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Professors
Introduction
Register your Class
Students
Register for Account |
Rules
| 1. |
Trading Dates and Initial Cash Balance |
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The beginning and ending dates of the trading period, as well as the initial
cash balance, are specified by each professor. |
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| 2. |
Trading Times & Trading Methods |
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STOCK-TRAK offers several methods for you to place your trades. Before making any trades, you must be prepared with your account number, password, and the ticker symbols of the securities. The cut off time for all trades is 4 p.m. EST. Any trade made after that time will be processed the next business day. STOCK-TRAK is not responsible for trades that are not received or are incomplete.
| A. |
Pearson Stock-Trak Website is a comprehensive, functional, and educational site. Visit our home page to make trades on your account, review your account activity, research stocks, obtain price quotes and charts, and to review your class rankingThis is the best way to trade because it is fast, accurate, and convenient. Stock, option and future trades made on the web will be processed at 20 minute delayed prices.
To make a trade on our web page, go to http:/www.pearsonedstocktrak.com, click on "Trade Stocks." |
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| B. |
If you have any questions about your account, you may call Stock-Trak customer service during our office hours from Monday to Friday 9:30 am to 6 pm. |
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| 3. |
Tradable Securities |
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The following securities can be traded on our webiste:
| A. |
Stocks
You can buy, sell, buy on margin, and sell short all actively traded NYSE, AMEX,
and NASDAQ stocks (common and preferred) that are priced at $5.00 or more. You
can also trade certain foreign stocks trading on exchanges such as London,
Paris, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Sydney, South Korea, Mexico City,
and others. These foreign stocks will be based on the currency exchange rates.
Please see our web page for more information on trading foreign stocks. Also
adjustments will not be made for any cash dividend less than $0.10 or any stock
dividend less than 2%. Small-cap (Bulletin Boards) stocks cannot be traded; IPOs
are available within several days of the initial offering.
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| B. |
Stock Options
You may also buy, sell, and write most actively traded stock options listed in
the major financial publications; LEAPS and options with unusual strike prices
are difficult to trade because of the unusual ticker symbols. See Stock Options for more information on stock options.
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| C. |
Mutual Funds
All mutual funds are treated as no-load funds. You can trade most of the popular
mutual funds. If you can get a quote on the fund from our web page, then you can
trade it. Mutual fund purchases must be in multiples of 500 of the base currency
(ex. £500, £1000,...). Closed end funds are traded just like stocks. Since available cash balances earn interest, we do not trade money market funds.
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| D. |
Futures and Bonds
In addition to trading most common stocks, stock options, and mutual funds, you
can also trade any of the futures and bonds that are listed below under Additional Ticker Symbols. We have chose the most popular (but not all) of the securities within each type of investment class.
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| 4. |
Trading Terminology |
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To avoid any communication problems which may occur during the trading process, refer to the following list of terms that STOCK-TRAK uses to place orders for various types of transactions. You cannot be long and short in any security at the same time. Also, if you are long 50 and wish to be short 50, you must sell to close and then make another trade to go short.
| A. |
Stocks
There are four basic trades to make with stocks. They can be bought, sold, sold
short, and covered. When "buying" a stock, you are taking a long position with the hope that the price per share will increase. "Selling" a stock refers to the closing of that long position. "Selling short" is selling a stock that you don't own with the hope that you can later buy the stock back at a lower price. When you buy the stock back to close your short position, it is called "covering" your short position. You cannot short against the box.
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| B. |
Options
There are four basic transactions. You can "buy to open" to take a long position in an option and then you can "sell to close" it. "Writing an option" refers to taking a short position and "buying to close" is the term used to close your short position in the option. It is also important to specify whether you're writing a naked or covered option. When writing a call option, it is considered naked unless a long position is held on the underlying security. Written put options are naked unless a short position is held on the underlying security.
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| C. |
Futures
When trading futures, you must always specify whether you are making an opening
or closing transaction. For a long position, you "buy to open" and then "sell to close." For short positions you "sell to open" and then "buy to close."
