Practice Stock Trading with an Online Stock Game Simulator

By Zachary Riff

Stock trading is often likened to gambling. But it isn't. Developing a good trading strategy is the key to making it in the stock market. Even newbies like you can learn stock trading and do it well. One way of developing your own strategy is to practice stock trading using online stock game simulators.

A stock market simulator, is an online game application that duplicates aspects of real-life stock markets. But no real money is involved; play money is used, so you can practice stock trading without the financial risk. Read on and know more about how you can learn and practice stock trading with an online stock game simulator.

Two Types: There are two types of online stock game applications for you to be able to practice stock trading skills and strategies: Financial and fantasy stock game simulators. A financial stock market online game application allows you to practice stock trading through a fictional portfolio based on real stock entries.

Play Money - Your financial stock simulator portfolio uses play money, so there is no risk involved at all. To prevent any collusion, or abuse of the game and the system, most online trading websites that offer these free stock games use a delayed data feed. Such a system ensures that the information and data may not be used to do actual stock trading using these information. A financial stock online simulator is a great way for you to practice stock trading scenarios and strategies, and gain experience before you move up to the real thing.

Hypothetical Trading - On the other, a fantasy stock market online game simulator lets you practice stock trading through thoroughly hypothetical yet amusing settings. Unlike financial stock game applications, fantasy online simulators feature imaginary fantasy stocks that, while representing real items, would never be actually traded in actual practice stock trading setting.

The Stocks - Some items being traded in fantasy free stock market game applications include the longevity of certain books on the bestseller list, the success of certain movies at the box office, antics of infamous celebrities, sports teams and games, and more. What fantasy stock market game applications do is show how the principles in an actual stock trading setting may work.

Here, the game uses the analogy between fantasy and real-life trading. This type of stock market simulator is an ideal way for anyone with no background in trading, to be able to understand how the stock market works, because these often use items that are familiar to a lot of people. This is one way where you get to practice stock trading techniques and strategies while having fun.

Practice Makes Perfect - Playing on an online stock market simulator lets you practice stock trading with play money in a real-world stock market scenario. Getting the hang of how shares are bought and sold, what affects your investments and the other principles are all part of the practice stock trading experience with a stock market simulator. It will just be a matter of time between simply playing practice stock trading on an online stock market simulator and doing the real deals yourself. - 23212

About the Author:

Discover how to make the top stock pick. Practice stock trading using the top simulators online.

Reviewing Forex Products

By Vencapllc

Forecasttrader stood out among the forex trading sites. Along with the Forecasttrader.com we reviewed other forex trading software, that could complement your forex market information nicely. Site navigation was easy. Its clean, uncluttered design underscores its look like a professional site where one can do forex trading online without much fanfare. The first thing we noticed is the two graphs featuring the forecast of the week and how the week actually performed. You do not have to go deep into the site to find this key information. Come to theforexreviewsite.com to find the information you need to get the right forex products.

Forecasttrader banks on its ability to feature live trading results as opposed to backtesting outcomes you see in many other sites. Major markets are covered well by the site " 10 major forex pairs with 7 majors and 3 crosses. Safe transaction is given a boost with site encryption features you would expect from a top tier web site. Payments are safely handled by Clickbank.

There is a comprehensive FAQs section where we took notice that forecasts are posted on Fridays/Saturdays " just enough time for us to prepare for the following weeks forex trading activities. Whats the price to try out this great service? Only $4.95 for a 7-day trial period and that, we say, is a dandy investment.

We find Forecasttrader meeting all our expectations for an online forex trading site. An excellent five out of five experience for us. - 23212

About the Author:

Before you buy any Forex products online, make sure you visit Theforexreviewsite.com

A Brief Look at the Past of Mutual Funds

By Jeffrey Mute

You might be hearing a lot about mutual funds and are wondering why it is a popular investment opportunity. Investors prefer to invest in mutual funds over traditional forms of investments such as certificates of deposit and money market accounts because of one thing " the amount of return it brings to them. With a properly managed mutual fund, you can expect the biggest return of your investment.

Aside from traditional investment options such as money market accounts and certificate of deposits, a mutual fund is one investment opportunity a novice can take part of. Stock markets and bonds are good investment options, but not all people have the time to learn the ins and outs of the trade. Thus, a mutual fund is perfect for a beginner as it allows you to test the waters before putting a huge amount of money in. A good advantage of mutual funds is the fact that it spreads its assets over several investment vehicles to minimize risks.

To understand mutual funds better, it is necessary that we take a look at how it has developed over the years. Historians believe that the Netherlands is the official birthplace of the mutual fund, crediting King William I when he launched his closed-end investment companies in 1822. Others say, however, that it was a Dutch merchant named Adriaan van Ketwich who was responsible for creating the idea of a mutual fund in 1774.

