trade mogul trading guide

Trade Mogul User Help Guide

March 2011

Abstract: A user guide to Trade Mogul.

Trade Mogul 2011

GHF Group | Trade Mogul User Guide 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 3

1.1 ABOUT TRADE MOGUL ..................................................................................... 3

1.2 SPONSORS ........................................................................................................ 3

1.3 COMPETITION .................................................................................................. 3

2 DEFINITIONS ..................................................................................................................... 5

2.1 REGISTRATION PAGE ........................................................................................ 5

2.2 TRADE PAGE ..................................................................................................... 6

2.3 MY PERFORMANCE PAGE ................................................................................. 9

2.4 TRANSACTION HISTORY PAGE .......................................................................... 9

3 RULES OF THE GAME ...................................................................................................... 10

3.1 PRODUCTS LISTED FOR TRADING IN THE GAME ............................................ 10

3.2 TRADING TIME ................................................................................................ 10

3.3 RISK LIMITS ..................................................................................................... 11

3.4 DECIDING THE WINNER .................................................................................. 11

4 HOW DO I ....................................................................................................................... 12

5 FAQs ............................................................................................................................... 15

Trade Mogul 2011


1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 ABOUT TRADE MOGUL

Trade Mogul is a unique and exciting online trading simulation and competition

built by GHF Group. The game is designed for you and other students at top-tier

universities to experience trading using real-time prices from international futures

markets in oil, gold, currencies and equities. This challenging and engaging game

allows you to:

o Taste the thrill and challenge of trading in huge, fast-moving international

futures markets

o Test your analytical skills and risk aptitude for trading – and to open doors

to an exhilarating and lucrative career in financial services.

o Compete for prizes based on who trades best to maximize their Profit &

Loss account during the month of the competition

o The top 50 scorers will be invited to interview for GHF Group o Weekly prizes o Overall grand prizes

1.2 SPONSORS

Trade Mogul is sponsored by GHF Group, an internationally recognized

powerhouse of analytical trading that has built a leading reputation in international

financial markets. GHF Group has a history of attracting gifted graduates from top

universities and institutes to a career where they can leverage their analytical

abilities through direct participation in world markets.

Trade Mogul is underwritten by CME Group, collectively the world’s largest

derivatives exchanges. The CME provides live price feeds for four different product

markets to enable you to test your skills with live data and compete with other

university students.

1.3 COMPETITION

Participants must register themselves for the competition which begins on May 2nd

and lasts for three weeks. The competition is open to all students from all

universities, irrespective of academic focus. Students who major in finance don’t

necessarily hold an advantage because market information and analytical reports

are provided on the website, and because trading success in Trade Mogul reflects

the acuteness of pure numerate and analytical skills more than knowledge of

Trade Mogul 2011


international markets. Experience shows that successful competitors come from

across all academic disciplines, especially those that require strong numerate and

analytical skills, and that students find the game so engaging that they turn to the

vast expanse of internet sources of information about the markets and basic

trading strategies.

In addition to enjoying this test of your abilities against the market and other

students, you will learn about international markets and about your own interests

and abilities. In terms of the competition, participants are ranked on the basis of

their profit and loss (P&L) accounts, provided that they achieve the minimum

volume level of trades. Students who succeed in the competition win prizes

totalling and can win interviews for a career with GHF Group.

Trade Mogul 2011


2 DEFINITIONS

2.1 REGISTRATION PAGE

User Name A valid name that you choose to register for the game

Password Choose your own password to register

Email Provide a valid email address - all communications with you will be through this email

Security Question Select your own security question - this will be used in the event that you forget your password

Security Answer To your self-defined security question

First Name Your first name

Last Name Your last name

Gender Your gender

Date of Birth Enter your date of birth

University Name your university

University ID Number Provide your university ID (we will ask for original proof, to include photo-identity, when you claim your prize)

Subject Your academic discipline or major; e.g., electrical engineering, physics, math, finance

Degree Select appropriate degrees that you aim to complete or have completed

Year of completion Select the year when you plan to complete this degree

Alternate Email-ID Any other email ID of yours for back-up communication

Phone Provide your phone number (preferably mobile phone number) on which we can contact you

Address Address at which you are available

Validation Code This is required to keep the spammers away. Enter what you see on your screen

Trade Mogul 2011


2.2 TRADE PAGE

The Trade page has multiple components to provide the user a virtual feel of a

trading desk. It has a price ladder for each of the instruments with embedded

controls to view the order entry window and pull orders, an order book, a fill book,

and a portfolio and message book.

2.2.1 INSTRUMENT PRICE LADDER

The price ladder displays real-time depth of market price data for the instrument.

