Campus & Community

School of Business Hosts High School Trading Day

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Students sit behind computer monitors in the Hanlon Financial Systems Lab.

Annual competition drew more than 1,400 entrants from around the globe

The Stevens School of Business recently welcomed 25 of the nation’s best high school equity traders to compete in the finals of its annual Trading Day program. This year’s event was the largest in the competition’s history, with 39 countries and 37 states represented among the more than 1,400 entrants.

The larger field competed during February, with the top finishers earning an invitation to compete in the final round of live trading at the Hanlon Financial Systems Center.

“Your generation is starting in a time of unprecedented technological advances,” School of Business Dean GJ de Vreede told the students and families gathered in the Babbio Center before the competition. “AI, blockchain, social network technologies and other advances are reshaping the whole financial industry. What it is today will be different than what it is four years from now, but you will have an opportunity to help shape what that future is going to look like. Today is about experiencing what an environment like this can mean for you, how it can help you prepare for the rest of your career and getting to experience what makes the Stevens School of Business so special.”

The first Trading Day took place in 2015. The original event was a team trading competition featuring local high school students competing against each other in live trading. In 2022, SSB restructured the program as a virtual event, which allowed more students from around the country to participate. Since the format change, more than 4,000 high school students have participated.

This year’s finalists made the trip to Hoboken from all over the country, including Hawai’i.

“The competition is the focus, but this program also serves as an outreach function by offering financial education to participating students at no cost in a fun, game-like setting,” said SSB associate director of undergraduate outreach, reputation and alumni affairs Lindsay Hartelius. “It introduces students to career paths in business that they would not necessarily have thought of. By hosting this annual competition, we hope to foster a pipeline of students who will pursue a business career.”

Jackson Lee from Vienna, Virginia, made his second consecutive appearance in the finals and was this year’s winner.

“It’s my second time here, and both times it was excellent,” he said. “I really like this place and the things that the volunteers and teachers do here. I think they’ve created a really great experience.”