3rd Annual Texas A&M
Undergraduate & Graduate
Foreign Exchange Trading
Competition
Competition

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The competition is for undergraduate and
graduate finance and business majors
interested in fundamental trading,
technical trading and foreign exchange
rates
The competition is being coordinated
through the Reliant Energy Trading Center,
Texas A&M University
Competition

All questions, concerns and ideas should be
addressed to:
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Detlef Hallermann – Texas A&M University
Email: dhallermann@mays.tamu.edu
All decisions made regarding questions,
concerns, penalties and outcome for the
competition are at the discretion of Dr.
Hallermann and are final
By entering the competition, students waive the
right to contest penalties or outcome to any
authority outside of the competition
The Competition
Competition Time Frame

Sign Up – Sign up begins Thursday
September 20 at 5:00 pm (CST)
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GFT Website
Mays Portal
Competition Time Frame:
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Session 1 – October 1 – October 15 (CST)
Session 2 – October 16 – October 31 (CST)
Competition Warm Up

If students wish to practice trading before
October 1:
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Students are encouraged to learn the DealBook 360
system
We encourage students to trade small amounts as
they get comfortable with the system (1 lot). This is
to practice on the system, not to try to get ahead in
the competition.
If students enter trades and gain/lose on those trades
before the competition:
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It will affect the starting amount for the competition
it will not affect their percentage return score for the
competition
Thus, it is unnecessary to reset accounts on October 1
Competition Changes

This year there are two divisions
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Individual
University
Universities with a minimum of 10 competitors
(combined graduate and undergraduate) are
eligible to compete in the university competition
 The university with the highest average return will
receive a trophy

Competition Brackets
& Prize Money

After Session 1:
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Those having traded less
than five trade strategies will
be removed from the
competition
After Session 2:
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The top ten traders will be
rewarded prize money based
on their percentage of return
among the total prize pool.
The number of prizes and the
prize pool may be adjusted
upward according to the
number of competition
participants
Prize Pool Distribution Example
Trader Rate of
Return
1
20%
2
13%
3
11%
4
9%
5
5%
6
2%
Cash
Winnings
33.33%
21.67%
18.33%
15.00%
8.33%
3.33%
Overall Grand Prize
$10,000 GFT FUNDED
ACCOUNT
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NOTES
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The overall winner of the Second Annual Texas A&M University Undergraduate & Graduate
Inter-University FX Competition will have the opportunity to trade an account at GFT with an
initial funding of $10,000 for a total of six months, and GFT will pay the winner the total net
profit, if any, earned in the account in that timeframe. If there is a net loss, it will be borne by
GFT. Normal GFT account opening processes are required, but GFT will retain ownership of
the account, and no withdrawals will be permitted.
The net profit or loss will be calculated from the time and date the account is opened until six
months from that date, and the customer will be permitted to trade the account with
unlimited round-turn transactions between the two dates, subject to applicable margin
requirements. A round-turn is defined as one complete trade – a transaction comprising the
buying and selling of a standard lot size of 100,000 for one currency pair. The account must
be self-traded by the winner and may not be traded by any other person. Base 10 Trading™
transactions under the standard lot size of 100,000 will not be permitted.
Only one winner will be eligible for this prize. For non-U.S. accounts, the net profit, if any, will
be converted from U.S. dollars in accordance with a then-current exchange rate, as
determined by GFT. For tax reporting purposes, a 1099 form may be issued at year-end to a
recipient of a net profit. This is not an offer or solicitation in any jurisdiction where such an
offer or solicitation is not authorized. GFT reserves the right in its sole discretion to amend,
restrict or revoke this offer at any time.
Team Competition Notes
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University teams will compete for a trophy
(sorry…no cash)
A university must have ten (10) participants
to qualify for the team competition.
Team competition winner is determined by
the highest average percentage return of the
total competing university team (all
competitors for the team are included in the
average calculation)
Competition
Parameters
Trading Platform:
GFT DealBook FX 360

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Students will complete trades using a demo account
starting with $50,000 on the GFT Forex Trading
Platform: DealBook FX 360
It can be downloaded at their website (more on this
later):

www.gftforex.com/mays
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NOTE: Make certain that you use this
website versus their main website.
Otherwise salesmen will telephone you
and potentially drop your account!
Students may trade any currency pair available on the
DealBook Platform
Competition Parameters
Required Trading

