Hello and welcome to another of my trading and investing site which have all been designed to provide you with free information, help, advice and guidance in learning about particular aspects of trading and investing, and on this site I would like to help you get started trading in stocks, using a virtual stock trading game, which whilst free and fun, will teach you the basics of trading using a stock trading game.
Virtual stock trading
Sadly when I started my trading career many years ago, the internet did not exist, and learning how to trade involved real money. Mistakes were both plentiful and painful, and indeed my first effort at trading a stock resulted in a total loss on the share. Today of course we live in a very different world, and if you are a new to trading and perhaps looking for a novel and exciting way to learn, then learning using a virtual stock market trading game may be the answer. I have reviewed several of these over the last few years, and all now have one thing in common – they all create the atmosphere of trading real stocks and shares in real markets. Whilst this is virtual trading, it is very real, with live real time quotes on screen, live prices when you buy and sell, and streaming stock market news and information to help you make your trading decisions. I do accept of course that there is nothing that can replace the emotional stress of trading using real money, but using a simulated stock trading game will introduce you to all the various terms, order types, execution procedures and risk management strategies that you will need to understand and implement, if you are to become a successful stock trader or investor.
The one piece of advice I would give you before starting, is to use the virtual stock game as though you were trading with real money, rather than play money – easier said than done, I do appreciate, but the reason for saying this is that if you decide on your strategy beforehand, then at least you will be testing something that will be real and meaningful, rather than simply deciding to put all your money on one stock, which you would never do in the real world. So try to make it real, and in order to do so you will need to have a simple trading strategy before you start, so that you begin your trading career, with good habits and build from there. As you will see on this site, I have included my own simple trading strategies for trading stocks, and whether you are using a virtual stock market, or the real thing, these principles will stand you in good stead and provide the foundation for you to build up your knowledge and experience. Many new traders are attracted to the stock market, as it is the one that is most widely reported each day, and which many of us grow up with, as parents and friends talk about investments and portfolios.
The stock market however, is like any other, fail to understand the risks and you will lose money, and this is where a virtual stock market becomes so important in your learning curve. As a virtual stock trader you can test your strategies, calculate correct order size, practice using good risk management with stop loss orders and trailing stops, and begin to develop your technical chart reading skills, so that you can begin to forecast market direction and major turning points in the markets. The technique I use for this is called volume spread analysis and I will cover the basics here for you, along with my own trading strategies for finding the best stocks to buy and sell in your virtual investing portfolio.
So let’s get started as I teach you all my stock trading tips as part of your stock trading education, and if you would like to get started with the stock trading game straight away then simply click on the banner at the bottom of the page.
Network confusion links Facebook and Nasdaq
18 May 2012 at 11:40pm
The reputation of both the social network and the stock exchange could be damaged by the glitch which held up opening trades in Facebook’s stock
Faltering start for the new Facebook
18 May 2012 at 10:23pm
Glitches delayed the opening of trading and underwriters had to intervene to prevent the group’s shares falling below the $38 price set on Thursday
Facebook fails to meet high expectations
18 May 2012 at 9:21pm
S&P 500 financials index loses over 6% to make it the worst performing sector on the week, led by JPMorgan as its deals with fallout from $2bn loss
Global equities extend losing streak
18 May 2012 at 9:19pm
Growth assets are shunned as investors fret about the future of the eurozone and the global economy, sending yields on German Bunds lower
Resource stocks mirror global economy
18 May 2012 at 9:04pm
Decline of groups involved in supplying essential raw materials for business show how investors really feel about the global economy’s direction
ITV weakens as FTSE 100 drops
18 May 2012 at 7:54pm
Banks and mining stocks lead the wider market to its sharpest weekly fall since September, with the benchmark index down 5.5% for the week
ICAP secures Plus exchange licence
18 May 2012 at 7:38pm
The world’s largest interdealer broker will pay a nominal £1 and take on liabilities and running costs for lossmaking quotations and listings arm
Haven rush drives bond yields to lows
18 May 2012 at 6:54pm
Possibility of Greek euro exit has rattled markets and caused investors to buy ‘safer’ assets, pushing UK and German borrowing costs to lows
Spain’s pain becomes Europe’s big fear
18 May 2012 at 6:52pm
Fears about contagion from Greece and worries about the health of Spanish banks have shifted the focus of the crisis from Athens to Madrid
Spanish banks defy Moody’s downgrade
18 May 2012 at 6:34pm
Bankia rises 23% to lead sector-wide rebound, helped by reports that Madrid has hired Goldman Sachs to carry out a valuation of the lender
