Teams start with $500,000 to invest in simulated market
Late February is always a fun week for Students in Money Management. Those who don’t know much about the stock market might be wondering whether there’s a Federal Reserve meeting. Instead, it’s quite the contrary. On Saturday, the 4th Annual Stockbusters Challenge was held during Scholars Day. The Stockbusters Challenge is a stock market competition that helps improve knowledge of the stock market in a fun, fast-paced way.
The game is designed to simulate a day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). One can think of the New York Stock Exchange similarly to a farmer’s market, a place where buyers and sellers meet to exchange goods, in this case ownership in a company (stock). The main difference between a farmer’s market and the NYSE is the fast-paced and high-energy atmosphere of the stock exchange. Before technology advancements, the NYSE and other exchanges were notorious for being noisy as buyers and sellers alike would yell and use special hand signals to place stock orders.
The specs of the game include fake companies that mimic the real movement of the stock market. Each minute that elapses during the game is a representation of a full day in the stock market, making minute by minute changes more significant than on a real stock exchange. A presentation and handouts are given to participants to show them how to play the game. The participants often place trades based on news that is shown through the entirety of the game, along with stock charts of each company’s price action. Each team starts with $500,000 with the goal to make the most money possible by the end of the game. Prizes were given out to the top with winners, with the grand prize being Bona SIMM beanies.
SIMM’s goal during the competition is to create a magnetic environment that’s fun for everyone. To do so, members moved all the chairs and long tables out of Swan 103 and replaced them with high top tables that forced participants to stand shoulder to shoulder in teams of five or six. This is the most similar setup to the once thriving trading pits on the New York Stock Exchange.
The Stockbusters competition has received great feedback from prospective students and parents. Some have even said it was the best accepted students’ event they’ve been to. While students participated in the game downstairs, parents were separated and given presentations by business faculty and student leaders to promote the business school.
A new implementation in the Stockbusters game was creating a GroupMe to be displayed on one screen during the presentation to parents. This way, parents could see in real time pictures and videos of their children playing the game and interacting with other prospective students. The GroupMe was a hit for the parents, as most of them said they wish they were playing the Stockbusters Challenge themselves.
With the recent success of the Stockbusters Challenge over the past four years, members decided to take the challenge to an international level. Over winter break, SIMM students in conjunction with St. Bonaventure Enactus conducted a Stockbusters Challenge at the University of the Bahamas (North Campus) on Grand Bahama Island, Bahamas. St. Bonaventure Enactus has a continued partnership with the University of the Bahamas, and SIMM students often go on their service trip to Grand Bahama Island, so conducting the Stockbusters Challenge there was a no-brainer. The SIMM/Enactus partnership with the University of the Bahamas has continued after winter break, as SIMM created a paper trading (fake money) competition with University of the Bahamas students in which both will compete for prizes.
SIMM, along with St. Bonaventure Enactus, has been glad to host the Stockbusters Challenge at Scholars Day and looks forward to the continued growth of the program going forward. A special thank you to all of students and faculty that helped for the event.
By Adam Talmadge, Staff Writer
talmadaj14@bonaventure.edu
