Portfolio Challenge
Every quarter FIC analyst teams will participate in a portfolio challenge, collectively picking a portfolio of stocks for a seven week competition. The challenge for Fall quarter will run from October 15 to December 5. Investment performance will be tracked using the Investopedia simulator and a cash prize will be awarded to the winning team.
Guidelines
- $1,000,000 Starting Value for Portfolios
- Stocks must be listed on a major U.S. exchange (NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX)
- Stocks purchased must be above $5 per share
- Short selling and margin trading are allowed
- No mutual funds or options trading
- Both market and limit orders are allowed at a commission of $10 per trade
- Free cash will earn 3% interest, margin loans will be charged 10%
- Teams can make an unlimited number of transactions, but a maximum of 50% can be weighted in any one stock
Spring 2008 Winner: Momentum Traders
The Dow gained just 1% again during the latest challenge, but the Momentum Traders portfolio appreciated 14%. The team focused on investing in companies with strong underlying fundamentals and positive technical movement.
Winter 2008 Winner: Investology
The Dow was up only 1% during this period, but team Investology gained 11%. Again, the group benefited from shorting financials. Additional gains came from investing in companies involved in the production of commodities.
Fall 2007 Winner: Value Seekers
In a period where the Dow lost 5%, the Value Seekers managed to post a 12% gain. The team's greatest gains came from placing bets against the financial industry which suffered from the subprime fallout.