The use of virtual stock exchanges for beginners to practice and learn new skills and for families and friends to compete against each other has been growing quickly. If you are not familiar with this, it is certainly worth checking out.
At VirtualStockExchange it is possible to create public or private games, allowing you to compete against the world or a group of friends. If you like the idea of competing with the world, some of the public games have several thousand participants. For me, I'd rather play for real, but I can understand the interest and excitement of playing for fun like this.
A site which is designed to help people practice their skills is called HowThemarketWorks and will help you learn to short sell, trade ETFs, mutual funds and stocks. It is a great idea and one that should help any beginner.
There is also an online game designed for students. Broadly the idea is that while the students are 'playing a game' against each other in 'fictional' markets, they are actually learning financial skills for life. What an idea! TheStockMarketGame is a fabulous idea for teachers and students alike.
Of course, in the virtual world, almost anything is possible, which explains why there is also a Hollywood stock exchange which enables movie stars and their movies to be bought and sold.
There have been a number of exchanges that have come and gone over the years. Presumably, this is due to a lack of a credible business model or a lack of funding from founders or Venture capital. Some of these indices included one relating to politicians in Washington. Another enabled players to buy and sell planes and airlines.
Another virtual stock exchange is the Hollywood Stock Exchange (hsx.com). It might be for you if you liked the idea of playing on the stock exchange for fun and not for profits. Obviously it is just for fun, but many play everyday.
The HSX (as it is called) allows you to trade in movies or stars and therefore build a portfolio of 'movers and shakers' in the industry.
As a new film is released and the profile of the actor / actress begins to rise, so does their stock price. As you might imagine, since a film is released once, they tend not to be as valuable in the index as the stars who can release film after film.
Many now use the index as a guide to predicted success
of a movie. HSX is now owed by Cantor Index who operate a spread
betting company in the UK. It is widely believed that they use the
Hollywood Stock Exchange to help them predict and therefore price (to
their clients) the expected takings of a new release.
Watch These Free Videos And Learn How To Trade Financial Markets
Another virtual stock exchange which is popular online relates to the
world of internet marketing. GURUDAQ.com is designed to follow the
actions, results and product releases of the higher echelons of the
internet marketing field.
These guru's have a stock price which rises or falls in relation to the visible activities, forum postings or reputation of the individual concerned.
As with the websites, this is a fun way of looking at the world that probably (hopefully) raises a little advertising income for the owner.
All of this may sound rather prosaic and not at all useful - a fun diversion - but markets are markets are markets. All stock markets are driven by a number of factors - including underlying asset value, market sentiment and human nature. So while this may seem as though it has little real relevance to investing, the reality is rather different.
One exchange that has lasted relates to trading marketing - and internet marketing - gurus (called Gurudaq). It seems that an exchange for business minded people by business minded people has some more of the marketing and model elements in place.
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