Top 10% Trader So Far

I am playing a simulated trading game at Trading Places. You buy and sell imaginary shares on the Australian Stock Exchange. Traders who make the most money will get job interviews at JP Morgan and presumably will get a job there.

I gave it a try and to my surprise I am ranked in the top 10 per cent. My rank is 365 out of a total of 4445 traders. Among students in my university I am in the top 5 per cent! We still have 45 days of trading left.

My strategy was pretty simple. Since brokerage cost is a massive $50 per trade, I decided I wanted to buy shares in companies I could really trust. BHP Billiton (BHP) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) are the two largest companies in Australia, so I put much of my money into these companies. However, in many other traders were likely to invest in these companies so I needed something different to differentiate myself from others. I chose Wesfarmers (WES) because it is quite a big and successful company. I have also read about this company's excellence in business ethics, and also I purchased Wesfarmers right after its stock price dipped, so I hoped I had picked the trough. My risky bet was on Sonic Healthcare (SHL). This is one of Australia's best medical diagnostics companies. I figure that in these tough times investors might flock to the health sector in the hope of finding a safe haven. After all, people will always get sick, and Australia's population is aging.

BHP and CBA are going strong. Wesfarmers is looking okay. Sonic is not. There are still 45 days left, so anything could happen.

By the way, I am not an expert day trader, and I don't recommend this sort of speculative day trading for most people, especially if you are using real money and especially if you are using a lot of your own money.