Belmont’s Trading Room Upgrades to New Market Board

Dr. John Gonas teaches a class this fall in the Financial Trading Room in the Massey Business Center.

Belmont University’s Financial Trading Room—a lab opened in 2005 where students manage two common stock portfolios, hold university wide investment club meetings and prepare for the Certified Financial Analyst research report competition—underwent a significant upgrade this fall.

The additions to the room were done to replace the existing market board. The new board can now access market index quotes for commodities, equities, currencies, metals and fixed income instruments.

The first of its kind in the state of Tennessee, Belmont’s Trading Room allows students to experience situations that typically would only come from being in the field. Having a trading room allows a unique combination of the classroom and real-life experience.

Associate Professor of Finance John Gonas said, “Students have been able to experience many applied learning opportunities mostly tied to portfolio assets allocation and fundamental and technical analysis of common stocks. As a result, lab students often have access to high-demand internships with equity research firms, institutional asset managers and financial planners.”