Trading Simulator

You start with $10,000 in the market on the first day of a two-year stretch picked from its history, without being told which. The chart moves forward one trading day at a time. Press the button, or the space bar, to go to cash or back into the market, as often as you like. Your rival, the Index, buys on the first day and never sells.

Your line is heavy while you are in the market and light while you are in cash; cash stretches are shaded, and the strip under the chart shows your whole game at a glance.

The S&P 500 includes dividends: the S&P 500 Total Return index from 1988 and Robert Shiller's monthly dividends before that. The Nasdaq, the Euro Stoxx 50 and the Nikkei are prices only. Cash earns a flat 2% a year. A switch takes effect from the next day's close. No fees, no taxes.

At the end, 1,000 random players who were invested for the same number of days and traded as often as you show whether your result was skill or luck: beat 90% of them and it was skill.

Keys: space to switch, P to pause, 1 to 4 for the speed. For information and education only. Not investment advice.