Paper trading: practice investing with virtual money

What is a mock portfolio?

A mock portfolio is a record of imaginary holdings and virtual cash. It lets you practice quantities, costs and allocation before dealing with real transactions. Paper trading can help you understand the arithmetic, but a simulated result does not prove that a strategy will succeed with real money.

AaronBux uses fictional prices, including for instruments with real names and symbols. The chart is a simulation, not a record of how that investment performed in the market. You do not connect a brokerage account or send investment funds.

Try a complete practice trade

Open the practice portfolio and start with the default $10,000 virtual balance, or create a named portfolio with your own starting balance. Explore the catalog by name, symbol or asset class, open the investment details and add an instrument to your watchlist.

Choose a quantity, review the estimated cost, remaining cash and allocation, then confirm the simulation. Stocks, ETFs, mutual funds and cryptocurrencies allow fractional units; bond demonstrations use whole bonds. A purchase that exceeds your cash cannot execute.

A worked example

At a simulated price of $100, buying 2.5 units costs $250 and leaves $9,750 from a $10,000 starting balance. If the fictional price later becomes $110, the holding is worth $275 and its unrealized gain is $25. Selling one unit for $110 realizes $10 of gain using average cost; the remaining 1.5 units have $150 of cost basis. These are arithmetic examples, not market quotes.

Turn a result into a lesson

Use the learning note to record your reasoning without personal information. Compare allocation before and after a trade. Duplicate a portfolio before applying a market-decline scenario to compare the same starting positions. Scenarios are simplified exercises, not forecasts.

Progress is stored in this browser. Export a backup before clearing browser data or changing devices. Clearing storage can erase your practice work.