5 games to sharpen your stock-trading skills – The Kim Komando Show
When you boil it down, the stock market isn’t much different than a game with some winners and more than a few losers. Granted, it’s a complicated game, and I wouldn’t advise you to actually hand over your hard earned money to anyone who considers it just a game. But basically, it is a game.
The stock market has rules and patterns you can anticipate. You can research companies to find out which ones are good options and try to get inside the heads of other investors to see which way they’re going to jump. There’s an element of luck that keeps thing interesting. And when the going gets tough, you need to know how to quickly correct to save a victory from possible defeat.
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I’ve played strategy games that ticked all those boxes. The only difference was that there wasn’t money on the line if I lost (aside from the occasional friendly wagers). And now, thanks to computers, you too can “play” the stock market without risking a single penny.
There are plenty of stock market simulators and games available that let you play the market without worrying about losing any real money. You can use them to sharpen your skills, or just to amuse yourself when you want to play something more challenging than the latest tap-to-jump game app.
Before I tell you about the apps, however, a word of caution. All of these apps let you play around with virtual currency, but some also let you upgrade to using real money with real transaction fees. You do have to intentionally activate the brokerage features, but you should still double check before making any trade that you are using virtual currency.
I would also not recommend upgrading to using real money as many of these apps are still new and some are based in foreign countries. You don’t want them to close down on you, or force you into dealing with complex tax problems on next year’s returns.
With that warning out of the way, let’s take a look at the apps.
TradeHero
TradeHero (Android, Apple; Free) is not only a top virtual stock market trader app, it’s the top finance app in more than 75 countries. You start with a virtual $100,000 to invest in a virtual stock portfolio, and you can add more money with in-app purchases.
You can invest in 22 exchanges from around the world, including the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ and AMEX. Every bit of information is pulled from the real things.
TradeHero lets you follow master investors called “Heroes,” so you can learn from what they do. If you trade well, you can pick up followers of your own and get rewards.
Want to get even more competitive? You can go head-to-head with friends who use the app to see who the better investor is.
Kapitall Pocket
Kapitall Pocket (Android, Apple; Free) puts the power of stock market trading on your phone, and without the risk. You start with $100,000 in virtual currency you can use to trade and build your financial empire.
The app simplifies things a bit with company logos instead of stock market symbols, and presents you with analyzed information rather than raw numbers to help you make good stock picks. However, you can dig deeper if you want and every scrap of data is pulled from the real stock market.
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Note: This app allows you to use real money.
Stock Wars/Stock Market Simulator
Stock Wars (Apple; Free) and Stock Market Simulator (Android; Free) give you a glimpse into the high-pressure world of fast-paced stock trading. Using virtual currency, you can buy and sell real-world stocks, monitor stocks of interest and create trading groups to compete against other investors.
Unlike some other trading apps that simplify things for you, these gives you all the information on company performance, historical data, market positions and more that a real trader uses to succeed. With Stock Wars, you can even export company data to a spreadsheet for more detailed analysis.
Invstr
Invstr (Android, Apple; Free) is one of the newest apps, and it’s set up like a social network. You can join clubs, chat with other investors and play more than 200 games to see who can get the highest score. For example, you can make predictions on what the market or individual companies are going to do in the future.
You can read up on official news from major companies and reputable sources. If you want real-time data, you can pay to use in-app purchases.
More apps
The stock market isn’t all fun and games. If you’re serious about it, you need to do serious research. There are plenty of apps that can help you out. Click here for five more apps that give you the market insights you need to succeed.
A final note
Stock market trading apps can be fun, and day trading is often presented as a great way for skilled investors to bring in huge income. However, it’s harder than it sounds.
According to Money, quoting the Morningstar research group, “[T]he average U.S. equity mutual fund earned an annualized 8.2% over the 10 years from 2004 to 2013. But the typical fund investor … earned only 6.5% …”
And statistics show that a long-term diversified fund will beat out hedge funds, mutual funds, and self-managed trading in the long run. In fact, famed investor Warren Buffet made a $1 million bet that the S&P 500 index fund will outperform a range of hedge funds over the course of one decade (and he’s currently winning).
So, if you do jump into the stock market, do me a favor and be smart about where you put your money.
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5 games to sharpen your stock-trading skills – The Kim Komando Show
