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CNBC’s Fast Money Turns to
Wisconsin MBA Students

July 27, 2007

Wisconsin MBA students in the Applied Security Analysis Program (ASAP) are becoming somewhat of a fixture on CNBC’s Fast Money.  In recent months, the students have appeared on the nationally televised business news program, which showcases advice from Wall Street traders.

The program’s “Grade the Trade” segment tests the trading prowess of some of the most promising business students in the nation. On Friday, July 20, the segment showcased MBAs from University of Wisconsin-Madison, Purdue, University of Richmond and Boston College. Representing Wisconsin was second-year ASAP student Chris Reger. As part of ASAP, Reger helps manage a $42 million student-managed portfolio. 
 
In the “Grade the Trade segment” of Fast Money, students are asked to give rapid-fire reaction to proposed trading situations. Reger’s portion of the program was taped in Kansas City, Missouri, where he is an investment management intern with American Century Investments, working on three mutual fund teams.    

Reger was given the following scenario: A steam pipe in New York breaks and in the days that follow, cities from New York to Atlanta say they will double the amount of money they plan to spend to improve aging public works systems.  What are you buying, what are you selling as this scenario unfolds?

Reger’s reply included buying engineering firms such as Fluor Corp. (FLR) and Shaw Group (SGR). He also recommended buying Caterpillar (CAT), as well as steel companies such as Nucor (NUE) and McDermott International (MDR). Reger received an “A” for his answer from program host Pete Najarian.

Reger says he believes the positive feedback he received is a “clear reflection on the rigorous curriculum, collaborative environment and superior experience of the Applied Securities Analysis Program.  I feel confident that any one of our students could 'ace' the trade!"   

It was the third month in a row that a Wisconsin MBA appeared on Fast Money.
In June, the show’s “Face 2 Face” segment featured another second-year Wisconsin MBA student, Erica Healey. Healey had the chance to ask a question about buying real estate investment trusts (REITs). Healey is currently interning at Callahan Capital Partners in Chicago.

In May, Adam Sweet, a new graduate of the Applied Security Analysis Program (ASAP), competed against MBAs from Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, Columbia Business School and the University of North Carolina on Fast Money’s Grade the Trade segment.

G. Kevin Spellman, director of the Hawk Center for Applied Security Analysis at the UW-Madison School of Business, says the CNBC coverage is just one example of the program receiving national media attention. In January, for example, the program had a major profile in Smart Money magazine. Spellman attributes the attention to the high caliber of students in the program, the two-year structure of the program culminating in  management of real-money portfolios in the second year, the people involved in the program, and the ASAP’s strong relationships with money management firms. “The hands-on experience the students receive in investment management  is challenging and real,” Spellman says, “and that fact is increasingly being recognized.”