University Park, Pa. - Penn State's Smeal College of Business is hosting a resident and day camp this summer for high school students entering grades 10 through 12 who are interested in learning about finance and the stock market.

"Stock Market Madness" will be held July 15 through 20 on Penn State's University Park campus. Campers will spend the week in Smeal's state-of-the-art Trading Room, learning the basics about financial management from Smeal finance professors and students.

"We designed this program specifically for students who have an interest in the stock market," said David Haushalter, clinical assistant professor of finance and academic director of the Trading Room. "The camp will give students in-depth exposure to what's happening on Wall Street. They'll gain a solid understanding of the world of finance and explore what a career in the field is really like."

Each day, attendees will participate in two sessions in the Trading Room, taking part in trading games and learning about probability, statistics, and portfolio theory. They will have access to the tools and software used by professional traders on Wall Street and gain financial skills and knowledge from competing in simulated financial markets.

Trading Room sessions include lessons on using financial tools and terms, basic stock market valuation, trading in financial markets, using probability and statistics for financial decision making, and constructing and evaluating portfolios. At the end of the week, campers will employ their new skills in a trading competition.

Accommodations, meals, and evening activities will be provided.

Smeal's Trading Room replicates a real-world trading experience and functions as a classroom and a laboratory. Several televisions offer access to live coverage of financial news and real-time tickers and stock boards provide students with the latest financial information, including live Bloomberg and Reuters data feeds. Each of the 54 dual-monitor workstations in the Trading Room is equipped with the software needed for virtually any finance-related activity. For more details, visit http://www.smeal.psu.edu/traderoom

For more information on the Stock Market Madness summer camp program, including fees and a complete schedule of activities, visit http://www.outreach.psu.edu/cnf/stockmarketcamp