and wheat. Due to the short competition timeframe, the increases are particularly significant. Top results from the competition include: First place: freshman Sean St. Marie, from Spokane, Wash., with a 13 percent gain. St. Marie is working toward a degree in finance. He will receive a $600 prize. Second place: senior Sam Boyd, from Eagle, with a 10.70 percent gain. Boyd is working for an accounting degree. He will receive a $300 prize. Third place: senior Michael Sasala, from Seattle, Wash., with an 8.75 percent gain. Also graduating this week, he will receive a finance degree. Sasala will receive a $200 prize. Fourth place: freshman Ze (Michael) Zhao, from China, with a 5.65 percent gain. He is working toward a degree in information systems. Zhao will receive a $100 prize. Fifth place: senior Paul Bartell, from Potlatch, with a 5.36 percent gain. Bartell will graduate this week with a degree in finance. He will receive a $50 prize. Sixth place: senior Paul Aikele, from Moore, with a 3.83 percent gain. Aikele also is graduating this week with a degree in finance. He will receive an honorable mention. The prizes will be awarded Thursday, May 10 at the 2 p.m. at meeting of the Barker-Dangerfield Wealth Management Foundation in the J.A. Albertson Building Room 307. The winners will provide a summary of their successful trading strategies. The Barker Capital Management and Trading Program is named after Rotchford L. Barker, an outstanding and successful commodity trader at the Chicago Board of Trade for more than 30 years, a former member of the Board of Directors at the CBOT, and a businessman familiar with corporate boards. The Barker Bulls and Bears Trading Room was completed in the fall of 2002 as part of the new, privately-funded facility housing the University of Idaho's College of Business and Economics. The program admitted its first students beginning with the fall of 2004. The program introduces students to trading, risk management strategies and quantitative modeling, markets for securities, options, futures and commodities. The first semester of the program uses the trading floor as a laboratory. With evidence of progress, students are encouraged and groomed in the second semester to reach a level of development permitting an application for funded trading. In the application process, students are evaluated and coached on the basis of personal discipline, treatment of risk, psychological factors and money management. "As far as we know, this is the only program in the country that permits student and faculty exposure to and experience with funded trading of derivative strategies," said R. Ashley Lyman, manager of Barker Capital Management and Trading at the university. A second study track in the Barker program focuses on asset allocation, with research on the performance of money managers, private equity firms and hedge funds. Students review, evaluate and compare alternative investment strategies and provide recommendations for investing program resources not allocated for trading. For more information about the Barker Capital Management and Trading program, visit www.cbehome.uidaho.edu/barker or call (208) 885-7145. -30- About the University of Idaho Founded in 1889, the University of Idaho is the state’s flagship higher-education institution and its principal graduate education and research university, bringing insight and innovation to the state, the nation and the world. University of Idaho researchers attract more than $100 million in research grants and contracts each year; the university is the only institution in Idaho to earn the prestigious Carnegie Foundation ranking for high research activity. The university’s student population includes first-generation college students and ethnically diverse scholars. Its high academic performers include 42 National Merit Scholars and a 2006-07 freshman class with an average high school grade point average of 3.42. Offering more than 150 degree options in 10 colleges, the university combines the strengths of a large university with the intimacy of small learning communities. For information, visit www.uidaho.edu. Contact: Joni Kirk, University Communications, (208) 885-7725, joni@uidaho.edu JK-5/9/07-CBE
About the University of Idaho
The University of Idaho helps students to succeed and become leaders. Its land-grant mission furthers innovative scholarly and creative research to grow Idaho's economy and serve a statewide community. From its main campus in Moscow, Idaho, to 70 research and academic locations statewide, U-Idaho emphasizes real-world application as part of its student experience. U-Idaho combines the strength of a large university with the intimacy of small learning communities. It is home to the Vandals. For information, visit www.uidaho.edu.