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| 5. |
Quoted Prices and Volume Restrictions |
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Stock, option and futures trades made on the web page will be made at prices delayed at least 15 minutes. All other trades will be made at the "last trade" price of the security for each day. The maximum number of shares each student may trade for any security is limited to one-half of the actual volume of that security on that day. Orders are market orders, limit orders and stop orders. Limit and stop orders that are effective the next business day. Occasionally prices vary from one quote source to another, so it is strongly recommended that you use our web page to get quotes. To force some degree of diversification, students may not put more than 50% of their initial cash balance into any one stock, option, or future. |
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| 6. |
Ticker Symbols |
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When making trades, you must know the ticker symbol of the securities to be traded. Stock ticker symbols can be found on our web page or in The Wall Street Journal. (Most city papers show only the abbreviation of the company name, not the ticker symbol.). See Stock Options below for more information on stock option symbols. When trading mutual funds, the web page is the only source for tickers. Ticker symbols for the index options, futures, futures options, and bonds that STOCK-TRAK trades are listed below under Additional Ticker Symbols. |
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| 7. |
Commission |
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A brokerage commission is applied to all transactions. The commission for most trades made on the web page is a flat 25 units of the base currency. For example, if you are trading in British pounds the commission for all trades will be £ 25. |
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| 8. |
Margin Requirements |
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The margin requirement for stock purchases and short sales is 50%. This means that for stock purchases you can borrow up to 50% of the total cost. For short sales, you must deposit an amount equal to 50% of the current market value of your short positions. For example, starting with £100,000, STOCK-TRAK may loan you another £100,000, making your total buying power £200,000 if you are trading marginable securities. . |
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| 9. |
Interest Earned |
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Interest will be earned on all available cash balances and credited at the close of each day. Interest will be calculated using a money market rate, currently 3%. |
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| 10. |
Interest Charged |
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Interest will be charged on all loan balances and will be debited at the close of each day. The rate will be three percentage points above the money market rate. currency 8%. |
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| 11. |
Calculation of Equity |
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A portfolio's equity or value is calculated as follows:
Cash - Debit bal. + Credit bal. + MV of long positions - MV of short positions
Where Debit = loan balance, Credit = short sales proceeds, and MV = current market value. |
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| 12. |
Disputes & Errors |
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Given the nature of stock price quoting services, prices may vary among sources at any given time. If current prices are not available for any reason, transactions may be posted at the latest pricing date available. When you make a trade on the web page, you will receive a cofirmation. You must keep copies of your confirmations. If you believe an error has been made on your account, please call during our office hours.
Don't call without the confirmation number of the trade in question. The management of Stock-Trak has the ultimate authority to settle disputes. |
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| 13. |
Portfolio Statements |
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Student account statements may be sent to the professor every one or two weeks according to the request of the professor. Account activity can also be reviewed at www.stocktrak.com. It is important to keep copies of the statements received since they cannot be reprinted. STOCK-TRAK does not keep individual historical portfolio valuations. |
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| 14. |
Number of Transactions |
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The number of transactions is determined by your professor. Most accounts are limited to 200 transactions. Each buy counts as a transaction and each sell counts as another transaction. For example, if you buy a stock and sell another stock, you will be charged with 2 transactions. |
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| 15. |
Stock Options |
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Trading options is very confusing for students, so please read carefully. When trading stock options remember that each option contract covers 100 shares of stock, that stock options expire on the third Friday of each month, that not all stocks have options traded on them, and that not all expiration months and strike prices are available on every stock. Long options that remain on accounts at expiration will be sold if they are in the money. Short option positions that remain on accounts at expiration will be closed out by purchasing the option contract. You must speak with a broker to exercise options.
| A. |
OPTION SYMBOL LOOKUP DIRECTIONS
From our Option Trading Pit follow the link to the Chicago Board Options
Exchange. Entering a stock ticker symbol in the left box will pull up valid
option symbols with the left column being calls and the right column being puts.
