Greenleaf Trust Trading Room

Students are in the Greenleaf Trust Trading room, taking notes.
GreenLeaf trust Trading Room schedule

Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Friday - 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The trading room is not available for use when the room is occupied by a class.

Closures

  • Spring Break: March 6-10, 2023

Hours are subject to change.

In the Greenleaf Trust Trading Room, Western Michigan University students experience stock prices scrolling across an electronic ticker, Bloomberg terminals providing real-time data on market movements and world news updates on large screens in the front of the room. The atmosphere of the trading room enables Haworth College of Business students to experience the fast pace of Wall Street while in Kalamazoo.

What do students learn?

  • Experience hands-on learning, using the hardware and software commonly used by finance professionals.
  • Analyze the latest stock quotes.
  • Build and test investment portfolios.
  • Compare currency exchange rates.
  • Scrutinize company fundamentals.

Greenleaf Trust Trading Room benefits

The facility:

  • Improves student readiness for careers in the financial sector.
  • Enriches classroom experiences for students.
  • Heightens analytical skills for students through trading simulations.
  • Expands job prospects for students.
  • Raises awareness of real-time business activity for all students, faculty, staff and visitors.
  • Creates a home for the Student Managed Investment Fund class, which manages a portfolio of WMU Foundation funds.

bloomberg experiential learning partner

Western Michigan University is a Bloomberg Experiential Learning Partner, joining a select group of universities worldwide who have the designation.

Bloomberg Terminals are available in the Greenleaf Trust Trading Room, allowing students to benefit in several ways.

  • Students gain experience with the most widely used financial data computer software system. 
  • With only a few limitations, such as disabled trade execution, students learn to use a primary tool of Wall Street.
  • All finance majors and minors in the college earn the Bloomberg Market Concepts certificate as part of the Introduction to Financial Markets course. 
  • The Student Managed Investment Fund uses Bloomberg Terminals to perform market, industry and company analyses of large market capitalization U.S. stocks. This course manages a WMU Foundation investment portfolio of WMU Foundation funds with the goal of outperforming the S&P 500 Index on a risk-adjusted basis. Using tools available from Bloomberg, students build financial models, present to their classmates, and then vote to determine which companies are included in the portfolio.
  • Bloomberg skills are incorporated into classroom instruction, homework assignments and make an appearance on examinations.
  • With open access to the Greenleaf Trust Trading Room between and after classes, many students use the Bloomberg Terminal to sharpen their finance skills beyond formal coursework.