On the left hand side it displays the open, high and low prices achieved from start

of day. Beneath it is the last price, last quantity and total quantity traded in the

market.

Open The opening price for the instrument; i.e. the first price traded at the start of the day

High Maximum price traded during the day

Low The lowest price traded during the day

LTP The Last Traded Price in the market for the instrument

LTQ The Last Traded Quantity in the market

TTQ Total Traded Quantity in the market during the day

Blue “X” button To pull all buy-working orders for the instrument

Black “X” button To withdraw all working orders

Red “X” button To pull all sell working orders for this instrument

2.2.2 TIME AND SALES WINDOW

This window displays all the trades in the market subject to a maximum of the last

1000 entries. You can select an instrument for which you want to see the trades.

2.2.3 ORDER BOOK WINDOW

The order book displays all your working orders for this session and earlier sessions.

Time The (UTC) time at which an order was received at the server

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ID The unique order ID assigned by the exchange to a valid order request

B/S Whether this is a buy or a sell order

Product The asset or instrument of the order

Series The expiry month of the instrument on which the order was submitted

Qty The total quantity for the whole order that was sent to the exchange

Price The working price in the exchange at which the order was submitted

StopPr The stop price for a stop loss order (otherwise this field is blank)

StopVol The threshold volume at which the stop loss order gets triggered (if the available quantity in the market is not below this threshold, then the stop will not be executed even if the price gets triggered)

ExeVol The executed quantity of the whole order that was originally sent to the exchange

RemVol The remaining/working quantity of the whole order that was sent to the exchange

M/L Whether this order is market or limit

TIF Time In Force; i.e. whether this order is GFD (Good For Day)

A context menu is displayed when you select and right-click one or multiple orders.

It is possible to select multiple orders by using the Control keyboard button.

Modify Order This selection will modify the selected order (note that it is not possible to modify multiple orders simultaneously)

Delete Order(s) Delete the selected orders

Delete All Delete all the working orders in all the instruments

2.2.4 FILL BOOK WINDOW

The fill book displays all completed transactions in the exchange.

Time The (UTC) time at which order was filled at the exchange

Trade Mogul 2011


ID The unique order ID assigned by the exchange to a valid order request

B/S Whether this is a buy or a sell order

Product The instrument in which order was sent

Series The expiry month of the instrument in which order was sent

ExeVol The quantity of this fill

Fill Price The price at which order gets filled in the exchange

In exceptional situations, the fill book may show the same fills twice. This happens

due to improper synchronization of large data flow at your end. Refresh the page to

remove this double fill message. Alternatively, access your correct fills from the

“Transaction History” page.

The fill book will display no more than 50 fills due to data limitations. Check the

“Transaction History” page.

2.2.5 PORTFOLIO WINDOW

This section helps you see the consolidated risk components viz. positions, Profit-

and-Loss (P&L) etc.

Contract Contains the instrument

Buys The number of buys for the day

Sells The number of sells for the day

Pos The net position for that Instrument

LTP The Last Traded Price in the corresponding instrument

Unrealized P&L The profit-and-loss (P&L) due to the open positions

Total P&L The sum of unrealized and realized P&L; i.e. the total P&L for the instrument at this point in the day

The last row sums up the corresponding values for all the instruments.

Trade Mogul 2011


2.2.6 MESSAGE BOOK WINDOW

This window contains your communications with the exchange. These usually

concern order-related requests sent to the exchange.

2.3 MY PERFORMANCE PAGE

This page contains your past trade data. You can see daily, weekly, monthly and

overall P&L as well as your rank standings in the game.

Yesterday View Your standing up to the close of day yesterday

Weekly view Your standing up to the Friday of last week

Monthly view Your standings up to the last trading day of the previous month

Overall The overall statistics up to the close of day yesterday

Note: users who don’t trade are not considered in the calculations above.

2.4 TRANSACTION HISTORY PAGE

This page allows you to view fills for any trading day in your history in the game.

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3 RULES OF THE GAME

The Trade Mogul game is intended for university students only. You will need to

provide your university identification number. Additional proof may be required

when you claim any prizes.

Who is eligible?

Only active university students are eligible. Your registration will be terminated at

any point if you are not an active student.

Registration will open before the start date of the game

Registration will close two weeks after the start date of the game

Only registered users can play the game

Multiple registration with the same university ID may invite disqualification

from the game

3.1 PRODUCTS LISTED FOR TRADING IN THE GAME

Four products or assets are available for you to trade in the game.

Product Tick Size Tick Value

10yr T-Notes 0.005 $15.625

Mini S&P 500 0.25 $12.50

Light Sweet Crude Oil 0.01 $10

Gold 0.1 $10

Each product will have an expiry date during the tenure of the game, after which

you will not be able to trade in them. Moreover, all open positions will be closed at

the closing price on the expiry day. The next calendar series of the same product

will be available for trading on the next day.

