Simulation Games for the Commodity Market
Commodities are natural resources such as soybeans, oil and gold. They are traded on exchanges around the world, but particularly in the United States. If you are interested in learning to trade them, a good way to start is to use simulation games. This will help you learn the ins and outs of the commodity trading world without having to risk any real money. It will also help you to learn to deal with the emotions of this high pressure environment.
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MockTrading
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MockTrading is a commodity trading simulator that allows you to place simulated trades. In addition to entry orders, you can place exit orders, cancel orders and place stop losses, exercises that are helpful in learning the mechanics of trading. You can follow other traders' moves and compare them to your own trading strategy, and you can ask questions and share strategies with others. The company provides a free course on commodity markets. As of 2010, sign-up is free.
Commodity Challenge
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Commodity Challenge originally was designed as a training tool for people involved in the commodity markets. It became so popular that, in 2002, it was launched online. The simulation game allows you to trade futures contracts, as well as options, and the data is provided in real time. Although it doesn't have as much information to assist you in learning, the game will teach you the mechanics of trading and allow you to practice. It also is free.
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Tycoon
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Tycoon is a turn-based game that puts you in the shoes of a commodities trader that must buy futures contracts on 10 different commodities. Some of these include gold, soybean, pork bellies and coffee. As a player, you also can trade financial futures, such as the S&P stock index, one-year T-bills and Japanese Yen. Each turn simulates one week, during which you can buy, sell or short sell the contract of your choice. Then your opponent gets a chance to make choices for the week. You will refer to graphs that show futures prices of each commodity, open or close new positions and read the current news and trends on each commodity. It's a simple but realistic game that is a useful introduction to the world of commodities trading. Again, this game is free.
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