You’re in luck! Our platform has over 8,500 ETFs, stocks, and cryptocurrencies for players to select from as they build their simulated portfolios. But wait a minute…what exactly are these three financial instruments? Let’s review each one. 

What is stock? 

A stock, also known as equity, is a type of financial instrument that represents ownership of a fraction of a company or organization. Units of stock are called “shares,” and these entitle owners to a portion of the company’s assets and profits. For example, you own one share of Apple, then you own a teeny, tiny portion of the company Apple. The value of that share will go up and down depending on how valuable Apple is. Companies issue stock to raise funds to operate their businesses. 

What is an ETF?

An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a fund (i.e. a collection of assets) that trade on exchanges, tracking a specific index. ETFs give you an affordable way to access a group of asset classes, considering they combine the flexibility of stocks and the portfolio diversification of mutual funds. For example, if you believe that a specific country or sector is going to grow in the future, you could buy an ETF that represents various assets in that country or sector. ETFs can perform well even under bear markets. That is, we have a pre-built bear market option in our portfolio builder, and you can use inverse ETFs to short sectors or countries.

What is cryptocurrency? 

Cryptocurrencies are a form of currency that exists digitally or virtually and uses cryptography to secure transactions. A defining feature of cryptocurrencies is that they are generally not issued by any central authority (such as a country’s bank), instead using a decentralized system to record transactions and issue new units.

Now that you know a little bit more about these types of instruments you can select on marketGOATS, sign up today and show the world your investing talent at marketgoats.com