I was searching for a stock market simulation game in the web and in iTunes. The search was good as I discovered plenty but with different quality. Before I tell you what I found , I would like to talk about stock market games and what they can do for us such as advantages and benefits.
Stock market simulation is an educational tool used today for educational purposes. The main users of this technology are professionals who are involved in investments. They practice their own techniques and strategies in order to improve their skills. Some schools and universities do use them to teach their students stock trading. The simulators mostly follow real market data in real time, they give you the feeling of being truly in the market.
Some organisations and schools organise stock trading competitions. Students are encouraged to manage virtual stocks portfolios and the winner of course is the one with more money or higher money return. My college for example—Bangor business school participates in a national event annually called “stock market challenge” .
Advantages of stock market simulation:
1- Learning by doing :They can teach you how trading and investing works by showing you the basics.
2- Familiarity with industries and companies: You can also get familiar with company names and industries.
3- Portfolio management: You will also learn how to work on your portfolio and manage it.
4- Wisdom and expertise: No one can succeed without making mistakes , learn from your mistakes and apply what you learn in real money
Disadvantages:
Risky behaviour: You are investing virtual money, so you might act with overconfidence and you get lucky with profits because the market trend is your friend (for now). You might think you are ready for the real world and your strategy is superb, you take your wallet and foray some real stocks , BOMB ! You lose money. What happened ? your current strategy don’t work this time. So to protect your self from being caught in this kind of situation, don’t rush into real money, take your time and keep practicing.
Experience bias: I think you know some people who have been driving cars for many years but still bad drivers. Either their skills are not good or they have developed bad habits. The same case goes for investing. No matter how much time you have invested playing stock market game, that does not necessarily make you a good trader. You must learn the rules of the game. Read books , attend seminars and interact with experts- share with them your experience and ask for a feedback. Investing my friend is a group (team) activity and should not be done alone.
My personal advice : Its OK to make mistakes that’s what the simulation is for. However, if you want to learn best , then pretend that the virtual portfolio is a real one.You can act serious by doing what most successful investors do before buying stocks. I wont mention their habits or the process they go through here in this post because its lengthy and worth to be explained properly in separate posts. I will consider it in the future.
There are plenty of simulators out there, I have tried 3 and here they are :
iPhone: Go to iTunes and type “itrade”.
Web :
1- Virtual Trader: based on the UK market “FTSE”.
2- Investopedia Stock Simulator : based on the USA market
Tags: Bangor Business School, Bangor university, Game, stock market, stock market challenge, stock market simulation
I would like to share with you a very nice website that hosts a variety of free software- all free no trial (according to the website owners). The website is called “I Love free software” . In this post I’m going to dig into one category- which is related to my blog niche (entrepreneurial tools). The category is financial tools: such as accounting (my major 
), budget, money manager, personal finance software.The tools/software work on either your computer or online- software as a service (SAAS). There are also investment tools: such as stock charts, portfolio manager & price watcher. Please click on the image to go to the portal. Enjoy 
Tags: accounting software, Budget software, Entrepreneurial resources, Finance, free software, money, money management, online entrepreneur tools, personal finance, productivity tools, stock chart, stock portfolio
What is risk management ?
Risk management is a process or a collection of strategies and techniques utilised to benefit businesses and companies in many ways: it helps businesses to protect assets by managing and controlling resources; and thus enabling companies improve performance and efficiency by proper planning and tuning that will lead to better decisions. There are many risk solutions in the real world depending on the size and type of industry (case studies).
What are the risk management solutions ?
Many of risk management companies offer some or all of the following solutions;
- Enterprise risk management (ERM).
- Financial risk management.
- Operational risk management.
- IT risk management.
- Compliance risk management.
- Market risk management.
- Credit risk management.
- Strategic risk management.
There are many tools/software that can be used in risk management. They are designed by many companies. You should be careful not to use any tool though, make sure its compatible with your business model and needs. If you are not sure, you should consider consulting a risk management firm.That’s the advantage of industry specialisation. Many worldwide companies started to pay attention to risk management after the financial crisis that hit the world lately. So relatively speaking , risk management is somehow a new profession/speciality. Insurance used to be the only solution to avoid risk, but its not the case any more. Businesses and insurance companies started to realise that it is vital and necessary also to take risk management into consideration. Otherwise premium will be high and risk is too high. Risk does not have to be physical only, there are many risks and most importantly accounting/money risk that many contemporary companies are falling under ( Credit crunch) and Enron in the past.
