The 2012 CME Group Commodity Trading Challenge

This week, the 2012 CME Group Commodity Trading Challenge started with over 600 student participants. The students, representing nine countries and more than eighty colleges and universities, will compete through February and March by executing simulated trades on the CME Globex platform with the winning team determined by final account balance.

The graduate and undergraduate teams began the competition with virtual account balances of $100,000 and are using CQG Integrated Client to access real-time market data and CQG's trade routing and technical analysis tools. Teams are executing simulated orders on NYMEX Crude Oil and COMEX Gold futures contracts with commissions charged per side and penalties for inactivity.

The electronic portion of the competition continues into March, when the top sixteen teams advance to the National Finals round. The finals conclude on March 16, 2012, and the top four teams in the electronic competition will be awarded cash prizes. The competition continues with optional open outcry events in Chicago and Houston, offering students the chance to experience simulated pit trading.

Use the #CMEChallenge Twitter hash tag to follow daily competition results, and visit CME Group's website to learn more about the Commodity Trading Challenge.