About this event
Stock Market Game (event code SMG) is DECA's version of the SIFMA Foundation's online investing simulation, run for teams of one to three DECA members registered by their chapter advisor at deca.org/smg. The 2026-27 ICDC qualifying game runs from Tuesday, September 8, 2026 through Friday, December 4, 2026. Each team starts with $100,000 in cash plus up to 50 percent margin, trades at end-of-day prices during market hours, and may buy and short stocks and trade mutual funds and bonds (no futures, options, commodities, currencies or bitcoin). Two rules shape strategy: no single security may exceed 20 percent of total equity times 1.5, and by October 23 every team must hold at least $10,000 in each asset class (stocks, mutual funds and bonds) and keep that diversification to the end. Rankings are by percent return compared with S&P 500 Growth, net of borrowed funds. Team rosters lock at the student name submission deadline, Friday, October 16, 2026, 4 p.m. ET; only students submitted by then can rank, and no substitutions are allowed afterward. The top 25 teams from each DECA region that follow all rules are submitted for ICDC qualification; chartered associations decide who actually attends. At ICDC the event becomes a prepared presentation: a 20-slide pitch deck (overview, analysis of portfolio performance with charts, rationale covering research, diversification strategy and stock selection, conclusions and proposed changes, bibliography, optional appendix) with the signed Statement of Assurances, and a 15-minute presentation including the judge's questions, scored out of 100. Penalty points apply to the deck. Members competing in SMG at ICDC may not compete in another ICDC event, and only original team members may compete.
What judges score
What judges score
Study resources
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