3.2 TRADING TIME

The Trade Mogul Israel-Romania-Hungary game will run for three weeks starting

May 2, 2011. The game ends on Friday of the 3rd week at the close of trading hours.

Trade Mogul 2011


The users will be able to trade only on weekdays; i.e., Monday to Friday between

07:00AM GMT to (next morning) 00:00AM GMT.

During the rest of the time, the trade page will not be available. Instead, the user

will be directed to the portfolio view.

3.3 RISK LIMITS

Risk limit refers to the maximum number of orders you can send in one instrument.

You can always choose to send fewer orders than the maximum risk limit. Since

each product will have same risk limit, you can send 4X buy orders and 4X sell

orders in total (X is the risk limit for that week for each product). Everybody

participating in the game will have the same limits. The risk limits will change every

week, and these new limits will be displayed on your “My Performance” page. The

limits for each week will be:

Week Limits

Week 1 2

Week 2 4

Week 3 8

3.4 DECIDING THE WINNER

Winners are decided based on cumulative profit on the closing day of the game.

Trade Mogul 2011


4 HOW DO I

4.1 START PLAYING THE GAME?

Step1 – Register with Trade Mogul.

Step2 – Login to the game.

Step3 – Go to “Trade” page by clicking on “Trade” on the left menu of the game.

You have now landed at the trading page. You are now ready to join the game.

4.2 SEND ORDER (ORDER ENTRY WINDOW)?

Go to the instrument to which you want to send the order. Left click on the

price/quantity you want to send the order. If you clicked on a bid, the order entry

window will default to BUY order type and SELL otherwise. But it is possible to

change the order type from Buy-to-Sell and vice-versa. Choose the appropriate

parameters for the order and click on “Send Order” button at the bottom right

corner of order entry window. You will see a message in the Message Window

confirming the receipt of your message. If the order is accepted by the exchange,

the Order Book will display the order. Otherwise the Message Window will show

the appropriate message.

The various parameters for order are:

Parameter Explanation

Buy/Sell Button This button enables you to select whether your order is BUY order or SELL order in the market

Quantity Buttons The various quantity buttons allow you to select your order quantity and populate it in the quantity spin control

Quantity Spin Control Will increment/decrement order quantity by 1 unit

Price spin control Increment/decrement the price by one tick (unit size). The default price is the one against which you left clicked in the price ladder window.

GFD Radio Button Enables you to select the TIF (Time-In-Force) in the market of your order

Limit/Market Radio Button Enables you to choose a limit or market order type

Stop Check box Checking it makes your order a stop-loss order. A separate section becomes visible beneath the stop check box.

Trade Mogul 2011


Stop Price Spin control Enables you to increment/decrement your stop-loss price by one tick

Stop Volume Text Box If the quantity at stop price is less than or equal to this quantity, only then the stop will be triggered in the market

4.3 SEE MY OVERALL P&L FOR THE GAME?

Your P&L until the close of yesterday is available on the “My Performance” page.

Add today’s Total P&L to it from the Portfolio Window to see your overall P&L as of

this moment.

4.4 SEE WHERE MY COMPETITORS STAND?

Click on the “Rankings” tab to see who was where as of yesterday.

4.5 DELETE ALL THE WORKING ORDERS FOR ALL THE INSTRUMENTS?

Right click in the order book and choose Delete All.

4.6 SEE TECHNICAL REPORTS FOR A PRODUCT?

There is a reports page dedicated to technical reports only. Click on the instrument

for which you want to view the report.

4.7 SEE MY REAL-TIME RANK IN THE GAME?

It is not possible to see your real-time rank. However, you can see your rank at the

close of the previous day of trading. (This is refreshed at the close of each trading

day).

4.8 SEE EACH AND EVERY TRADE FOR A PARTICULAR

INSTRUMENT/PRODUCT DURING THE DAY?

Because of data limitations, Trade Mogul only displays a certain number of previous

trades in the Fill Book.

You can download all the fills from “Transaction History” page.

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4.9 ALLOCATE CAPITAL FOR TRADING?

You are provided with a fixed number of contracts that you can trade in each

instrument. Choose the number of contracts you want to trade relative to this

maximum. This limit will be revised weekly.

4.10 CLAIM MY PRIZE?

We will contact the winners through the email and phone numbers provided. If you

have questions, feel free to contact us at [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Trade Mogul 2011


5 FAQs

5.1 DURATION OF THE GAME

The Trade Mogul game runs for 3 weeks. For the Israel-Romania-Hungary

competition, it starts on May 2, 2011. The game ends on May 20, 2011 at market

closing hours.

