Team of finance students places 17th out of 500 in international trading competition

A team of three finance students from the Trulaske College of Business made it to the final round in the 2018 CME Group Trading Challenge. Mark Goldstein, David Eilerman and Daniel Ryan placed 17th out of more than 500 teams from around the world, earning entrance into the final round and an invitation to the CME's Day of Market Education. 

The CME Group Trading Challenge is a four-week electronic trading competition where teams of undergraduate and graduate students can trade a variety of CME Group products from multiple asset classes in a simulated trading environment, on a real-time professional trading platform provided by CQG. This annual competition has grown each year, with 240 schools from 35 countries and nearly 600 teams competing in 2018. The Trading Challenge is a unique chance for students to learn hands-on techniques for trading futures.

The team traveled to Chicago and met with a number of financial firms on April 12, to develop a better understanding of financial markets. The students were welcomed at Performance Trust by Mizzou alumnus Derek Kessen (BS BA '05), the firm's director of client analytics. Derek and his colleagues gave a great overview of their firm and discussed pathways into a career in the financial industry. On April 13, the students spent the day at CME Group, listening to market leaders, touring CME's Global Command Center and attending a reception and dinner for all the final round participants. The team's faculty advisor, Tim Howald, also accompanied them on the trip.

"Learning from industry leaders was one of the biggest takeaways for me,” Goldstein said. “Visiting various companies, attending the keynote speech from Leo Melamed, and learning about the transition from the pits to quantitative strategies were of the most interest to me. I also enjoyed the opportunity to meet practicing Trulaske College of Business alumni, and seeing how they are doing in the professional world today."