MANILA, Philippines – Stock X Challenge, the intercollegiate online stock trading competition, has commenced. After three Saturdays of portfolio management seminars conducted by First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC) for the registered teams of students and teachers, all 144 teams are ready to compete. On its first year, the Stock X Challenge drew interest from a total of 144 teams from various colleges and universities coming from the NCR to as far as Cavite, Quezon Province and Cebu. Many of the participating schools are Manila-based with San Beda College-Mendiola fielding the most number of teams at 33; followed by De La Salle University-Dasmariñas with 32 teams. Stock X Challenge is an Online Stock Trading Game Tournament accessible through the PSE website (www.pse.com.ph) which provides players with real-world trading experience while using virtual money. The tournament aims to educate and help first-time investors in understanding how the stock market works, which would come in handy in making investment decisions in the future. Updates on the top ranking teams will be released and posted every Monday. The tournament is from Dec. 1, 2010 to Feb. 28, 2011. You may visit www.stockxchallenge.com or via Facebook.