Risk management is not a cut-off solution and it does not mean that it will prevent risk entirely. There is no such thing as risk-free. Its just a control and a measure that hopefully will minimize risk, or at least is considered a roadmap (benchmark) which is adjustable and changeable.
There are many risk management companies in the west. I’m just not sure about the Middle East. I think big companies in Middle East depend mostly on Western companies to give them solutions and support, which I do not agree with entirely. Its fine to get help from outsiders if they have good solutions, but there are regional factors that the Western countries can not solve or understand and that is considered as a chief reason. There should be regional business that understands the area. I only spotted few companies such as : Diligence and Sophis , the later is the main sponsor of Risk Middle East conference .There is also a Kuwaiti company: Global Consultants. Please let me know if you have a list of names of other companies.
The reason I’m talking about risk management in this post is because I think risk management is linked with my blog speciality- that is entrepreneurial tools. RM is an important tool for entrepreneurs and companies for any time or any industry. RM is a process that goes hand-to-hand with the business cycle not just emergencies. The technology has provided us many tools that can be used in the risk management business, and we shall take advantage of it. That does not indicate that we should be pessimistic, quite the opposite optimism is healthy and vital, for the sake of innovation and going forward. RM is just a sort of planning for success, and like the saying: failing to plan is planning to fail.
Tags: Enterprise Risk Management, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurial resources, Entrepreneurship, ERM, kuwait entrepreneurs, Kuwait risk management, Kuwaiti Entrepreneur, Middle East risk Management, online entrepreneur tools, risk, risk management
“he who is afraid of asking, is afraid of learning”
I found a helpful online website that can be used to ask or find business questions. Its called Startups ! Its really a good spot for entrepreneurs, business students and whoever interested to know about tips, tools, HOWOTs, advice, .. etc. Its like a free consultation. It saves you time and effort and it allows you to share experiences with people all over the world. Just throw your question in their website, by email or using Twitter. It also has a cool feature- a dictionary. So for example if you don’t understand a jargon or a business term just type it in the dictionary and you will get the meaning. The world now is making life easy and simple for learners and entrepreneurs. Everything is being linked and shared via social media that allows many minds to participate. I remember years ago when such information were hard to find or costly. However, I’m not saying that you should follow or accept every advice you get, because everyone has the freedom to say and express whatever they think its right. This can be risky for beginners or learners as they can not distinguish between right or wrong. But its still valuable for some one who is seeking different opinions, brainstorming new ideas or getting familiar with a new field or industry. The voting system up there can give you a hint of the hottest topics and probably somehow reliable answers. Startups also provides a service that allows you to choose who you want to answer your questions. So in that way you can overcome the fear of getting bad advice. I’m not sure whether or not they have experts in there, but you never know. Its a nice spot to meet like-minded entrepreneurs and possibly building a team and connections. Posting there can also help experts and bloggers who write about business increase their website traffic, improve marketing and building a brand and a name.
P.S. Please note that I choose tools randomly that I believe they have value to entrepreneurs and small business owners. However those websites belong to organizations that I don’t have any contact or contract with them. That does not mean that they are perfect or bad , It depends on readers to judge and choose. The technology is always evolving and improving, so some of these tools is, can or will be obsolete. I welcome advice, comment or criticism. We are all learning.
Tags: business consulting kuwait, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurial resources, Entrepreneurial Tools, Entrepreneurship, online entrepreneur tools, startup kuwait
In my last article Business Network , I talked about an entrepreneurial tool that an entrepreneur can use to build his/her own team or establish a network of business partners. Enternships: a new startup- still beta that specializes in helping entrepreneurs build their teams. Companies post positions that they require or seek. Individuals post their skills and talents they possess in the website. Then they will be hooked if they are matched. Enternships covers wide geographical networks including Africa, Europe, India, Latin America, Middle East, UK and USA.
The good thing about Enternships is that it offers entrepreneurs a huge advantage in hooking up with new startups that might have a promising potential in the future. It also offers new opportunities for individuals who are seeking to improve their experience in new ventures.
Tags: Business Network, Business Team, Enternships, Entrepreneurial resources, Entrepreneurial Tools, Networking, online entrepreneur tools
