Society in general today is shifting from the saving mode to the investment mode. Lost of people do invest in shares today. Stock Market Game has become has become a very popular hobby among many. A stock market game is a simulation of actual stock exchange. The governing dynamics of the stock market also govern the market movements in the stock market game.
Origin
The origin of the stock market game can be traced back to the business schools which had these games as a fun way of teaching the market trends and how various factors affect the stock markets. Most of the business college festivals even today have the stock market games. And its students of these colleges that made this into a business. They took the game from the lobbies of the B-schools to the internet and created a new lot of netizens who now were the share traders in the virtual stock market. Once something is a success it becomes a success formula for the others to copy. That explains the large number of online stock market games present today.
What makes it so popular?
A stock market game while carrying all the essence of the actual stock market vis-à-vis the excitement, vigor, action, analysis, calculations and prediction there is no risk of losing money. The absence of the financial risk is something that appeals to the players of the stock market game. The people who think they can be good at stock market analysis and market forecast but don’t have the financial power to try them in the stock market find the stock market game as their retreat.
Most people after doing well in the investment games like the Fantasy Stock Market try out their skills in actual stock markets. The stock market game has been a big motivator for many to try out their luck in the stock markets. Online stock market games like the Fantasy Stock Market have been running successfully for some years now. And the fact that number of registered members with such online sites is increasing in it is a proof of the success of these online stock market games.
Future
The growing numbers of the online stock market game traders is an indicator that this is just in its youthful stage yet. And one can be sure that this game will be around gaining in popularity with time as long as the stock markets are up and the global economy is doing fine.
Stock Market Game: A testing ground
Stock market games have become very popular. One may gather all information relevant to the market, acquire knowledge, and analyze the market movements but even all these efforts wont guarantee success in stock market. One will always be comfortable entering the stock market if he could have hands on experience of investing. The safest possible way is to play the investment games like the stock market game. Some may say even that wont guarantee success in the real stock market but such fantasy stock markets are a good confidence booster for new investors.
Working Principle
The laws governing the market movements are the same for the stock market game as well as the real stock market. Some stock market games have real time market scenario wherein the stock prices move according to the variation in the stock prices in real stock exchanges. The events happening in real life that affect the real life stock market does the same to the stock prices in the stock market game too. Mergers and acquisitions, floods, storm, civil war, assassination all effect the market movements. The simulation of real life stock market is the most important feature of the stock market game which gives the investors a very good reason to test themselves in this game. If you can make the right market forecasts in the stock market game then they stay valid even for the real stock market. This is where the stock market games attract more and more investors.
The investors have to register in the stock market game and start investing with a limited amount. The as their investments give returns they can keep rolling that amount in the market. The investor doesn’t have to put in his money. When the investors register he is provided with a sum of virtual money which he can invest in the stock market game. The investor get tips and predictions from the game support crew which he may use for his investment decisions. This way the investor gets a feel of the market and the forces acting on the market movements. Usually these stock market games include monthly and yearly prizes for the best investors in the game.
Lacunae
Since most of the stock market games are free to register or have a very small fee lots of people who are not serious about investing also register to enjoy. And even for the serious investors the risk factor is not that high. Though they may end up losing everything in the virtual world they stand to lose nothing in reality. So their decision making is not always rational. If the investor doesn’t play fair in the stock market game he may usually get false judgment about his ability of decision making and making market forecast.