Team All for Tony, Tony for All Takes Home Top Prize for
UNC-Chapel Hill, Students from University of Idaho and Truman State
University Place Second and Third, Respectively
Trading right up until the closing bell, four students from
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ("UNC-Chapel Hill")
turned in a 127 percent total portfolio gain in four weeks,
outperforming nearly 2,500 others to win the third annual
thinkorswim® Challenge by TD Ameritrade, Inc. (“TD Ameritrade”)1.
This year's virtual trading competition had a record number of
participants: 726 teams of students from 233 colleges and
universities across 49 states put their best investing ideas to the
test.
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The 2016 winners of TD Ameritrade's
thinkorswim Challenge from UNC-Chapel Hill. Pictured from left to
right: Grahme Taylor, Nyatefe Mortoo, Alex Bryan and Dhru Patel,
with Steve Farmer, Vice Provost for Enrollment and Undergraduate
Admissions for UNC-Chapel Hill and Mary Ryan, TD Ameritrade (Photo:
TD Ameritrade).
The 2016 thinkorswim Challenge ran from Oct. 10 through Nov. 4,
2016, and was open to all students at post-secondary educational
institutions in the U.S. Participating teams started with $500,000
in virtual money to invest in real time using the paperMoney®
program on TD Ameritrade’s thinkorswim platform. Prizes were
awarded to the top three teams with the highest overall percentage
gain in their portfolios at the close of the competition, and to
their respective schools. There were also prizes awarded to teams
whose portfolios had the highest percentage gains in aggregate
value at the end of each trading week, and to the team that
collected the most badges for its trading activity.
"There are no Monday morning quarterbacks at the end of the
thinkorswim Challenge," said Steven Quirk, executive vice president
of trading at TD Ameritrade. “Experience is often the best
educator, so our competition is designed to give young people
unparalleled exposure to navigating the market amid the real time
events that ultimately influence the performance of their
investments."
During the competition, students remained optimistic about the
market overall, with 49 percent of trades being bullish and 40
percent bearish. The remainder were volatility plays or other
trades.
Top Prize Goes to Team All for Tony, Tony for AllTeam All
for Tony, Tony for All from UNC-Chapel Hill won the Challenge,
placing trades in the final hour of the four-week competition to
edge out others and win with a 127 percent portfolio gain and a
portfolio value of $1,133,492. The team consisted of four
UNC-Chapel Hill undergraduates: senior Alex Bryan, an economics and
Portuguese double major; sophomore Nyatefe Mortoo, a business
administration major; sophomore Dhru Patel, a computer science and
pre-business double major; and senior Grahme Taylor, a health
policy and chemistry double major. All for Tony was one of 17 teams
from UNC-Chapel Hill competing in this year’s Challenge.
Each member of the Challenge's overall winning team received
$3,000 to be deposited into his own TD Ameritrade brokerage
account. As the school affiliated with the overall winning team,
UNC-Chapel Hill received $30,000 from TD Ameritrade for its role in
educating students on the importance of investing.
“Our team had a diverse collection of interests and skill sets,
which worked well for us. In fact, by the end of the Challenge we
had deployed a four-tiered strategy for researching investment
ideas and executing trades,” said Grahme Taylor, All for Tony team
member. “It was an intense and exhilarating learning experience and
those of us who are here next year absolutely plan to do it
again.”
Less than $13,000 separated the competition's overall winner
from the second place team, which was Team CattleDrive from the
University of Idaho. With its 124 percent gain and a portfolio
valued at $1,121,232, team Cattle Drive brought in $20,000 for its
school and each team member won $2,000 deposited into individual TD
Ameritrade brokerage accounts. Third place went to BSIF Elite from
Truman State University, which ended up with a 90 percent gain and
a portfolio value of $950,568. The team won $10,000 for its school,
and each team member won $1,000 for placing third in the
competition overall and $500 for winning week four of the
competition, deposited into individual TD Ameritrade brokerage
accounts.
Michigan State University's Spartan Capital team earned the most
badges for its trading activity, acquiring a total of 39 badges
during the competition. Each member of Spartan Capital received
$500 deposited into individual TD Ameritrade brokerage accounts for
winning the 2016 badge award.
