The 1st  Annual Trading competition at the Manning School of Business University of Massachusetts Lowell

Competition dates:

  • Registration opens on Monday, February 16, 2026, and closes on Friday, February 27, 2026, at 11:59 PM ET.
  • The competition begins Monday, March 2nd, 2026, and will run through 4 PM ET on Friday, April 10th, 2026.
Click Here To Register

Competition & prizes

  • Winners will be determined based on their overall portfolio return, subject to the rules below
  • Cash prizes provided by the Dean’s office, separately for undergraduate and graduate participants
  • 1st Prize = $300
  • 2nd Prize = $200
  • 3rd Prize = $100

Trading rules and mandatory assignments:

  • Students will start with $100,000 in virtual cash.
  • Each contestant should place at least one trade per week (including Spring break) and at least 30 trades during the competition.
  • Students can trade U.S. stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, and bonds.
  • There will be a position limit enforced so students cannot invest more than 10% of their money in any one security.
  • All participants will be required to use the website’s trade journal feature to document their decisions for making their trades.
  • Short selling and buying on margin are NOT allowed.
  • Students will need to complete the following mandatory finance lessons, specific to investing, on StockTrak by the closing date of the competition to be eligible for the prize:
    • A simple explanation of ETFs.
    • The pros and cons of mutual funds.
    • How to do investing research.
    • Watch Video – Using Limit Buy Orders.  
    • Watch Video – Using Limit Sell Orders. 
    • Watch Video – Using Stop  Orders.
    • Watch Video – Using Order Terms.
    • Watch Video – Using Trailing Stop Orders.  
  • To be declared a winner, participants MUST have a positive portfolio return and an ending balance greater than their $100,000 beginning cash balance provided.

Eligibility to participate/win:

  • The challenge is free and open to all undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at the Manning School of Business at the University of Massachusetts Lowell for Spring 2026
  • Students may only enter once with an active uml email address and must be able to show proof of enrollment and attendance if declared a winner
  • Provide a valid phone number and respond if you have been declared a winner of your acceptance within 72 hours of notification of an award
  • Students must agree to supplying a photo and be available for a recorded interview to be made public as the organizing committee deems appropriate
  • Not completing part of the requirements will disqualify you and the organizing committee shall go in descending order to award winners
  • StockTrak Inc. shall be the final authority with respect to winners, awards, and distribution of prizing
  • StockTrak’s audit team will declare the winner 7 business days after the competition ends

Additional Sponsorship Provided by:

Each year, Stock-Trak serves more than 1,000 professors and their 75,000 business school students through its flagship website: www.StockTrak.com. Additionally, more than 82 percent of the top U.S. business schools have turned to Stock-Trak to complement their finance curricula with its practical learning software in the classroom and in finance labs.