Nevertheless, the idea was so great that France and Great Britain acknowledged it. Soon enough, the United States followed suit. But the mutual funds of the past are very much different from what it is today. It was only during 1907, with the creation of the Alexander Fund, that the modern mutual fund began to take shape. Since then, additional changes have been included in the general concept including withdrawals on demand and semi-annual issues.

It was only with the establishment of the Massachusetts Investors Trust in 1924 that the modern mutual fund came to be. Roughly a year after the creation of the Trust, it has acquired assets totaling to almost $400,000.00 with 200 shareholders. In 1928, the fund offered its shares to the public. In the same year, another fund called the Wellington Fund was established. It was the first fund to include stocks and bonds as their investment options. Because of this the prices of stocks continued to rise making 1928 one of the most glorious years in mutual fund history.

Not long after came the Wall Street Crash of 1929. This was the worst stock market crash in history, which led to the Great Depression. But one positive thing emerged from these downtimes. Finally, the government noticed the advantage of the mutual fund industry and subsequently passed several laws to protect the investors.

With all the governing laws in place, the stock market regained the trust of the investors. This indicated the start of the flourishing of the mutual fund industry. By the end of the 60s, about 270 funds were around with assets amounting to $48 billion. From then on, the mutual fund industry continued to grow.

Now, a mutual fund is considered as a sound investment from investors all over the world. Whichever way you look at it, mutual funds still has a lot of room to grow in. And the good thing about it is that you can profit from this industry without risking too much. - 23212

About the Author:

The author's website provides information about mutual funds in the Philippines and explains the mutual fund history.

Discount Personal Checks

By Amanda

The invention of personal checks was a savvy idea that has allowed people to pay for items without having cash on hand. Personal checks are a straight forward and organized way of paying. They make life so much easier.

After personal checks started being used, there weren't many options in the way of designs. Bank checks were pretty much standard plain pieces of paper with your personal information on them. Later, check printers came out with the idea that checks could be a great way to display beautiful art or custom pictures. People now have the ability to choose from thousands of designs for their personal checks.

Personal checks are one of the safest ways to make transactions. Unlike many believe, it is hard to steal checks and get away with it. Standard coins and cash can be taken and there is no way to retrieve it. Debit cards, once used, are directly connected to your bank and money flows out right away. With checks, there is a lag of a few days before money leaves the bank which gives the account holder time to freeze the checks.

Buying checks online also adds another added convenience. It is easy to choose from thousands of designs. Once your check choice is selected, the payment process takes about 5 minutes and you are done. When ordering from a bank, it can take much much longer to order and the selection is often very limited. Ordering online is very secure as well.

Ordering checks in bulk can also make your checks even cheaper. Often, the personal check printers will give incentives to larger volumes of boxes at a time. Since you know you'll need them later anyways, it's always a good idea to buy at least 3-4 boxes at a time if not more. They never expire and that way you'll ahve them when you need them. - 23212

About the Author:

Buying personal checks online is a great way to save money. Saving money with cheap checks is a great alternative to buying from the bank.

Investment Strategies - Why Logic Is Important

By Gnifrus Urquart

I've been trading stocks and forex all my life. One thing I gradually became aware of during this experience was that the strategies which make the most logical sense typically are the ones which work the best.

There are so many strategies I've tried, I have lost count. And there are at least as many which I've let go without trying. There are just too many. I found a quick fire way though which helps disregard the strategies which are useless, so you can trial the ones which are worth trialing. Its logic. Look at the logic of your trading strategy and see if there are holes in it. You'll be amazed by the number of strategies with big logical holes.

Its quite possible that these strategies, in their wholeness work quite well. But the problem is that if you are trading a strategy which has holes in it, at some stage you'll come up against a real life situation where the strategy has no answer. Then you'll be on your own and you'll need to make a decision outside the strategy. This can be an educated guess, to an intuitive judgment call, to a flip of a coin.

Personally I think that making decisions like this, decisions which are outside the logic of an investment or trading strategy, is gambling. Its not a good situation. Sure you may make money with this gamble, but you could lose it too. Its no different than blackjack. A robust and complete trading strategy should take these gambles away from you. There should be no guesses. You should just plan the trade and then trade the plan.

Also, the point about trialing a strategy is that you are finding out whether it will make consistent returns over the fullness of time. The point about trading a strategy is that you know it makes consistent returns over the fullness of time. If you have had a guess mid way through the strategy, you cannot be confident its the strategy or your guess which is making the money. You will need to start again.

So if you have a new strategy which looks promising, apply your logic to it first. Try to understand all the trading scenarios you may face and ensure the strategy stands up to all of them and deals with them. This simple piece of advice could save you thousands.

And once you have covered off every situation you can think of, always remember to execute a preliminary trading exercise without putting money down. Spend a few months running the strategy in spreadsheets before you trade with money. You'll be amazed at the real life situations which come your way which you'd never have dreamed of. And you will thank your stars you resolved these issues when you had nothing on the line. - 23212

About the Author:

After years of profitable trading, Gnifrus Urquart enjoys discussing his favorite investment strategies and offering general investment guidance