free stock market gamesFree stock market games are a great way to introduce yourself to how the stock market works and to try your strategy on a simulated trading environment. When trading with one of these free games, you generally build and manage virtual portfolios of stocks, make market, stop and limit orders on the actual securities, and compete with others to see how well your strategy works compared to the market indices and other players. Most of the games are played with stocks traded in the bigger exchanges, such as NYSE and NASDAQ. There are also foreign games, allowing you to test your skills on foreign marketplace, such as the London Stock Exchange. Some of the games even allow for a test of advanced trading techniques such as short selling, trading with margin, and buying options. Keep in mind, however, that the simulated environments don't correspond one hundred percent with actual trading environments. This is very important especially if you try out a day trading system, where small errors can make or break the profitability of such a system. Features that do not correspond totally to normal conditions include, for example, the liquidity of the market, which affects the price you'd pay on normal conditions. The quotes may also be delayed, which affects the price you pay for a stock on the game. There are other similar type of conditions affecting the results of an online game versus actual trading. Available Free Stock Market GamesBecause of advances in online software, it has become cheaper to arrange virtual stock exchange games online. These free games primarily get their funding from advertizers, and from referral fees to associated actual brokerages. Games available include:
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