Day trading, for many (layman and professional alike), carries a reputation as a high-risk, high-commitment form of investing, where it’s just as easy — if not easier — to wind up owing money as it is to earn anything at all off your investments. While there’s no denying that day trading is a “no risk, no reward” endeavor, one Ursinus student, Nickolas Washington ‘27, aims to combat the perception that day trading is best left to Wall Street executives and those with more spare cash than they know what to do with. Washington is the founder of Ursinus’ very own Bull and Bear Stock Market Day Trading Club, and says he wants to build “a community that could change your life.”
Washington’s interest in day trading was first ignited in his freshman year, when a friend encouraged him to join The Ursinus College Investment Management Company, a student group which manages a portion of Ursinus’ investments. Inspired by what he learned there, Washington moved to self-teaching about day trading and made his first investments in Spring ‘24. “I realized quickly,” Washington says, “the profit I can make from [day trading] and how it can help… not just me, but my family and others around me.” Washington quickly found himself less stressed about bills, and eventually was even able to aid his mother financially. These tangible changes to his and his family’s quality of life made him realize that he wants “to share [his] knowledge with others, so [they can] potentially do the same thing through their own timeline, on their own.” It’s a goal of Bull and Bear to help arm those involved with the tools to be “financially free by 23” – that is, to graduate college and move into independent adulthood without stressing over one’s finances.
According to Washington, the skills built in day trading can transfer to one’s academic and personal life, as well, even if one only paper trades – that is, invests only in simulations. He says that when day trading, “you’re going to create good habits: discipline, consistency, and confidence in what you’re doing. I definitely feel like that translates to everything… as long as you work on what you know and you consistently do it, you’re disciplined, and those habits can also translate to your life.”
Of course, forming a club around a topic so tightly regulated as day trading is not without its challenges. Washington thanks Drs. Daria Newfield and Jennifer Vanguilder of the Business and Economics Department for their aid in navigating the ethics and legality of teaching day trading: “I have a lot of support and they’re allowing me to do it the correct way… No money is used,” which helps avoid any associated legal liabilities. He adds that, “everything is strictly [for] educational purpose[s] only.” While the club’s first meeting was primarily lecture-based, Washington emphasizes that he doesn’t want the club to be only a class, but a “friend group of people who are interested in what I’m interested in” where everyone involved supports and is supported by each other. Washington even says, “I want you to teach me things, too.”
When asked what sort of student he hopes Bull and Bear appeals to, Washington answered first with a single word: “Anybody.” Elaborating, he says, “Whoever is interested in the financial market space of long-term investments or short-term investments… If you’re not interested, I also want you to come… It might unlock a new door for you, or scratch a part of your brain you didn’t know [needed it]. I want everybody to feel like they’re welcome, all experience levels… Even if you don’t know what a stock is.”
The Bull and Bear Stock Market Day Trading Club meets each Saturday at 6:30 PM in Musser Auditorium. A link to the club’s Discord server is available in emails from bbtradingclub@ursinus.edu.