Penn State, Smeal Student Win Currency Trading Competition
A Smeal College of Business senior took first place in the undergraduate division of this year's Texas A&M Inter-University Forex Trading Competition, beating out about 100 students from 15 different North American universities.
Penn State, Smeal Student Win Currency Trading Competition
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA (November 16, 2006) – Penn State won the team competition and a Smeal College of Business freshman took first place in the undergraduate division of this year's Texas A&M Inter-University Forex Trading Competition, beating out about 100 students and 15 different North American universities.
Participants were given a simulated $50,000 Global Forex Trading (GFT) account to trade international currencies on the foreign exchange market. Over the month-long competition, Smeal freshman Brett Crell grew his account more than any other undergraduate, garnering him a first place trophy and a $700 check..
Marianne Forshee, a senior finance major at Smeal, came in sixth place and won about $250.
Penn State was awarded first place in the team competition based on the performance of its top five finishers.
Throughout the contest, students traded in a similar environment as hedge fund managers and other professional traders who trade currencies to profit from fluctuating foreign exchange rates. Students placed trades with simulated capital and had access to real-time currency price data, news, and analysis tools.
All students were required to keep a trade journal listing each trade placed, the reason for placing the trade, and the result of closing out the trade. After the first round of trading, which took place Oct. 1-15, students who placed the minimum number of trades moved on to the second round. Penn State had 25 students move on to the second round, more than any other school.
At the conclusion of the second round, which occurred during the second half of October, the six students from each division—graduate and undergraduate—with the highest rate of return received prize money.
In addition to competing for cash prizes, the top finishers had their resumes forwarded to the contest's sponsors, including BP and Morgan Stanley.
Other participating schools included Fairfield University, Grand Valley State University, Manhattan College, Oklahoma State University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Rollins College, Siena College, Syracuse University, Texas University, Tulane University, University of Iowa, University of Louisville, University of Toronto, and Villanova University.
REPORTERS & EDITORS: For more information, please contact Wyatt DuBois in the Smeal College of Business Media Relations Office at 814-863-3798 or wed112@psu.edu.
Penn State's Smeal College of Business offers highly ranked undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, Ph.D., and executive education opportunities to more than 5,500 students at all levels. Featuring academic departments of accounting, finance, marketing, insurance and real estate, management, and supply chain and information systems, the college is also home to major research centers such as the Center for Supply Chain Research, the Institute for the Study of Business Markets, the Center for Digital Transformation, the Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Center for Global Business Studies, and the Center for the Management of Technological and Organizational Change.