In each trading session, students will perform a minimum of five (5)
trade strategies to be eligible for prizes
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Trading sessions:
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Oct 1 – 15 (CST)
Oct 16 – 31 (CST)
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A trade strategy consists of:
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Entering into a trade or series of trades on a particular currency pair
Setting your exit strategies
See strategy examples on the following slide
There is no maximum number of trades per trading session
If a student does not complete five trade
strategies per session, they will be dropped from
the competition
Competition Parameters
Strategy Examples
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Entering into a trade strategy on a particular currency pair and exiting the strategy
followed by a subsequent trade in the same currency pair will typically be considered
multiple strategies. This will be determined by trade justification given in the
student’s trade journal
Example 1: (3 strategies)
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1:
2:
3:
4:
Buy 5 contracts Euro/US$
Sell 5 contracts Euro/US$
Buy 5 contracts Euro/US$
Buy 5 contracts GBP/US$
Example 2: (2 strategies)
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Day
Day
Day
Day
Day 1: Buy 5 contracts Euro/US$
Day 2: Sell 10 contracts Euro/US$
Litmus Test:
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(Open Strategy 1)
(Close Strategy 1)
(Open Strategy 2)
(Open Strategy 3)
(Open Strategy 1)
(Close Strategy 1 & Capture a Reversal (Strategy 2))
If the second position is a continuation of the initial strategy, this is not a new trade strategy
If the second position is justified because of a significant parameter change since the initial
strategy, this is considered a new trade strategy
Trade & Position Sizes
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Minimum trade size is one (1) contract
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Maximum trade size is eight (8) contracts per strategy
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A strategy consists of a spot position in any currency pair
Students can use multiple entry & exit strategies per currency
pair to maximize return or minimize risk.
However, staggered entry and exit strategies are not multiple
trade strategies (see previous slide).
Maximum Holdings for any one currency pair is
eight (8) contracts at any one time
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One spot contract represents $100,000 of currency
Margin for a spot contract is 1:100 ($1,000)
Penalty for going over 8 contracts is a 1.0% deduction to
your final percentage return score
Administrators will randomly enter accounts to check
position sizes throughout the competition
Competition Parameters
Initial Trade Reporting
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Upon completing a trade:
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Students will maintain a trade journal of their
transactions.
The Trade Journal Includes:
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Trade (currency pair and if you went long or short)
# of contracts
Entry price with exit strategies
Justification for the trade
Journal can be in Word, Power Point or Excel
Prize money winners will be asked to submit their
trade journal before receiving awards. Students not
submitting a Journal will lose their place in the
individual competition
Competition Parameters
Subsequent Journal Reporting
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When a trade strategy hits an automated
exit, students should post their results in
their journal
If a student alters their strategy or exits a
trade strategy manually, the student
should post the trade strategy changes
and justification in their journal
Journal Recording of
Executed Trade Strategies
Journal Reporting Executed
Trades: Example
Competition Parameters
End of Session Reporting
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Students will submit their account and
passwords on the Competition website at the
beginning of the competition. Those that do not
do so are removed from the competition but
count towards the team competition
At the end of each session (October 15 &
October 31), competition administrators will
enter student accounts to check trade activity,
historic position volume size and equity positions
We will use these reports to determine
competition placing
Registration Process
Registration

Competition registration consist of two (2) parts:

GFT Forex Trading
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Create a user demo trading account
Download the trading software platform (DealBook F/X 360)
Students will use the platform develop and implement trading
strategies
Mays Portal (Two separate sign ons for current A&M students)
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Sign onto the Mays Portal
Submit resume on the Portal
Familiarize yourself with the information available
Submit the following:
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User GFT account and password
Resume Drop (for those interested in our sponsor receiving your
resumes)
At the end of the competition, prize winners will submit their trade
journals on the Mays Portal website
GFT Forex Registration
Website

At www.gftforex.com/mays :


Sign up for a demo account
Download the DealBook FX 360 software
GFT Website & Download
Create
Demo
Account
Download
Demo
Software
Trade Platform – The Start
Trade Platform Customized
DealBook FX 360
Tutorials & Help

You will find information of how to customize
your trade platform at:

The DealBook FX 360 Users manual and other
helpful documents posted on the Mays Portal
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The Help File in the DealBook FX 360 software

http://www.stitrader.com/freetrial/ for help with
trading strategies
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Numerous trading-related books at retail bookstores
Your Mays Portal Account(s)
The Mays Portal Front
Page
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Participants will also
“register” on the Mays
Portal at
http://maysportal.tamu.
edu/
Click onto the F/X
Trading Competition link
in the Main Menu:
Last Year’s Participants

If you participated in
the competition last
year, you can use the
SAME username and
password as last
year’s
New Participants

If you are a new participant, you must create
a NEW account
Texas A&M Team
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If you are a current Texas A&M student
and already have a Mays Portal username,
you MUST log on to BOTH the F/X
Competition link on the main menu AND
through your user name on Mays Portal
Sign on to the Mays Portal:
Click on FINC 267 FX/Trading
The enrollment key for the competition is:
delta
Submitting Resumes

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As part of the competition, we will be creating
a resume book to provide to the competition
sponsors
To submit your resume:
Have your resume prepared in a an MS Word
document
 Go to May’s Portal site and click on the resume
link.
 Browse your computer for your resume file and
submit.

Submitting Account numbers
and Passwords


As part of the competition, you need to
submit your account number and password
via the Mays Portal
We will use it to check account positions and
determine trading returns