A list of the competition winners is below:
Team Name
Associated School OVERALL All for Tony,
Tony for All University of North Carolina Oct. 10-Nov. 4
Chapel Hill, NC
Week One Theta
Management Slippery Rock University of Oct. 10 - Oct. 14
Pennsylvania Slippery Rock, PA
Week
Two LGBT Partners LLC Wayne State University Oct. 17-Oct. 21
Detroit, MI
Week Three
Texas Aggies Texas A&M University Oct. 24-Oct. 28
College Station, TX
Week Four BSIF
Elite Truman State University Oct. 31-Nov. 4
Kirksville, MO
Badge Award Spartan Capital
Michigan State University Oct. 10-Nov. 4
East Lansing, MI
Students Used Options at All-Time HighThe students in the
2016 Challenge had a healthy appetite for options early on, which
increased as the weeks passed. In week one, 77 percent of trades
were options, compared with 64 percent of trades at the start of
last year's competition, and 45 percent in 2014. In the final week
of this year's competition, 87 of trades placed were options, 12
percent were stock trades, and less than one percent were ETF
trades.
This year, students made more trades in the technology sector
than in any other sector. Apple (AAPL) was the most frequently
traded stock option and Twitter (TWTR) was the most frequently
traded stock.
Consistent with last year, 36 percent of trades during the 2016
Challenge were placed through a mobile device, compared with 21
percent of trades placed on mobile by TD Ameritrade clients. The
iPhone was the most frequently used mobile device for trading in
the competition.
Bringing Financial Literacy to LifeThe thinkorswim
Challenge is offered every year through TD Ameritrade U, an
educational program for professors and college-run organizations
that provides free access to virtual trading through paperMoney® on
the thinkorswim trading platform. TD Ameritrade developed the
program in 2014 to help students prepare for the real world of
personal finance by giving them the ability to put classroom theory
into real-life investing practice. The firm believes that access to
leading-edge investment resources and education is the first step
in helping young people form investing habits that can last a
lifetime.
“What's most important about the thinkorswim Challenge is that
the students expand their investing horizons," said Quirk. “We're
happy to hit a new high in participation, but what excites us even
more is to watch the students grow savvier about the market with
each passing year.”
For more information about TD Ameritrade U or the thinkorswim
Challenge, visit www.tdameritradeu.com or
www.thinkorswimchallenge.com. To receive updates on the 2017
thinkorswim Challenge, interested students and educators can email
support@tdameritradeu.com.
For the latest news and information about TD Ameritrade, follow
the Company on Twitter, @TDAmeritradePR.
Inclusion of specific security names in this commentary does not
constitute a recommendation from TD Ameritrade to buy, sell or
hold.
Past performance of a security, strategy or index is no
guarantee of future results or investment success. Historical data
should not be used alone when making investment decisions. Please
consult other sources of information and consider your individual
financial position and goals before making an independent
investment decision.
Trading options can involve substantial risks and are not
suitable for all investors. Clients must consider all relevant risk
factors, including their own personal financial situations, before
trading. Please read Characteristics and Risks of Standardized
Options before investing in options.
thinkorswim Challenge subject to full official rules available
at www.thinkorswimchallenge.com.
The paperMoney® software application is for educational purposes
only. Successful virtual trading during one time period does not
guarantee successful investing of actual funds during a later time
period as market conditions change continuously.
Source: TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation
About TD Ameritrade Holding CorporationMillions of
investors and independent registered investment advisors (RIAs)
have turned to TD Ameritrade’s (Nasdaq: AMTD) technology, people
and education to help make investing and trading easier to
understand and do. Online or over the phone. In a branch or with an
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investment services. Please visit TD Ameritrade’s newsroom or
www.amtd.com for more information.
1. Brokerage services provided by TD Ameritrade, Inc.,
member FINRA (www.FINRA.org) /SIPC (www.SIPC.org)
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TD Ameritrade Holding CorporationFor Media:Alyson
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Affairsalyson.nikulicz@tdameritrade.com@TDAmeritradePRorFor
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