Long long ago, in a galaxy far far away, a stock market is actually going up, unlike here on Earth, where the stock market has been on a downward spiral.  A new application on Facebook aims to change the way people invest their money.  The application is called Stock Wars from Black Swan Games.  It is a virtual market simulation and portfolio management with a highly addictive social element.  Here is how the game works.  The goal of the game is to be the top investor on Facebook.  The application gathers actual market data and integrates it into the application. When you join Stock Wars you are given $100,000 in virtual cash.  You can then use that virtual cash to purchase exchange trade stocks like Google (ticker symbol GOOG) or any other traded company.  For example Google is currently trading at about $300 on the NASDAQ, so you can use some or all of your virtual cash balance to buy Google shares and then hopefully sell them at a higher price.  As your portfolio increase or decrease your profile is given a designation such as a ‘hedge fund manager’ or ‘day trader’.  What I found interesting in the application is the fact that it teaches you how to invest without actually putting any real money into the market. If there is a stock that you have been looking at you can buy it on Stock Wars and then track its progress without spending a penny.  Another feature of the application is the challenge option.  You can challenge your friends to see if you can invest better than them.  The challenge work when each player agrees to a specific wager (up to $5,000 in virtual dollars) and a pre-defined period of time.  The winner is determined by the player who has the largest portfolio gain.  For example I wagered $1,000 with my friend Andrew, that my portfolio will increase more (in %) in the next month.  If I win I get Andrew’s $1,000 added to my overall balance for me to invest in more stocks.  Gordon Gecko would be proud!  You can also add to your cash balance by trying out some offers the app developers include in the application.  For example clicking on an offer will increase your virtual cash balance by $1,000.  You can then use that cash to buy more stocks.  The game itself is very educational, although I wish the developers include a detailed tutorial for less knowledgeable users, after all investing in stocks can be tricky.   Overall, I think this application is fantastic, although still in the embryonic stages of growth, I believe it has tremendous potential.  Look out for this one to be a big hit on Facebook.  In fact, I liked this application so much, I put it in our featured application section.

UPDATE: I have spoken with the developers at Black Swan Games and was informed that they are launching a tutorial section sometime this week.  They also mentioned that there will be a slew of new features being deployed this month, although they did not go into specific details.  I will update the post once I get a chance to see what they are.

Update #2 - The new version of Stock Wars was recently launched by Black Swan Games.  The version includes a new design and layout, transaction history as well as bonuses.  The bonus section is similar to how other developers have attempted to monetize their applications.  However, it is well built and integrated into tha application, users can now earn additional Stock Wars Dollars by visiting sponsors which can then be converted into your cash balance.  These could come in handy if you are having an especially bad day on the market (this seems to be happening often to a lot of people lately).   Overall the new update brings some sorely needed upgrades and its good to see this app is going in the right direction.