How to play the Trading IQ game, use of controls and terms explained

Choose your preferred mode of play, there are different types of game available.

• Guests ( limited functionality, no log in required)

• Practice

• Weekly competition

• World competition

Guest functionality FREE to play

Has limited features and does not compute trading IQ or offer any prizes but you can try this to see if you like the game

Practice mode ( Required to open a free account ) FREE to play

You can practice to compute your Trading IQ, you can use the full available features of risk control, stop loss distance setting and have your estimated potential IQ calculated by a special algorithm. After each game your equity is reset to 10,000

You are strongly advised to practice before entering the contests.

Weekly competition ( Required to open a free account ) FREE to play  

This has all the features of practice but also allows a chance to win 50% off all products and starts every Monday morning GMT until Sunday evening at Midnight GMT.

To complete the contest you need to play 15 Games over a one week period. You will be able to check your position in the weekly league table and can have the prestige of being the best trader in the world for any given week. After each game your equity is rolled over from the previous game

If you lose all your play money you are knocked out of the weekly contest until the new week begins.

World championship ( Required to open a free account ) FREE to play

I am personally putting up a $1000 USD first prize.

This contest is a set of 50 Games during a 1 year period starting January 1st and ending December 31st at Midnight GMT.

You will be able to check your position in the World championship league table and can have the prestige of being the best trader in the World.

After each game your equity is rolled over from the previous game

If you lose all your play money you are knocked out of the world championship until next year

After opening a Free Trading IQ game account you will arrive at this screen. Choose practice if its your first time.

Currency selection panel

Choose a currency symbols from the choice at the top and then click play now.

The currency will not affect anything to do with your trading IQ, as it is to make you feel at home with your local currency.

If you do not see your local currency then you can select none. After selecting the currency click play now

How to placed trades in the Trading IQ game

First you need click anywhere on the Bid - Ask prices to make the pop the deal ticket appear.

( The deal ticket is a moveable pop up and you need it open to place trades, you can position is where it suits you and then leave it open

How to adjust the amount of your equity you want to risk on each trade

On the deal ticket it is essential to adjust  the amount of money (equity) as a percentage you wish to risk on each trade.

A suggestion would be to start with a small amount between 1 and 5% until you gain confidence to trade better.

As a general rule of thumb, it is not wise to rise too much on each trade as you can very quickly lose a large amount of your play money.

Figuring out your optimal equity risk is one of the key elements to successful trading and investing. You can learn more about this on these pages.

To adjust equity risk per trade, simply click on + or - until the desired value appears in the deal ticket

To adjust your default stop loss distance simply click on + or - until the desired distance percentage is shown

Inside the deal ticket you need to set the default stop loss percent distance you require for each trade, an important aspect or edge to your trading is achieved by setting to correct distance. As if you have chosen to use 10% equity risk and a stop loss distance of 10% then you will be using gearing ( buying or selling more value of shares than you have in your account)

Suggested stop loss distance between 5% and 40% depending on each market traded. You need to assess the volatility of the data of each game to select the correct stop distance percent. Again this point is crucial to making a winning trader.

To adjust your chart zoom, click on + or - to zoom in or out

Chart zoom function ( press + to get close up and press - to see more long term view of the data.

Any good technical analyst will tell you how important it is to be able to read charts. You need to check the long term view by zooming out occasionally and get a closer view for trading signals to decide entry and exit point.

How to use the Trading IQ game stop loss slider

The stop loss slider will appear in red if you are long ( buying shares ) and will be below the price. If the price falls to touch your stop loss it will trigger a "sell at market order" which will close your trade for you in 500 milliseconds. You may not get filled exactly at your stop price and this feature is designed to add realism to the game. You can move the stop loss higher as your trade price rises as its generally a good idea to follow your trade higher to lock in some profits.

If you place a short trade ( Short selling of shares to profit from a movement downwards ) then the slider will appear in light blue about the price. If the price rises to touch the stop loss then this triggers a sell at market order, and will close your trade in 500 milliseconds. You may not get filled at your exact stop loss price and this is called slippage and adds stock market realism to the game. You can move the stop loss higher or lower and its generally a good idea to follow your trade higher to lock in some profits.

Please note if you set the speed controls to a slower level you will experience much less slippage on your stop loss orders.

Trading IQ game main panel figures explained

1. The default stop loss distance % is the preset distance you chose in the deal ticket. E.G If you buy at 100 and set the stop loss distance to 10% then your stop loss will be at 90. Each time you log in to the game area you will need to set this up.
2. The default % of equity risked per trade value displays how many percent of your equity you chose to risk E.G If you set this to 10% and you have 10,000 equity the trade will risk 1,000 ( subject to slippage )
3. Profit loss this game This shows how much money you have made or lost in the currently played game.
4. Equity This simply means how much play money you currently have in your free account.
5. Mins remaining. This shows you the time left to play the current game, and you can speed it up or slow it down by altering the speed controls at the bottom right.

1. Trading IQ rating This is an algorithm devised to condense your skill, risk control and ability into a single number. You will see it rise and fall basis of your performance over the course of 15 games.
2. Open trade profit-loss. This shows how much money you made in the currently open trade.
3. Equity risk this trade. This shows the risk in money terms of the current open trade ( The value will be red if you have a risk, but as you move your stop loss to reduce risk and lock in profits it will turn blue indicating the risk of loss is gone)
4. Current position. If you buy shares You are long, if you sell the shares you just bought you are Flat. If you sell shares short then you are short. The amount of shares you traded and the entry price are shown next to it.
5. Stop loss level. This shows the level your stop loss is at on the open trade and will change colour depending if your stop loss is a buy order or a sell order.

Trading IQ game objectives

The objective is the same as in real trading and that is to make large profits and hold on the equity you have generated. One has to avoid large losses and learn how to manage risk and place stops.

Beginners can learn to trade in a very true to life environment with total privacy to enjoy the thrills of winning and suffer the pains of losing. They can assess their potential to make it into real trading without risking a single penny. If you can maintain a Trading IQ > 1000 in the game you have demonstrated an ability to win. This is the first step to going into the real stock market. If you consistently score below 1000, then you know you need to change something about your style in order to win, and all this can be done with no financial risk to you.

Intermediate users can hone their skills and work out new ideas here in the games as a relaxing bit of fun or a mathematical experiment, its as simple or as complex as you wish to make it. Anyone of any age of intelligence can benefit from the challenges the game has to offer.

Expert traders can make their mark in the competitions and have their name up in lights on the winners pages. The competitions will not be easy to win even for the very best traders so if you manage to be the best of the week you can certainly have a sense of pride from achieving this.

Elite traders. These are going to be the people in page 1 of the World championship league and I am very interested to see how their performances compare to my own. Whoever manages to take the crown for the World Champion Trading IQ game will surely be a star trader. Will it be you?