Thai Toan won a ticket to the US to participate in a virtual stock trading competition, after increasing his "assets" from 1 to 7.5 million USD in virtual money in one month.
Do Thai Toan, grade 11 student at Olympia High School, Hanoi , completed the virtual trading round of the Virtual Trading Competition on February 29.
This is a virtual stock trading competition for 10th and 11th graders, organized by the Stevens School of Business, Stevens Institute of Technology, USA. This school is currently ranked second in the state of New Jersey, among the top 77 best business schools in the US, according to US News and World report.
As a result, Toan ranked 6th out of 800 contestants from all over the world . Thanks to this achievement, the male student was on the list of 25 contestants who were able to go to the US to participate in the live trading round of the contest.
Do Thai Toan, grade 11, Olympia High School, Hanoi. Photo: Thanh Hang
The student born in 2007 said he knew about the concept of stocks a few years ago, but only read the news, not researching deeply. Because he loves finance and economics, Toan often reads news related to the FED (US Federal Reserve), following political and social changes in the world and their impact on the market.
In December 2023, Toan learned about the Virtual Trading Competition through a friend. Although he really liked it and knew that international competitions were beneficial for his study abroad application, Toan still spent two weeks thinking about it because he was afraid it would affect his studies. Finally, he registered for the competition just a few days before the deadline.
In the application round, candidates must demonstrate their English proficiency and demonstrate their knowledge of finance and economics by finding ways to handle situations set by the organizers.
More than 800 contestants were then selected for the virtual trading round, which took place from February 1 to 29. Toan said the rules of the game were “very simple”: With $1 million in virtual money given to them, through stock transactions, contestants needed to find a way to make as much profit as possible from this money. They would operate on a virtual system, but all data and fluctuations of stock codes were taken from the real market.
To make decisions, Toan bases his decisions on the relative strength index (RSI), exponential moving average (EMA) and trading volume of the stock. In addition, the male student combines reading newspapers and catching up on news to predict market fluctuations.
The US stock market opens from 10pm to 7am the next morning Vietnam time. Therefore, Toan has to adjust his personal schedule. He prioritizes ensuring his study time, and temporarily puts aside his basketball schedule to invest in the competition. Every night, Toan will research the market and trade until 2am, focusing on adjusting volatile stocks. The remaining time, the male student places orders for more stable stocks.
"While I'm sleeping, the market can fluctuate without me having time to react, so I'll spend the 2-7am time on stocks with good, stable fundamentals to reduce the risk of losing money," Toan explained.
In the first week, Toan made a profit of $300,000 in virtual currency, but then lost $2 million. The student evaluated a stock code with a "very good" index, so he shorted it, hoping that the price of the stock would fall below $10. However, due to being bought back, the stock kept increasing, at one point reaching $31.5, causing Toan to lose $800,000.
"The lesson I learned is that beauty doesn't decide everything, many other factors must be considered," the male student shared.
However, at the end of this round, Toan's account balance was 7.5 million USD, an increase of 7.5 times the capital provided.
Toan in a basketball game, late 2023. Photo: Character provided
During the competition, Toan applied a lot of knowledge from the subjects of Economics and Law, Macroeconomics according to the AP program he studied at school. These subjects helped the male student understand more about economies, monetary policies, how the market operates and the principles of investment, saving, financial management...
I also learned many new skills, such as how to research, organize and filter information.
"This is especially useful when applied to the learning process, helping me save time while still having all the information I need," Toan said.
Ms. Ngo Minh Trang, Toan's Economics teacher at the school, said that the student has a good mindset and often studies the subject on his own using materials outside the textbook. He is also not afraid to ask the teacher about things he wonders about. Thanks to that, the male student progresses quickly and has sharp and in-depth assessments of market situations.
"The contest required a lot of knowledge for an 11th grader, but Toan did well. Not only me but many teachers were surprised by his knowledge and critical thinking skills," Ms. Trang shared.
Toan and Ms. Minh Trang at school. Photo: Thanh Hang
According to the plan, 25 candidates will arrive at the Stevens School of Business campus in New Jersey in mid-April, paying for their own travel expenses. During their one-month stay, the school will pay for them to attend classes on professional financial information systems and new trends in the financial industry. In addition, candidates will have the opportunity to use the famous financial data supply and analysis system - Bloomberg Terminal. Finally, there will be a live stock trading round.
Toan said he was satisfied with his 6th place and was considering going to the US. The student said April and May were the peak months for him to review for the SAT and prepare his study abroad application. He also wanted to maintain his academic performance in class.
"No matter what decision I make, I had a memorable experience that helped me strengthen my plan to study Finance at university," Toan said.
Thanh Hang
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