Anyone have virtual stock trading tips?

Question

My son is doing a school project, where he establishes an account on http://www.howthemarketworks.com and invests $100K. At the end of the semester, the person who has mad the most wins. Any tips on stocks to buy would be appreciated. I'm trying to encourage him to do research, but we have to make some purchases - he currently has AEO, EBAY, GOOG, KO, KSS, LUV, MSFT, TGT and is down by $3 overall.

Answer 1

Now is a really bad time to be starting to invest... everything typically starts to go down this time of year.

I would recommend buying some FXI (China index), EWZ (Brazil index fund), EEM (Emerging markets), EFA (Europe and Far East), NCX (NOVA Chemicals), ATT (AT&T), WMT (Wal-Mart).

If you think the NASDAQ is going to go up between now and the end of the semester, buy QQQ. It's an index of all the biggest stocks on the nasdaq.

If you think it's going to go down, buy QID. QID is a short so that you make money if the stock markets are going to go DOWN. I would recommend buying lots of QID.

Check the charts and explain to him why you think my suggestions are good or bad ideas.

If you can invest in Canadian exchanges, I would recommend also including PNP (Pinetree Capital) and BBD.B (Bombardier) (both on the TSX)

If you want to really go all-or-nothing and give him a huge lead, and if he's allowed, buy some options instead of stocks. This will give you a lot more leverage and you can potentially make a lot more money.

Answer 2

As long as he is playing with fake money and not real money, here are some high flyers that have a good chance of going real high really fast:

FSLR
SPWR
UBB
CHL
EMKR
FCX
FWLT
JEC

Some of those stocks he has are good "real world" investments, but to make the most $$ at then end of a semester, try selling MSFT, LUV, KO, and KSS. Those don't grow nearly as fast as the ones I've listed above. Of course, with my picks, he very well might end up in last place too!

have fun!

Answer 3

In case he has to do a write-up over the experience, he may need to note that this may not be the best year to "learn" about the stock market. Economic fears have at least four times cooked the trends. The battle between bulls and bears has at times been intense.

Banks may be on the rebound, that is some of them, but builders and fringe finance companies (check cashing companies are being investigated in several places), so after Citi got a cash infusion, but if you can short a stock, then take a look at Paychex and their competitors.

I just took a look at the WSJ figures for Friday. Looking at the industry list for leaders and laggards, even the "leaders" were in red": http://online.wsj.com/mdc/public/page/mdc_us_stocks.html?mod=mdc_topnav_2_3000
Still, you might check out CEDC or STZ among the distillers and vinters and maybe JRCC, MEE, NCOC, or CNX among the coal companies.

Good luck.

Answer 4

Penny stocks don’t cost much money and promise big profits. But trading penny stocks is also a good way to lose money.

Sure, it’s possible to profit when you understand the game. Learn here https://tr.im/N425p

For investors who can’t afford shares of Google or Apple, the potential gains from trades like this are too good to pass up. So penny-stock trading thrives. With a relatively small investment you can make a nice return if the trade works out.

Answer 5

tell him to buy t-bills. At least they will not go down only up, not much but not much is much better than down.