College of Business Announces Inaugural Stock Market Simulation Competition Winners

Students in the College of Business experienced real-time trading in the stock market and competed for cash prizes in the inaugural Stock Simulation Competition this past spring. Led by assistant professor of finance Yaseen S. Alhaj-Yaseen, Ph.D., more than 100 students learned-by-doing through a virtual trading application called Stock Trak.
At the start of the 14-week competition, participants began with $1 million in pretend money to trade stocks and create the top-performing stock market portfolio.

Yaseen S. Alhaj-Yaseen, Ph.D., recognizing Nick Graf, senior marketing and psychology major.

“I had the privilege of having Yaseen as a professor in the past, and his enthusiasm and passion for education really drew me toward the stock market simulation contest,” said Nick Graf, senior marketing and psychology major. “It (the competition) was truly the best way to learn for me because instead of being told how it works, I got to see how it works and learn at my own pace.”
Yaseen found that some of the participants were aggressive while others were passive, but the most difficult part for the students was choosing the right stock and deciding when to buy and when to sell.
“This is a typical problem facing all real investors in the stock market,” said Yaseen. “Many people do not have a realistic vision on how the market works and what return they can earn on their investment. This exercise was to provide students with this knowledge.”
The competition was also designed to help students better plan for retirement. “I know it’s not coming anytime soon for most of them, but the sooner you start planning for retirement the better off you will be to reach your goals,” said Yaseen.
Graf won $100 along with 14 others who made it to the top 15 of the competition.  The top 15 students of the competition included:

Winners of the inaugural Stock Simulation Competition.

Nicholas Graf
Hung Pham
Victoria Dusseau
Andrew Bricker
Peyton Schroeder
Michael Bowman
William Bibler
Will Dusseau
Cameron Johnson
Rob Book
Reid Wolin
Logan Vail
Ryan Wilburn
Bradley Strawser
Matthew Sheehan
For more information about the competition, contact Yaseen S. Alhaj-Yaseen, Ph.D., at alhaj-yaseen@findlay.edu.