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Trade the ASX.

Trading Places is an online student competition sponsored by BlueLake Partners. The 6-week contest gives students $200,000 in virtual cash to trade in ASX simulated conditions. With a $3,500 prize pool and the chance of an internship, this is a great opportunity for students interested in trading.

The 2021 Tradingplaces Competiton has been concluded.

Congratulations to the Grand Prize Winner!

Jordan Blinkhorn
University of Technology Sydney

"The past six weeks has been a difficult time to trade within the ASX 300, with only 17% of this year’s participants able to finish with a positive return on their starting equity of $200,000.

The competition began in a market that had seen major growth in the past 12 months. Technology stocks like APT (ASX) and XRO (ASX) were trending upwards, as well as major ASX blue chips like CBA (ASX) and BHP (ASX) reaching pre-covid and all-time highs.

I created a high-risk portfolio with a small number of volatile stocks all based in the same industry. This strategy would expose me to the greatest risk of the industry falling, but also the greatest gain if the industry prevailed throughout the competition’s duration.

My stocks of choice included four small-cap gold mining companies. I kept these four stocks throughout the entirety of the competition. I only once sold all four stocks after a couple of days of solid gains. I then rebought them a few days later for a cheaper price when their share price had dropped. This allowed me to gain an extra advantage over my competitors as it got towards the end of the competition.

My portfolio for the competition as well as the returns at the end of the 6 weeks included:
RSG (ASX): +29%
GOR (ASX): +21%
PRU (ASX): +12%
DCN (ASX): -8%

I would like to thank Trading Places and Blue Lake Partners for organising the competition this year. I encourage all students to participate in the future as it is a great way to gain experience trading in the ASX."

Congratulations to the Top 10 Position Holders