Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Virtual Stock Trading: Step in the Right Direction

Virtual Stock Trading

We all know of people who invest a lot of their time and efforts playing the stock market game. Many of us would like to learn how to play the game ourselves, but are too worried about the potential risks associated with trading. Back in the olden days when people had to call their broker to buy or sell their shares, information was also not readily available to the public and it was a common concensus that it be best left to the professionals.

Things have changed. We are now in the information age and the board has been swept clean, advantages that were held by the brokers and the information holders have been cut drastically, and updated stock prices can be found with a few clicks of a button. You can even learn to invest without the risk and fear, and without even spending a dime. I am talking about virtual investing, the most crucial tool for beginner investors to hone their skills before entering the market with their hard-earned money.

Websites such as VSE Marketwatch and HowTheMarketWorks teaches ordinary people how to break free from their investing fears, and encourage them to learn and compete with other similar people in games that simulate the real stock market, but with virtual money. You can even simulate the amount that you have to invest, lets use $1000 as an example, and purchase stocks in the same way you would if you were investing online. These virtual markets allow you to track your investments and see how they perform against other stocks in the market, with clear gains or losses. Either way, it is a learning experience and whether you are a ten year old or sixty, we all have to begin somewhere, and what better way to learn than in a safe environment?

During these troubling times of economic recession, the rich will continue to get richer, and the poor will continue to get poorer. The middle class is slowly disappearing, and it is of utmost important that our children learn the value of investing their money wisely, or see it turn to dust like so many who have neglected their financial education. Virtual stock exchange promotes the idea that we should all take the steps necessary in educating ourselves to prepare for the future.

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Stock Market: How to Begin Your Journey

Everyone knows someone who is either talking about how well their stocks are doing, or rather how poorly they are doing. In today's tough economy, more and more people are relying on saving money in a feeble attempt to offset the inflation in prices for everything we pay for.

Stocks don't have to be risky, it just takes time and effort, and more importantly, the right mindset that allows a capacity for risk, but the knowledge to minimize that risk so that profits instead of deficits can be produced.

Thankfully for the beginner investor, there are many ways to improve your financially knowledge without spending a dime, firstly it is very important to realize that there are many markets in which one can trade on, for example there is NASDAQ, TSX, and many more depending on where you live. There are also many free resources out there that you can exploit to gain a better financial knowledge and begin your journey out of the rat race and onto the fast track.

Yahoofinance, MSNmoney, googlefinance, are some of the sites that a beginner should try and browse through before entering any market. The information is free and should be sufficient to increase your knowledge immensely if you just have the right mindset and put forth the effort. Anyone can do it, if you just put the effort into it.