How to Play

1. What is a security?
2. How do I buy securities?
3. How do I sell securities?
4. I’m clicking on TRADE but nothing is happening, what should I do?
5. What is a ticker?
6. What happens if I can’t find the security I’m looking for?
7. What do suspended and de-listed mean?
8. How is the cash balance calculated?

1. What is a security?
A security is a general term that can be used to describe something bought on the stock exchange. For example: shares in a company, etc

2. How do I buy securities?

  • Login
  • Click on ""Virtual Trader""
  • Click "Trade"
  • A new window will open where you need to enter a company "Name or Ticker"
  • Click on "Search"
  • "Select" your security (or in some cases "search again").
  • Select Buy, input the volume of shares that you wish to purchase, or the monetary value of the trade in the quoted currency, then press confirm to execute the trade. Your security will then be in your fantasy portfolio.

 

3. How do I sell securities?
The process is the same as that for buying securities, the only difference being that you need to select sell rather than buy in the trading window.


4. I’m clicking on TRADE but nothing is happening, what should I do?
When you click on “TRADE” a new window should open.

If it does not then you have a pop up blocker activated. To allow the window to appear you need to hold down the control key (Ctrl) on your keyboard and click on “add security to portfolio” at the same time. The window will then appear.


5. What is a ticker?
A ticker is the three or four letter-trading symbol assigned to a share (and some types of fund – investment trusts and ETFs) by the exchange on which it trades. Investors often refer to shares by their ticker symbols because of their brevity and because they often remain the same even if a company’s name changes.

6. What happens if I can’t find the security I am looking for?
All Equities traded on the London Stock Exchange will be available. If a security is mis-spelled it will not be found. Sometimes it is best to enter just part of the security and search through the options that are generated from that search. Check the options in the search menu.

7. What do suspended and de-listed mean?
If a security is suspended it is temporarily unavailable to trade.
If a security has been de-listed it has been permanently removed from the stock exchange.

8. How is the Cash Balance calculated?
You can see a portfolio statement that shows the cash flow of your trading account by clicking on 'portfolio statement'. Note that every time you 'purchase' a share this will impact your cash balance negatively, and vice versa for every sale.