Feb-2nd-2010
How can I invest a small amount of money in the stock market just for fun?
Hi. I am interested in how the stock market works and would like to have a go, but only for a laugh and not with any expectation to make a lot of money or face any major risks. Ideally i would just want to put in a few pounds and see what happens. I was hoping somebody may be able to suggest somewhere I can do this and you would not be required to commit a lot of money or get too serious.
Thanks, any advice would be helpful
You don’t have to invest real money to play around in the stock market. There are virtual sites that mimic the real stock markets. You register and trade just like the real markets but with imaginary profit and losses.
more info on virtual stock trading sites:
http://www.ehow.com/how_5609336_mock-trade-stocks-online.html
or, if you really want to try your hand with real money, here are step-by-step instructions to trading online:
http://www.ehow.com/how_5289063_buy-sell-stocks-online.html
buy gold
etf symbol is gld
http://www.scottrade.com
To learn for fun and maybe make some money try penny stocks. http://www.thepennystockblog.com can get you started. Read all the information, watch them pick stocks and why, discuss your before buying.
Tdameritrade is good for a beginner broker.
good luck.
hi there !!
I sense you are a newbie and that you want to invest small amounts of money into stock market.. I would like to recommended you gnutrade trading platform. You can play with real money and play money. The minimum deposit is £20, €30 or $30
Currently, the maximum bet amount for a ‘per point’ trade is £2, €2, or $2 per point. For a ‘basic’ bet it is £10, €10 or $10, and for a ‘back a player’ bet the maximum is £100, €100 or $100.
The minimum bet for a ‘per point trade’ is £1, €1 or $1 per point and the minimum for a ‘basic’ bet is £5, €5 or $5. For a ‘back a player’ bet, the minimum bet amount is £1, €1 or $1.
http://www.finspreads.com
spread-betting: its exactly like trading stocks, but you dont own the shares, you earn money when they go up and lose when they go down. They let you trade for 10pence per 1 point move on the FTSE 100 for the first 6 weeks, so if it moves from 5286 down to 5186 and you were *selling* then you would make £10. Average daily moves at the moment are possibly around 50pts (£5 if you sold at very top and closed out at very bottom).
This is the way I have traded a lot since I have been trading mostly intra-day and weekly moves, so didn’t need the dividends. And it lets you risk a lot less money at a time.
Alternatively, try one of the free trading sites – http://www.capitalspreads.com – you can get a feel for it here. Although trading real money is a special experience because you are really scared of losing.
Tip: always have a maximum you are willing to lose in one day, since it is possible if you dont plan for this that an unusual event can happen and you can end up losing more than you expected, so I would set a limit (stop-loss) or at least a level where I will accept I have lost if it reaches.
This is how I tend to trade to reduce risk:
1. Enter a market at a given level of my choice eg sell 5286 FTSE 100
2. Stop-loss, if it goes up to 5330 I have lost, the market has moved in a way I didn’t expect and I am going to get out as insurance against further loss.
3. Profit target: if it reaches 5186 I am going to take a profit.
I would advise playing the free version first.
If you’re looking to learn about stock and the stock maret, I recommend doing a stock market game online. The game follows the real stock market and you get $1 million of fake money to invest. If you beat the s&p 500 they give you real money as well. I’ve been learning alot about good investing that way.
Here’s the link for the stock market game where you can win real money:
http://www.musicdownloadreview.net/updown.html
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