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Commerce · 3 Rounds

Mercatus

The trading floor. The bell. The chaos.

Mercatus is a stock market based event with three rounds set in a challenging, fast-paced trading environment. Each round tests teams' capability to excel in financial strategy and negotiation under pressure.

Register for Mercatus
Mercatus

The Rounds

How it unfolds

  1. 01

    Round 1 — Emporium

    Teams enter a chaotic trading floor to buy, sell and trade stock slips. Negotiate the best prices, cut deals, and accumulate profit — designed to replicate the organised madness of the Bombay Stock Exchange open outcry system.

  2. 02

    Round 2 — Agora

    The market waits for no one. Teams must balance marketing and smart investment: engineer an investment strategy while building your own product and pitching it to other teams to secure investment.

  3. 03

    Round 3 — Lucrum

    Breaking news and global events shift the market in seconds. Act as day traders in an interactive stock market simulation — analyse real-time information, anticipate movements, and make quick buy/sell decisions to maximise profit.

Rules & Regulations

Event rules for Mercatus

  1. 01

    Round 1 trades must be conducted through the official trading floor process (verbal bids/offers) — side deals outside the system are not allowed.

  2. 02

    Round 2 elevator pitches must be delivered within the time limit set by the judges.

  3. 03

    Capital allocated in Round 2 must be used only in Round 3 — it cannot be added to externally.

  4. 04

    Round 3 crisis events must be responded to within the announced time window; failure to act in time may be treated as a "hold" position.

  5. 05

    All trades and portfolio changes must be recorded with the organizers/game master for scoring.

Universal Rules

Apply to every event.

These rules are binding across all ten events at Plutus 2026. No exceptions.

  1. 01

    No AI tools permitted. Use of ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or any generative AI tool — for research, content generation, calculations, or decision-making — at any stage of any round is strictly prohibited and will result in immediate disqualification of the team.

  2. 02

    Judges' and organizers' decisions are final and binding on all matters, including scoring, disqualification, and rule interpretation.

  3. 03

    Reporting time is mandatory. Teams arriving late to their round may lose time from their allotted slot or forfeit their turn, at the organizers' discretion.

  4. 04

    Original work only — any pitch, script, design, or presentation must be created live/on-site during the event unless a round explicitly allows pre-prepared material.

  5. 05

    Respectful conduct is required toward judges, volunteers, and other teams; unsporting behavior, verbal abuse, or sabotage of another team's materials leads to disqualification.

  6. 06

    Substitutions are not allowed once a team is registered, except in case of a genuine emergency and with prior organizer approval.

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