5.2 ZERO TRADES BUT STILL HAVE PROFIT

A ‘trade’ is defined as a complete cycle of opening and closing your position. For

example, sell (buy) 2 lots of Gold and afterwards buy (sell) 2 lots of Gold will

complete a trade cycle with trade quantity 2. However, if for example, somebody

sells 2 lots of Gold and afterwards buys only 1 lot of Gold, then the trade quantity

will be 1. With this logic, if somebody has opened positions and have not closed

them yet, then the trade quantity will be zero. They may have P&L based on the

difference between market’s last price and the price at which they traded.

5.3 WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY SQUARING OFF A POSITION

To complete any trade, there has to be a buy and a sell transaction in any order. If

in your portfolio it shows an open position of -2, then to square that off (bringing it

to 0), you need to buy 2 lots.

5.4 HOW DO I TRADE

The simple answer is just buy and sell. Keep doing it again-and-again and you end

up TRADING. There is no handbook of trading. But there is lot of information

available on the internet. You will learn more about trading the more you read and

the more you trade. Trading is not a short term affair. Don't lose heart if you do not

do well initially. Keep your focus and keep at it. The markets will move and you will

have opportunities to come back.

Note that the trading limits are progressively increasing. You can make more profit

(or lose more) as limits increase.

5.5 LIMITS BREACHED

You can only trade a limited number of securities at any time. This limit is the same

for everybody. When you send a new order or modify an existing order, the system

checks whether the net outcome is within the prevailing limits. If it is not, then your

Trade Mogul 2011


request gets rejected and you see the corresponding message in the Message

window.

For example, suppose the prevailing limit is 2 and you are already short 2 lots in an

instrument (i.e. your net position is -2). Now if you try to send any sell order in this

instrument you will get a limits-breached message.

Similarly, you can send two orders of 2 lots each to buy in this instrument as this

could change your net position to 2 (which is within limits). But if you try to send an

order of 4 lots then you still get a limits breached message. This happens because

the system expects you to send an order of a maximum of 2 lots.

5.6 NOT ABLE TO LOG-IN TO MY ACCOUNT

Try ‘Forgot password’ link.

5.7 OVERNIGHT POSITION CLOSING

The system stops accepting requests at the close of trading. If you think there are

some open positions which you do not wish to carry in the next day, send

respective MARKET orders. For example, if you were short 2 lots (net position -2),

then send a buy market order of 2 lots before the market close.

5.8 P&L CARRY OVER

All your open positions are marked to the closing price of that instrument at the

close of each trading day. This means that your P&L is calculated against the closing

price of the instrument. This P&L is added to your cumulative P&L to generate

results rankings. Next morning, your portfolio will show your open positions as if

they were taken at this (yesterday's) closing price. For example, let us say you

bought 2 lots in Gold at 1250.0 and did not do any other transaction in gold

afterwards. Also suppose that the Gold closed at 1255.0 this day. At night, the

system calculates your P&L in Gold to $1000. The next morning, you still see net

position as 2 but the P&L will fluctuate as if you bought 2 lots at 1255.0. This

phenomenon is also called market settlement and is used for margin calculation.

Look on the internet for further information on this in the dynamics of the Futures

market.

Trade Mogul 2011


5.9 ORDER SERVER DOWN

This will happen inevitably because of the huge volumes that you are helping to

generate. We are working to keep the system stable and operating around the

clock. Be patient, and try again.

5.10 UPDATE PERSONAL INFORMATION

Please register properly. If you have mailed/contacted us for change of some

information, we will incorporate these changes later in the competition.

5.11 I AM NOT ABLE TO SEE THE WEBSITE IN FIREFOX (OR CHROME,

OPERA, SAFARI ETC.)

The Trade Mogul is supported in Microsoft Internet explorer version 8. It is best

viewed in 1280X800 resolution.

5.12 WHOM SHOULD I CONTACT IN CASE OF A PROBLEM?

The quickest way is to use the “Contact Us” page where you get the fastest

response. Otherwise you could send an email to the administrator at

[email protected]

5.13 MY COLLEGE DOES NOT HAVE A COLLEGE ID? COULD I STILL

PARTICIPATE?

No. If this is the case, contact the administrator at [email protected]

5.14 I DON’T THINK MY P&L IS CALCULATED CORRECTLY

Contact the administrator at [email protected].

5.15 I WANT TO LOG OUT BUT KEEP MY WORKING ORDERS

You can log out of the system and your orders will continue to work in the

exchange. You could see them once you log back in. If they were filled in the

meantime, you will see corresponding entries in the fill book.

5.16 CAN I UPDATE MY PROFILE?

We strongly discourage editing your profile. Please contact the administrator at

[email protected].

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