I dont know what the heck im supposed to do!!!!

[Heinrich202239]

Wow...i never wudve guessed that was what u do...sry...i tend to be a tad sarcastic....but really besides that what is the point of the stock market?

-_- The point of the stock market? Are you serious? The point is to make MONEY!!! And this game is for people who are new to the stock market to practice without consequences.

[Ryan204818]

Think of buying market stocks as buying warehouse stock in a business.

For instance, Say you buy $10,000 of Best Buy stock (BBY). You now own $10,000 of TVs, Projectors, Stereos, etc. You don't own at the retail price, you own at cost. (Retail, the price they sell is $10. Cost, the price Best Buy purchases inventory is $5.)

Now if sales are good that week and BBY sells all of it's stock, the profit they make from sales is shared with the investors depending on how much of the "stock" they own.

However, if sales are down and BBY doesn't sell much inventory, the stock price will fall. Why? Current stock will be superceded by newer and better stock. BBY will need to lower the prices of inventory to move it off the shelfs or post a total loss on that inventory. That loss is ALSO shared with the investors.

When you buy "stocks" you're basically giving the company money to go buy inventory with. That way you can sell that inventory and share the profit back with you.

You can apply this ideal to service companies and such. If you invest in a pharmaceuticals company, you're paying for Research and Development of the next big cure. In a software company, you're paying for programmers to build a new program.

This is a simplified explaination, but I hope it helps you wrap your head around it.

[buckwhisperer]

Welcome to the site Ryan, keep those great posts coming. Are you in the military?

[JISmall2002]

This is a great site to get the butterflys out of trading. Trading is as simple as inputing company symbol, share price, and number of shares. It is simple but can be intimidating because of all the negative news about 401K droping, all the technical terms.

Just take one step at a time.

The whole purpose is TO MAKE MONEY. Remember there are at least 2 channels on your cable television that show stock prices all day. That means someone out there is making a lot of money to have the information up 24/7. It minus as well be you that makes that money.

Keep it simple. Buy low, Sell high. You will always make money that way.

Once you feel comfortable start reading books, cd's, and finding out more detalis of the stock market if you are interested.

[Ryan204818]

Welcome to the site Ryan, keep those great posts coming. Are you in the military?

Former Marine. Currently DoD Contractor.

[Mark82416]

I pretty much have stared at price action long enough to trade it. You could call it a few different things. But it really just comes down to the hundreds of hours developing hows and why's that result in when and where.

I still get hung up on bad trades. It's usually when i give myself a cushion and decide i have enough money to take a loss. then something triggers in my head the way i trade flips.

I don't feel bad about losses as long as they are part of what i know. those losses are small enough. it's when i trade what i dont know. i never seem to have a concrete stop in place when i do that. sometimes i'm lucky and see an opportunity to place a stop at a small loss.

[JISmall2002]

I too am a former marine.

I always pick stocks that I am confident in. I have to understand the business they are in. I listen to the conference calls to see how management fells about the company. I read analyst reports for the company as well as its competitors. I pick stock in industries that are doing well.

For example, if smart phone industry is doing well most likely all the players in the field will be doing well....even the bad ones. You always want to pick the best company (Best of Breed) in hot sectors.

On the other hand, good companies in bad sectors don't do well. If your neighborhood is full of crime, it does not matter if you have the best house. Nobody wants to buy in your neighborhood....even if you have a manicured lawn....LOL

[Kimberly221389]

Just be patient people..lol gosh.. people expect to buy a stock and then the next day.. BAM! You have all this money.. that is not how it works usually

[Jennifer219429]

The stocks I bought have been going up and down in the past couple of days, so I suppose patients is virtue here. It's all a learning process for me.

[Gavin231115]

Can anyone please tell me what is the use of putting a commission on buy/sell?

[Trader27191]

Wow, i never thouhgt of the stock market in those terms. To me the stock market is where investors buy low and sell high, but it is a little more complicated than that, first I believe you have to have an idea of what sector of the market you want to invest in and then compute the intrinsic value of the stock then determine if the stock is being undervalued or over-valued. I also believe that you ned to diversify your portfolio, by this I mean have some high risk stocks along with some low risk stock to offset the risk that you are engaged in. For instance you might want to invest in securities and computer software. By taking this type of an approach you are diversifying your risk. If anyone can add any insight please post your comments.

[mwadmin]

Can anyone please tell me what is the use of putting a commission on buy/sell?

Almost every real-life stock brokerage is going to charge you a commission on every buy and every sell, usually between $3.50 and $15. Adding virtual commissions on our site is just a way to make the virtual trading more realistic.

[Gavin231115]

Almost every real-life stock brokerage is going to charge you a commission on every buy and every sell, usually between $3.50 and $15. Adding virtual commissions on our site is just a way to make the virtual trading more realistic.

Thanks for replying

Why can't it be preset so it's like more realistic? I'm a beginner and i was wondering what amount would be best but i don't know about the market so it was a bit hard for me to put an amount suitable for the stock I'm planning to buy.

[Olly231780]

Well hello everyone! I am entirely new here too, and generally new to trading as a whole; I know however that the aim of the game (whether it is real-world or not) is to make money, and as much of it as possible! And like all things in life, if you want to make vast sums of money quickly, you are taking massive risks (just like walking into a betting joint and placing a bet). However, if you are content with little, but constant and considerably less risky investments (much like putting your money into a bank account and getting you 4%/5% annually), then that can be equally profitable as someone who throughout the year began with a massive loss, but ended up making it all back, and a little extra too!

I know little about gambling, or the stock market, but I now enough that I wouldn't place a bet on a losing horse; yes, the horse may come through and win, with odds of 100-1, which would earn you a considerable amount of money, but we must not forget that the chances of that happening are 1%...

I know I am stating the obvious here, but maybe it might help some people who are finding it hard to choose where to place their money; a bit of luck, a bit of intuation, and some knowledge of current events and trend, along with a good dose of patience, and everybody has a chance I guess! And why not gamble once in a while, but with maybe small amounts at first, and not necessarily the most unlikely stock!

Take care!!

Olly

[George185673]

Can anyone please tell me what is the use of putting a commission on buy/sell?

this is one of the best features of this site, you can set the commissions to something that would be realistic for you.
I have never seen another site that will allow you to do this.
I trade a lot so commissions are a big part of my profits.
at sogo the commissions are $3.00 so that's what I use and I get realistic results.

With other paper trading sites they randomly pick some number like $25 for commissions. then I do 20 trades and all my numbers start getting way off from where they should be.