ITHACA, N.Y. -- A team of three MBA students from Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management earned $3,000 and the informal title "Wizards of Wall Street" by making stock recommendations that impressed the financial professionals who served as judges.

The Cornell students defeated nine other university teams at the third annual MBA Stock Pitch Challenge April 22 at the Johnson School in Sage Hall on Cornell's campus. This was the first time that the Johnson School, which initiated the competition three years ago, had won first place.

Johnson School MBA students Michael Albrecht, Albert Chu and Edward Zelmanovitz recommended shorting Glamis Gold Limited (GLG), now trading at $14.77. Most of the students competing aspire to be stock analysts. The stock selection of the competition's winners have been significant in the past. In 2004 the selections of three of the four finalists appreciated between 25 percent and 65 percent in just one year.

Second place went to a team from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, and third place to a team from the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business.

Other teams were from MBA programs at the University of California-Berkeley (Haas); Columbia University; New York University (Stern); University of Chicago; Northwestern University (Kellogg); Yale University; and University of Rochester (Simon).

The teams began preparing April 21 at the Parker Center for Investment Research in Sage Hall -- a financial research center for investment managers, with facilities that simulate a live trading room floor and featuring real-time data feeds. Team members were given stocks to research using the latest financial tools, including StockVal, FactSet and First Call. After conducting research late into the night, teams presented "buy" or "sell" recommendations in front of a blue-ribbon panel of eight judges who are Wall Street professionals. The winners were judged on their "long" or "short" recommendation for three companies. Designed to replicate the real-world experience of asset managers working in the financial industry, the contest impels each team to vigorously defend its recommendation. Team members are given a chance to showcase their stock-picking skills -- leading to potential job offers from firms.

The judges were from Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Putnam, Fidelity, Morgan Stanley, Sanderson & Stocker and Gabelli. The teams were identified to the judges by number and not by school affiliation.

The next MBA stock pitch competition will take place at the Johnson School Nov. 3 and 4, 2005. For details, see this Web site: http://parkercenter.johnson.cornell.edu.