Do traders actually earn money based on the success of their trades?
Traders in our market actually do get a check in the form of a financial grant to use for education purposes (e.g., buy books, or to help pay for a conference). The grant is awarded at the end of the season and the size depends on how successful participants were in predicting influenza activity. Traders are given an account worth $100 at the beginning of the markets and may earn additional amounts for continued and active participation. To that amount we add trading profits and subtract losses. While that amount is not enough to really encourage traders to trade up to several times a week for an entire influenza season, most participants reported that they truly enjoyed the process of trading itself and seeing how accurate their forecasts are compared to those of other traders.
Traders in our market actually do get a check in the form of a financial grant to use for education purposes (e.g., buy books, help pay for a conference). The grant is awarded at the end of the season and the size depends on how successful participants were in predicting influenza activity. Traders are given an account worth $100 at the beginning of the market each season and may earn additional amounts for continued and active participation. Trading profits are added to that amount and losses subtracted. Although a grant for $100 is not enough to encourage everyday trading, most participants report that they truly enjoy the process of trading itself and seeing how the accuracy of their forecasts compares to other traders’ forecasts.
