Any student interested in taking part in the Undergraduate
Investment Society Student Stock Tournament will automatically be
given $500 upon enrollment.
Starting today, UCLA students will take the money and spend it
on an Internet investing site which will allow them to invest in
the stocks of their choice.
The $500 won’t be real money, but virtual money for
investment. The sign-up fee, however, will be a real $5.
The event will last three months, said fourth-year math and
economics student Aras Toker, the tournament coordinator.
There will also be prizes involved: “Investment-related
publications will be rewarded to students who beat the (Standard
& Poor’s) 500 Index Fund during the first three months of
the tournament,” Toker continued.
The S&P 500 Index is considered the standard for U.S. equity
performance. It represents 70 percent of all U.S. publicly traded
companies.
The reason the index has so much weight is due to its close ties
with the largest mutual fund in the world, the Vanguard 500 Index
Fund.
Three honorable mentions will be given out in the tournament,
but the first-place winner will receive a prize worth over $100
plus the “Best Student Investor at UCLA for 2005″
award, Toker said.
This tournament is different from others because students will
be “competing against their peers,” Toker added.
To become involved in the event, investors must go to the first
event meeting today at Haines A2 at 6 p.m.
At the meeting, participants will be given a password which will
allow them to access the investing Web sites.
Both avid student investors and beginners are welcome to sign
up.
“The prizes are good and I can put this on my
resume,” said fourth-year business and economics student
Jason San, who added that he is planning on entering the
tournament.
“I don’t have that much experience, but I’m
going to keep track of all the news and maybe read some
books,” he said.
Online trading is a relatively recent phenomenon in the business
world.
In 1994, K. Aufhauser & Co., Inc. was the first brokerage
firm to offer Internet trading and in 1996, Ameritrade Holding
Corporation acquired K. Aufhauser & Co., Inc, according to the
Ameritrade Web site.
Web sites, such as Ameritrade and E*Trade, are just some of the
big names that have attracted day traders.
While investors trade real stocks and real money on these sites,
UCLA students won’t have to deal with the risk as they trade
with virtual cash.
The experience is intended to help students learn their way
around such trading sites if they would eventually like to become
avid online day traders, Toker said.