Investment Challenge - CMT Association

Overview

“At the bottom, stocks will be cheap and no one will care.”

– Bob Farrell (CMT Association Founding President)

“When the train leaves the station, it doesn’t back up to let latecomers on. If it does, there’s something wrong with the train.”

– Walter Deemer (CMT Association Past President)

“If you can’t sleep at night, reduce your positions or get out.”

– Marty Zweig ( Lifelong Member and Friend of CMT Association)

“The stock market is a better economic forecaster than economists.”

– Walter Deemer (CMT Association Past President)

CMT Association’s Investment Challenge is open exclusively to CMT Program candidates and students of our Academic Partner Program institutes. It gives you a platform to learn and apply Technical Analysis like top investment management professionals. You can conduct research, plan investments, and build a successful portfolio over an 8-week period.

The CMT Investment Challenge is held twice a year. Each edition starts about 6 weeks after the CMT Exams, on the first Monday of January and August respectively.

If you are already pursuing the CMT qualification, this competition allows you to apply your knowledge in real markets. If you are new to the world of Technical Analysis, this competition will introduce key concepts to help you compete.

Participants’ performance will be made visible to recruiters from the financial services industry, for alpha capture roles. Participating in consecutive editions of the Investment Challenge will help then to showcase a trajectory of learning and growth to prospective employers.

CMT Candidates

Academic Partner
Program Students

Why is this different from all the other “stock market games”?

CMT Association is different. We are the world’s foremost credentialing and advocacy body for technical analysis . We engage with regulators, employers, academic institutions, and media houses worldwide to advance the discipline and its value to the financial services industry . The results of this challenge will also be made visible to recruiters, who could consider top performers for appropriate job opportunities .

Optuma is different. Powerful Charts, robust tools, better dashboard, detailed tracking & reporting leader boards, custom-built for this challenge – make it uniquely focused on the appropriate use of technical analysis. Its founder, Mathew Verdouw, CMT, is, well, a CMT.

Note: As the Investment Challenge is exclusive to CMT Program Candidates and Academic Partner Program institute students, if you are eligible to participate, you will have received an email with the token number of the latest competition via email either directly from CMT Association (if you are a CMT candidate), or from your institute/university (if you are an eligible student)

ACCESS THE COMPETITION PLATFORM

Investment Challenge Structure & Timelines

In this challenge you will be able to:

Learn

Review videos on CMT Discord Server's Investment Challenge >> #knowledge-center channel to learn basic concepts of Technical Analysis. (especially for those who are new to Technical Analysis)

Manage

Submit your investment ideas with thoughtful investment and risk management rationale throughout the period of the competition.

Engage

Interact with fellow "Investment Challengers" and CMT Mentors on Discord to refine your investment management process as well as your Technical Analysis journey during the competition. All communication and networking will happen only in the dedicated Investment Challenge section on Discord.

Timeline

January and July

Registration Step 1: Log in to Discord and click on the Enable Access button (Investment Challenge >> #enable-access channel)
Registration Step 2: Visit the Optuma Challenge Platform and sign up (with the token provided to you via email)
Review Videos on Discord to get an understanding of technical analysis strategies and connect with fellow Investment Challengers
Trial Period
- Explore the platform, enter test trades, make changes and share feedback and questions if any.
- Trades entered during the trial week are not logged to the competition.

First Mondays of February and August

The challenge will formally commence on the first Mondays of February and August respectively.

All the trades entered in the trial period before that will be erased and all competitors’ trade balances will be reset to $100,000 marking the start of the challenge.

Only participants who have registered before this date will be featured on the leaderboards.

8 Weeks (Feb + March and August + September)

Submission and tracking of Investment Ideas

During the live competition, you will submit trades and explain your investment ideas directly in the platform
This will be an ongoing process as you will continue to submit new ideas and close old ones
Continuously monitor your portfolio to make revision where necessary
Posting and engagements on social media based on the guidelines provided

Third Monday of April and October

Declaration of Winners

Winners will be declared globally and e-certificates of achievement will be mailed to qualified participants. Top 3 winners will also be felicitated in-person at CMT Association’s next large-format event.

Prize Categories: Individual and Institute level

Best overall Portfolio

This is the top prize for the competition. Maximum risk-adjusted return during the period across all the closed investment ideas submitted.

Highest Absolute Return:

Highest absolute return over the competition period.

Lowest Max Drawdown:

Lowest Max DrawDown over the entire competition period.

Highest Number of Valid Trades:

Maximum number of valid and qualified closed trades.

Single Most Profitable Trade:

Highest return in any one closed trade.

Official Communication platform for the Challenge - CMT Association's Discord Server

Discord is a popular group-chatting app, available for Mac, PC, iPhone, and Android devices. All announcement, discussions, FAQs will happen here. If you are not already on Discord You can download the Desktop and Mobile versions of Discord and Install them. Desktop/laptop apps work the best. It is advisable to create a Discord login before you register for the Investment Challenge on cmtic.optuma.com

Steps

Create a login on Discord
Join the server: https://cmta.fyi/discord
Fill in the registration form (so we know you’re human)
Click on the Investment Challenge section
Familiarize yourself with the platform and explore the various sections. Feel free to introduce yourself on the chat.

Notes

The Investment Challenge category of channels on our Discord server is where you will get all the latest updates about the challenge over duration of the competition.
Use this space to engage with fellow “Investment Challengers” and your CMT mentors.
Evan if you are not a participant in the challenge but you want to follow the challenge as it unfolds, you can go to the #enable-access channel and click the “Enable Access” button.
When you do that you will see 4 new channels. Some are READ-ONLY and others you can participate in.
1. #event-details-faqs (READ-ONLY) is where all information and announcements will be posted
2. #knowledge-center (READ-ONLY) is where you can access various pre-recorded training videos as well as livestream videos of weekly mentoring sessions.
3. #talking-markets (OPEN) is where you can engage with fellow participants and others to talk about the markets you are tracking
4. #ask-queries (OPEN) is where you can reach out to CMT Association or Optuma Staff for any specific challenge-related, non-market queries
5. We may add new channels as the Challenge progresses
Remember that to participate in the challenge you HAVE TO register on cmtic.optuma.com
- Participation is exclusive to
  - Active CMT Candidates
  - Students of CMT’s Academic Partner Program institutions
Remember that this is a public space and everyone will be able to see your posts, so be nice.