Getting Started - If you know the ticker symbol of the stocks you wish to purchase then you can enter the ticker symbol into the field labeled: "Ticker", enter the number of shares of the stock you would like to purchase in the field labeled: "Number of shares", click the radio button labeled "Buy" and then click the "Complete Transaction" button. You may want to get a current stock quote before buying or selling to determine the cash value of the transaction (you cannot buy more shares than you have money for). To get a current stock quote, enter the ticker symbol of the stock in question into the "stock quote" field at the top of the frame and click "Go". If you do not know the ticker symbol of the company you wish to buy then you can enter the name of the company you wish to buy into the field labeled: "Ticker Lookup" and click "Go". For instance, if you entered "Microsoft" you would find that its ticker symbol is "MSFT". If you want some ideas of what stocks to buy you can look at some of our Sample Portfolios buy clicking the "Sample Portfolio" link on the left side-bar.

Why is there a Margin Call notice on my Margin Portfolio?
When a Margin Portfolio's equity is less than the amount borrowed from the brokerage, a Margin Call is issued. This requires you to sell enough shares of any stock in the portfolio until the difference is covered. If you do not sell stock to cover the necessary costs, the Smartstocks system will automatically sell your shares at EOD 3 days after the Margin Call is issued. Shares will be sold starting with the greatest position value and working towards the least position value until the equity to loan difference is satisfied.

Definitions

Commonly used definitions to help you succeed in the stock market.

Amt: The number of shares you have of the ticker.
Beginning Monthly Portfolio Value: (Cash Available + Total Stock Value) as of the first day of the month before the market opened.
Cash Available: This is the amount of money you have, aside from the value of your stock holdings. Buying a stock reduces cash and selling a stock raises cash. We started you off with $1 million...aren't we generous?
Change: This number tells you the change in price for that ticker from the previous day. This points out which of your stocks are hot and which ones are not!
Change (%): This number tells you the percent change in price for that ticker from the previous day.
Current Portfolio Value: (Cash Available + Current Stock Value)
Current Price: This number shows the price it costs right now to buy one share of a stock. It changes most between 9:30am and 4:00pm EST. Current Value is equal to (Current Price * Quantity)
Current Value: This is equal to (Current Price * Quantity.)
Gain: The total dollar gain or loss for a particular stock. This is calculated as follows [Current Value - (Purchase Price * Quantity)].
Gain (%): The total percent gain or loss for a particular stock. This is calculated as follows [[(Current Value - Total Purchase Price)/Total Purchase Price] * 100]
Groups: Groups consist of one or more users. Any user may create a group. The creator of a group can restrict who may join the group by requiring a password when users join the group, or allow anybody to join by not requiring a password. Groups could consist of friends, family members, a class of students, or others. You may join up to four groups. Group members are ranked each month according to the percentage return on their account. (See Rankings Below).
Name (Company Name): The name of the company you bought.
Number of Shares: How many shares of stock that you wish to buy or sell.
Previous Close: The price of one share of a stock as of last night's closing bell (always 4:00pm Eastern Time)
Printing: To print your portfolio, right click over the portfolio section of the page and select Print.
Purchase Price: If you only purchased a stock once, this is the price per share that you paid for it. If you purchased the same stock more than once, this is the average purchase price per share that you paid for it.
Quotes: The current price in U.S. Dollars of one share of a stock. This price is changing throughout the day so always get a quote before you buy or sell.
Quantity: How many shares of stock in a particular company that you own.
Rankings: Rankings are based on the percent return on your portfolio since the start of the month, and they are calculated at the end of each trading day. The method of calculating rankings is: [[(Current Portfolio Value - Beginning Monthly Portfolio Value)/Beginning Monthly Portfolio Value] * 100]. We calculate the Top 25 User's Ranking, Bottom 25 User's Ranking, Rankings in your Group(s), and Total Group Rankings. In addition, rankings are only calculated for accounts that have logged in within the last 30 days.
Ticker: A short series of letters representing a company name. Example: YHOO = Yahoo!, Inc. You must specify a company's ticker symbol to purchase shares of their stock.
Total Purchase Price: This is the (Purchase Price * Quantity)
Ticker Lookup: Don't have the tickers memorized? That's okay, most investors don't. This feature allows you to look up the name of any ticker by entering the company name. You're on your way!