Finance, econ students have just a few days left to sign-up for annual futures trading competition

NewsUSA -- It’s that time of year again: CME Group, the world’s leading derivatives exchange, is calling on college students with an interest in finance to team up and try their hand at futures trading. Registration for its 19th annual University Trading Challenge is now open through Thursday, September 29, and there is no cost to enter.

Photo: Adam Nowakowski/Unsplash

As part of the innovative competition, teams of three to five graduate and undergraduate students from the same university are invited to learn expert techniques using a real-time, simulated trading platform provided by CQG, a leading provider of financial markets technology solutions.

Participants will trade CME Group futures and options contracts across the exchange’s main asset classes -- including interest rates, equity indices, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural products, metals and crypto.

CME Group will also provide students with educational content and market commentary, in addition to live market data and premium news articles from Dow Jones and The Hightower Report.

This year’s challenge officially kicks off on Sunday, October 2 and concludes on Friday, October 28.

"The many uncertainties in today's global economies are driving increased interest in and demand for hedging and risk management strategies," says Anita Liskey, Global Head of Brand Marketing and Communications at CME Group. "We encourage all university students who want to learn about derivatives markets and test their trading skills to participate in this unique, hands-on educational experience."

Each eligible member of the winning team will receive a $2,000 cash prize*. Additional prizes will be awarded for second through fifth place.

Student participants will also have the opportunity to attend CME Group’s Day of Market Education. This one-day forum will provide them with an exclusive look into CME Group and the derivatives industry.

CME Group is committed to educating the next generation of finance professionals on the significance of its global derivatives markets and risk management. In addition to interactive events such as the University Trading Challenge, CME Group also partners with other industry organizations to offer educational tools, such as Futures Fundamentals, a one-stop educational resource that explains the role of futures markets in everyday life. Through interactive features and rich content, the site provides risk management education for learners of all levels and helps simplify complex market topics.

To register and view details on eligibility, rules, regulations and requirements, please visit: https://www.cmegroup.com/events/university-trading-challenge/2022-trading-challenge.html.

For social media updates throughout the competition, make sure to follow #TradingChallenge2022. *Eligibility to receive competition prizes is only open to residents in the United States (US), Canada (CA) excluding Quebec, United Kingdom (UK), Germany (DE), Netherlands (NL), Switzerland (CH), Republic of Korea (KR), Taiwan (TW), and Japan (JP).

Heart attack risks increase as people with HIV and hepatitis C age, according to recent study

by American Heart Association

DALLAS -- As people with HIV age, their risk of heart attack increases far more if they also have untreated hepatitis C virus, even if their HIV is treated, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access, peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association.

Since the introduction of antiretroviral therapies to treat HIV in the late 1990s, the lifespan of people with HIV has increased dramatically. However, even with treatment, studies have found the heart disease risk among people with HIV is at least 50% higher than people without HIV. This new study evaluated if people with HIV who also have hepatitis C – a viral liver infection – have a higher risk of heart attack.

"HIV and hepatitis C coinfection occurs because they share a transmission route - both viruses may be transmitted through blood-to-blood contact," said Keri N. Althoff, Ph.D., M.P.H., senior author of the study and an associate professor in the department of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore. "Due in part to the inflammation from the chronic immune activation of two viral infections, we hypothesized that people with HIV and hepatitis C would have a higher risk of heart attack as they aged compared to those with HIV alone."

Researchers analyzed health information for 23,361 people with HIV (17% female, 49% non-Hispanic white) in the North American AIDS Cohort Collaboration on Research and Design (NA-ACCORD) between 2000 and 2017 and who had initiated antiretroviral treatment for HIV. All were between 40 to 79 years of age when they enrolled in the NA-ACCORD study (median age of 45 years). One in 5 study participants (4,677) were also positive for hepatitis C. During a median follow-up of about 4 years, the researchers compared the occurrence of a heart attack between the HIV-only and the HIV-hepatitis C co-infected groups as a whole, and by each decade of age.

The analysis found:

With each decade of increasing age, heart attacks increased 30% in people with HIV alone and 85% in those who were also positive for hepatitis C.

The risk of heart attack increased in participants who also had traditional heart disease risk factors such as high blood pressure (more than 3 times), smoking (90%) and Type 2 diabetes (46%).

The risk of heart attack was also higher (40%) in participants with certain HIV-related factors such as low levels of CD4 immune cells (200cells/mm3, signaling greater immune dysfunction) and 45% in those who took protease inhibitors (one type of antiretroviral therapy linked to metabolic conditions).

"People who are living with HIV or hepatitis C should ask their doctor about treatment options for the viruses and other ways to reduce their cardiovascular disease risk," said lead study author Raynell Lang, M.D., M.Sc., an assistant professor in the department of medicine and community health sciences at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada.

"Several mechanisms may be involved in the increased heart attack risk among co-infected patients. One contributing factor may be the inflammation associated with having two chronic viral infections," Lang said. "There also may be differences in risk factors for cardiovascular disease and non-medical factors that influence health among people with HIV and hepatitis C that plays a role in the increased risk."

According to a June 2019 American Heart Association scientific statement, Characteristics, Prevention, and Management of Cardiovascular Disease in People Living With HIV, approximately 75% of people living with HIV are over the age of 45. "Even with effective HIV viral suppression, inflammation and immune dysregulation appear to increase the risk for heart attack, stroke and heart failure." The statement called for more research on cardiovascular disease prevention, causes and treatment in people with HIV.

"Our findings suggest that HIV and hepatitis C co-infections need more research, which may inform future treatment guidelines and standards of care," Althoff said.

The study is limited by not having information on additional factors associated with heart attack risk such as diet, exercise or family history of chronic health conditions. Results from this study of people with HIV receiving care in North America may not be generalizable to people with HIV elsewhere. In addition, the study period included time prior to the availability of more advanced hepatitis C treatments.

"Because effective and well-tolerated hepatitis C therapy was not available during several years of our study period, we were unable to evaluate the association of treated hepatitis C infection on cardiovascular risk among people with HIV. This will be an important question to answer in future studies," Lang said.