Toying with money

Toying with money

The Dubai Financial Market is preparing to hold its annual stock market competition for students, where the winner can pocket AED15,000. That’s a lot to play with.

February 23, 2009 11:45 by Aarti Nagraj

Playing with stocks on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) during the current economic situation is quite a challenge. Most of the share prices are falling, with companies like Emaar dropping by 85 percent in the past 12 months (although recent reports say the developer’s shares have risen). But what if you had nothing to lose?

The DFM has announced its annual stock game for students, which gives each student AED1,000,000 to trade shares of securities listed on the DFM. All trades, however, are virtual, not actual. Students trade through the market’s website, as per the live prices published trading hours. Corporate actions such as dividends, bonus shares and the closure of the register are also included in the month-long game.

According to the DFM, the winners are chosen by the gains attained during the competition, which will also have weekly summaries.

The first winner pockets a cash prize of AED15,000, the second AED10,000, and the third AED5,000.

According to the DFM, the competition will help raise awareness about the stock market among students.

So, not only do kids get to show their parents how to make money, but the winners get to take home serious cash.

AED15,000 is a lot of money; given the current economy climate, Kipp is wondering if the DFM will allow adults to “raise [their] awareness” about the stock market. We’ll play nice, we promise.