Ahh, this reminds me of a great PR campaign run by SHarewatch.com, pre stock bubble. To get punters to sign up for a new online share dealing service.
Sharewatch.com gave you a notional 100K to go play with on the FTSE 250 & 100. The purpose as to give you a feel of their online trading engine, handons. I spent about a 3months on it (in dial up days, i know I know..).
If I remember there was a few grand in real money as a prize given to the best trader at the end. ( I was close to the top at one stage, very close, oh i could almost touch the #1 !!!, just one more trade God! PLEASE!)
Well not having much of a clue about stock but fancying my chances I signed up and starting spending like there was no tomorrow (that was yet to come).
So I spread bet (well I believe thats what I did...) buying shares across the board, it was a common sense approach. Full well knowing that shares go up and down. I managed to gain when I lost usually always, if I was treading water, janey, I can't remember.
Now after 3 months I think I had managed to make about €16,000 on top of my starting 100K. Notional of course.
Not bad for 3 months work sitting on the old scratcher (this is the the bit were you should resist flipping from "hang on I think I could do this for real....", which I managed to do, since having cash in those days saw to it, some things still haven't changed
)
Whoa, what a a trip down memory lane. Oh it was all a game a bit of fun. A little like on of those dream you have, you're rich and then you wake, still thinking .. "what will I spend that pot of gold on... DOH!".
Pity about people who did it for real. It got nasty a year or so later if any one remembers
([broken link removed].
Yea, some things never change.
Ouch!