Competitions and programs
Each has an assigned officer. Contact them for timelines, team requirements, and open spots.
In-house programs
Two programs the club runs itself. They compete all year on one metric: returns relative to risk taken.
High Tech Investment Group
A weekly seminar on economic policy and current market events. Members run pitch competitions against each other, and tiers inside the group are earned by contribution to discussion.
The main project is a portfolio simulation against HTQF. No interview required, though members are expected to prepare as they would for a class.
- Format
- Weekly seminar, pitch competitions, merit tiers
- Admission
- Open to all, no interview
- Main project
- Portfolio simulation vs. HTQF
- Officers
- Griffith, Pagarkar, Awasthi, Rancitelli
High Tech Quant Fellowship
A six-week fellowship in the fundamentals of quantitative trading, taught from a curriculum co-designed with people who do quant research professionally.
Each fellow writes a quantitative script and enters it in the portfolio contest against the investment group. Same market, same risk-adjusted metric. Best fit for CS and math members, though the curriculum starts from fundamentals.
- Format
- Six-week fellowship cohort
- Curriculum
- Co-designed with quant researchers
- Deliverable
- A quantitative trading script
- Officers
- Yip, Wu
Four team competitions
Two research competitions judged by economists, two market simulators run in teams of four to six.
Euro Challenge
Grades 9–10 · Presentation- Format
- 15-minute team presentation, plus questions
- Backed by
- Delegation of the EU to the United States
- Prize
- National winner tours Washington, D.C.
- HTHS record
- National Semifinal, top 25 in the US
Griffith, Awasthi, Dulger · Materials
The club’s primary economics competition for underclassmen. Teams study the European Union’s macroeconomics, foreign policy, and position in global affairs, then deliver a fifteen-minute presentation to a panel of judges.
Format: explain the economic situation, pick one challenge facing the euro area (climate change and national debt are common), then propose solutions for a single member state. Backed by the Delegation of the European Union to the United States. The national winner tours Washington, D.C.
Fed Challenge
Grades 9–12 · Research- Format
- Research and writing program
- Host
- Federal Reserve Bank of New York
- Eligibility
- Grades 9–12
- Past theme
- 2025–26, the Economics of Music
Pagarkar, Rancitelli · Materials
Hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Fed Challenge is a research and writing program rather than a live-presentation contest. Each cycle sets an academic theme, and students apply real economic principles to it.
The 2025–26 theme was the Economics of Music: streaming business models, pricing, market structure, and the distribution of value between artists, labels, and platforms. The work runs several weeks and is research and writing throughout.
Wharton Investment Competition
Teams of 4–6 · Simulator- Format
- Online market simulator
- Team size
- 4–6 members
- Run by
- The Wharton School
- Covers
- Strategy, risk, diversification, analysis
Dulger, Batra · Materials
Teams of four to six manage a portfolio inside an online stock market simulator. The work covers strategy, risk, diversification, and company and industry analysis.
Positions are justified to the group before they are taken.
SIFMA
Teams of 4–6 · Self-led- Format
- Online market simulator, self-led
- Team size
- 4–6 members
- Covers
- Strategy, risk, diversification, analysis
Okon, Batra, Lin · Materials
Groups of four to six trading a simulated market, self-led. Teams set their own meeting schedule and research process.
Wharton is the more structured of the two.
Pitch competitions
Both run through Aumrit Khanwani. You can enter with your own team.
Diamond Challenge
You develop a concept into a venture and present it. Winners receive funding to build what they pitched, plus support toward higher education. Entries are judged on the concept and the plan behind it.
- Format
- Venture concept, developed and pitched
- Awards
- Funding, plus higher-education support
Blue Ocean
A virtual international competition. Thousands of high school students pitch original business concepts to entrepreneurs and business people each year. Cash prizes run into the thousands.
- Format
- Virtual pitch to entrepreneur judges
- Field
- Thousands of entrants worldwide
Self-study and internal
Plus Finance Fridays, which cover the underlying material.
USA Economic Olympiad
Self-study · Annual- Format
- Self-study curriculum, annual exam
- Tests
- Core economic skills and fundamentals
Khanwani · Materials
USAEO is held once a year and tests a broad range of economic skills. Self-study: work through the lessons on your own schedule. The preparation carries over into Euro Challenge and Fed Challenge work.
Club-wide competitions
Quarterly / semesterly- Cadence
- Quarterly / semesterly
- Partners
- Debate, Research, and others
Wu, Okon
Internal competitions run several times a year with Debate, Research, and other clubs. A way to try a format before entering an external competition.
Finance Fridays
Weekly · Lessons and speakers- Run by
- All officers
- Before planning
- Check with Henry Griffith
All officers
Short lessons on the concepts the competitions assume, plus guest speakers from finance, business, government, and economics.
Every officer contributes. Clear any lesson or speaker with Henry first.
Contact an officer
Ask about timelines, team requirements, and open spots.
- Assignments
- Who owns which competition
- Emergencies
- Henry Griffith or etyip@ctemc.org
- Meetings
- Weekly, Mr. Brown’s Room 110
- Open to
- All grades, no prerequisites
- Next event
- Club event, September 11
- Where
- Ask about any competition on this page in person