Remember that you can only trade 50% of the trading volume, so be sure to check
the volume. Option ticker symbols consist of the stock symbol or adjusted root
symbol, an expiration month code, and a strike price code. The chart below works
for most options. For NASDAQ stocks, stocks with prices over USD 100, and index
options, you must visit www.cboe.com for tickers.
| Expiration Month Codes |
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Strike Price Codes |
| A |
M |
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5 |
A
| 65 |
M |
| B |
N |
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10 |
B
| 70 |
N |
| C |
O |
|
15 |
C
| 75 |
O |
| D |
P |
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20 |
D
| 80 |
P |
| E |
Q |
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25 |
E
| 85 |
Q |
| F |
R |
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30 |
F
| 90 |
R |
| G |
S |
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35 |
G
| 95 |
S |
| H |
T |
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40 |
H
| 100 |
T |
| I |
U |
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45 |
I
| 7.5 |
U |
| J |
V |
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50 |
J
| 12.5 |
V |
| K |
W |
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55 |
K
| 17.5 |
W |
| L |
X |
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60 |
L
| 22.5 |
X |
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| 16. |
Futures |
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With your STOCK-TRAK account you can trade any of the futures listed below in Additional Ticker Symbols. The symbols for futures contracts consist of the ticker for the commodity, the month code and a year code. Be aware that expiration months and dates vary; see our web page for the expiration months are being offered. The month codes are as follows:
| January |
F5 |
July |
N5 |
| February |
G5 |
August |
Q5 |
| March |
H5 |
September |
U5 |
| April |
J5 |
October |
V5 |
| May |
K5 |
November |
X5 |
| June |
M5 |
December |
Z5 |
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| 17. |
Miscellaneous |
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| A. |
On the last day of the trading period, portfolio liquidation is not required; portfolios will be valued at closing prices for that day. |
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| B. |
Trading may be temporarily halted during severe weather conditions or other unforeseen events. |
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| C. |
Trading may be halted on a particular security if significant news comes out after the market has closed. |
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| D. |
These rules are subject to modifications without notice. |
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| E. |
You should understand that Stock-Trak's Portfolio Simulations are intended to be as representative of actual portfolio management as possible; however, some requirements and transactions have been simplified. |
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| F. |
With the use of your specified account number, you acknowledge reading, understanding, and accepting the terms of the Stock-Trak Portfolio Simulation as described herein. You also agree that Stock-Trak, its management, and its employees will not be held liable for damages of any kind that result from the use of the account. |
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| 18. |
Additional Ticker Symbols |
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| A. |
Index Futures
STOCK-TRAK trades the following index futures (ticker):
Dow Jones Industrial (DJ)
S&P 500 Index Average (SP)
Nasdaq 100 Index (ND)
Nikkei 225 Index (NK)
U.S. Dollar Index (DX)
Russell 2000 Index (RL)
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| B. |
Financial Futures
STOCK-TRAK trades the following financial futures (ticker):
Treasury Bonds (US)
5 Yr Treasury Notes (FV)
Treasury Bills (TB)
Libor (EM)
Eurodollar (ED)
Muni-Bond (MB)
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| C. |
Commodity Futures
STOCK-TRAK trades the following commodity futures (ticker):
Corn (C)
Oats (O)
Soybeans (S)
Soybean Meal (SM)
Wheat (W)
Cattle-Feeder (FC)
Cattle-Live (LC)
Hogs (LH)
Pork Bellies (PB)
Lumber (LB)
Cocoa (CC)
Coffee (KC)
Sugar-World (SB)
Cotton (CT)
Orange Juice (OJ)
Copper (HG)
Gold (GC)
Platinum (PL)
Silver (SI)
Crude Oil (CL)
Heating Oil 2 (HO)
Gasoline NY Unl (HU)
Natural Gas (NG)
Soybean Oil (BO)
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| D. |
Currency Futures
STOCK-TRAK trades the following currency futures (ticker):
Japanese Yen (JY)
Australian Dollar (AD)
British Pound (BP)
Canadian Dollar (CD)
Swiss Franc (SF)
Mexican Peso (ME)
Euro Currency (EC)
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| E. |
U.S. Treasury Bonds, Strips, & Corporate Bonds
STOCK-TRAK trades a variety of U.S. Treasury Bonds, Strips, and Corporate Bonds.
A complete list of the bonds traded is available at the Bond Trading Pit on the
web page. Each bond has a par value of $1,000. When you buy a bond you will also
be charged accrued interest, which represents the amount of interest the bond
has accrued since its last coupon date. |
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