We realized how effective learning by doing was from the moment we were enrolled in school. Studies have proven that humans learn best when they complete hands-on assignments/tasks, whether they are studying new methods to arithmetic, literature, art, or history.
However, we cannot simply deposit thousands of dollars into our trading account and play around in order to “learn.” We’d lose our money, our desire to trade, and possibly a lot of hair in the process. Fortunately, we now have a plethora of tools and websites to assist us in learning how to trade effectively without losing our money (or our hair!).
The Best Stock Market Games for Learning Strategies
1. WallStreet Survivor.
Through the menu selections in Wall Street Survivor, you can invest $100,000 in fictitious money! With the help of an animated Mark Brookshire, we can make stock selection judgments based on rating statistics! Fundamentals, survivor attitude, technical analysis, and even a Motley Fool rating are all factored into the ratings.
Try the site’s library, which has a great collection of books for newbies, intermediate traders, and even seasoned stock market investors! I recommend starting with Investing 101 if you’re new to investing. I’ve also discovered that talking with other individuals like you is one of the best ways to learn, so check out the forums for general and specific inquiries!
If you have no idea where to start, read through the pre-made portfolios produced by experienced traders and have a look around!
There are many competitions on Wall Street Survivor, the most popular of which is the $100,000 competition; however, anyone can start a tournament with any prize! However, I believe the best prize is victory.
2. Investopedia Stock Simulator
Investopedia is one of the most comprehensive financial and investment websites available (if not the best). It enables us to communicate with and collaborate with over 700,000 investors from all around the world.
It can truly widen our eyes and widen our understanding when so many individuals and investors work together. We can check out how the “competition” is doing. You can even participate in competitions.
You can join an existing game or build your own if you have a solid concept for one. The amazing thing about this website is that you can “play” right on it, so there’s no need to download anything. However, there are advantages to downloading a programme like ThinkorSwim.
3. HowTheMarketWorks
This one is also owned by Wall Street Survivor. HowTheMarketWorks is a fantastic resource for investors who want to gain more experience with a new sort of portfolio. This site provides a lot of useful information regarding stocks and indices, as well as other topics including Forex, penny stocks, shorting, and mutual fund alternatives.
If you’re a beginner, you can trade market orders in the no-hassle “fun mode,” which means you won’t be limited to a certain amount of trades per day, hours, or order experiences. Then, when you’ve gained enough knowledge and feel ready to tackle the next step, switch to “realistic mode,” which is a little more difficult and demanding!
You can have a maximum of three stock portfolios and three Forex portfolios, which is a bonus. You simply set a virtual commission per trade between $100 and $500,000.
You don’t have to be concerned if you’re learning and don’t mind working “against” others. You can, however, choose whether or not to participate in the tournament.
Each contestant is granted a starting prize of $25,000 for the monthly competitions. There are even more specific competitions, such as only buying and selling penny stocks, only shorting, and so on. You may even create your own key that only your friends and family know in order to have access to a game, making it a bracket for only the people you want!
4. Yahoo! Finance Portfolio
Is this some kind of game? No, it’s not true. Yahoo! Finance, on the other hand, is a terrific tool to utilise if you want to examine certain stocks that you’re interested in or that you’ve seen on the news. For free, you can create your own portfolio of stocks that you want to track.
Yahoo! Finance is a financial portal that is second to none, featuring information on practically all worldwide markets and real-time quotes.
It’s quite self-evident. Simply begin adding stocks to your portfolio that you want to purchase. You can also change the number of shares you want in each stock as well as the buying price. Though you may view the amount owed by choosing how much you want to buy it for/the number of stocks you want to buy, for the greatest learning, use the real-time price.
You can also learn about several types of technical analysis indicators and start trading with them, such as candlestick indications, MACD patterns, and support and resistance levels.
It’s a fantastic portfolio tracker that also helps you learn a lot by allowing you to create fake portfolios. The tools and data can really help you improve your trading and investing skills.
5. Young Money Stock Market Game
Young Money Magazine has a fun and simple game, but they don’t shy away from reality.
The unbelievable reality includes a portion of commission taken off based on rules and market hours. This can make a big difference, especially in trading simulations where we tend to overtrade and overlook commissions. Second, real-time prices are used in the game.
6. MarketWatch Fantasy Earnings Trader Game
MarketWatch has some fantastic contests for its users. They offer a four-week contest in which players receive prizes based on the week they are in. Each week’s winner will receive an iPad! You can join at any moment and participate in the competition each week!
You simply select your stocks before Monday of each week, and they are “purchased” when the market opens on Monday. Every Friday at closing, they are “sold,” and the winner is revealed.
The challenge is that each player is only allowed to use 15-20 symbols per week. The game’s owner also chooses the business among those that submit their weekly revenue! Simply drag and drop the logo of the firm you want to invest in onto the “go long” or “sell short” trading card.
Because of the 15-20 symbols you can use per week, MarketWatch is ideal for beginners. This improves your rationing and shapes a better trading mentality.
7. UpDown
UpDown, like Young Money’s game, makes use of icons that make it easier for newcomers to learn and move around the site. You can also learn the basics and starting stages at the teaching centre.
Some of my favourite community features are also available on UpDown. They enable you to collaborate with other investors and organisations to see which stocks are being sold and acquired most frequently. I really enjoyed the “watch list,” which is a simple tool for keeping track of choices I’m considering buying or selling.
UpDown holds competitions similar to the others on the list, and the winners of their monthly contests are given cash prizes.
Final thoughts
Obviously, rookie traders require trading experience, but obtaining this experience might be difficult. We don’t want to squander too much of our time and money attempting to learn. These games have helped others (and you) to obtain the experience they require without spending any money!
Develop Your Trading Techniques
Participating in their competitions allows you to really MAKE MONEY! You may have heard of demo accounts on sites like Thinkorswim or Questrade, but those aren’t actually designed for learning, but rather for getting a feel for the platform. This post was written to help both beginners and experts get the most out of stock trading games.
Demo accounts can assist you see if a strategy or approach works and what profits you can expect, but they won’t provide you information guidelines and certainly won’t include a resource library for beginners. Look into the actual “games” to get a sense of how trading real money feels. Treat games as if they were real life. Assume your hard-earned money is on the line, and your transactions will either make you more money or cause you to lose it all.
Always keep in mind:
We all make mistakes, and it’s best to learn from them before investing real money. Do you want another suggestion? Set the quantity of money in your gaming account to the amount of money you’d start with in real life! This will aid in the creation of a more “lifelike” account, as well as making it simpler to learn from!