Playing The Stock Market

I have always been curious about playing the stock market. At first, it seems to be just like gambling or playing the lottery. You have a hunch or a feeling. Or you bet on a horse because it has the same name as your grandmother’s dog.

However, some say that picking the right stocks on the stock market is a bit more scientific. Before buying a stock, you first look at indicators that are signs that a stock will increase in value. Or you read in the newspaper that there are new oil discoveries in the Gulf, so maybe buying oil futures is the way to go. Or you hear that the new Chevrolet all electric car will be using batteries from a company in Massachusetts. Or you read a news article about a truck company in China making new truck motors which get 80 mpg. That’s what my brother-in-law did last year and bought penny stocks in the company which are doing very well.

Unfortunately, the market has been in a free-fall and I have wondered when it will smooth out. Is now the time to buy or should one wait? However, the recent bailout vote in the European Market yesterday caused a rise in the Dow Jones and may be a good sign that a economic recovery is eminent.

To test my theory, I decided to buy some stocks and see what would happen. However, I only used Play Money and bought stocks through a game APP called iTrade (not eTrade) for the Apple iPhone (or iPod). The APP is free and you can get it through the iTunes Store. This APP is not Scotia iTrade on the NYSE which is an official brokerage that uses real money https://www.scotiaitrade.com/pages/home/main.shtm

Once you register on iTrade APP, you are given $100,000 of play money to buy and sell stocks on the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange). You can buy and sell only during the hours that the stock market is open. The APP lists your stocks and shows graphs of the ups and downs.

I decided to use only about $50,000 of the $100,000 play money and bought 6 stocks. You can read news articles provided relative to the companies and try to make decisions based on these indicators. You buy and sell stocks at their actual daily prices and the stocks fluctuate in fake value with the real value of the stock.

During the passed 8 days, my $100,000 has increased in value to $106,014.31 and I have made over $6000.00 in one week. At this rate I could make over $300,000 per year on my stock portfolio. I only wish that it was real. Maybe it’s time to buy real stocks.

You can see a snapshot of my portfolio at the left. It lists my net worth of $106,014.31. I bought six stocks which have fluctuated in value but mostly increased. My stocks are Ford, Sirius Radio, Microsoft, Google, Analog Devices and Home Depot.

You can also see a list of Hot Stocks that iTrade predicts to increase. It might be fun to watch these over the next few weeks to see what happens. Let me know   what Hot Stocks you know about and we can watch them too.

Comments Welcome: markryan82@comcast.net