American Business tool

A couple days ago, I mentioned being 'thrifty' and doing things myself. Sometimes, it's hard to distinguish between thrifty and cheap, according to my wife.

One area where I've learned that I need to be very thrifty is the stock market. Years ago, I set aside some money that I could invest however I wanted - kind of like play money, but it was real. It was something I had always been interested in, but was afraid I didn't know how to do it. So, having a set amount that I could lose or grow put limits on my involvement.

I did ok and any money I made I set aside out of the playing field. I made a few poor investment choices and the original funds got used up so my game was over. I pretty much broke even, making a little bit but not much, and that taught me that I'm not really very good at that.

Now, if it was just pretend money, it still might be a fun game. I was looking for resources for the American Business merit badge and I came across an interesting site called MyWallSt.net where they are having a rookie challenge that is free to register and participate. The idea is that you start with $100,000 in virtual money to invest in real stocks. You get to compare the results of your investments against other players. Now, that's my kind of investing. :-) And, they even have weekly winners of real cash. The site says they give away $1000 each week.
Well, it's a good way to learn about trading stocks with no risk. If an American Business merit badge counselor approved of it, scouts could use the site to buy and track their stocks for that requirement. Since they're under 18, they wouldn't eligible to win any real money so they might want their parent to register.

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