Help & FAQ

There’s one game each month. It starts at midnight on the 1st and ends at midnight at the end of the month. You can join the next game before it starts. Past games and their final standings are on the Games page.

You’re in this month’s game as soon as you sign in. To join next month’s game early, click “Join” on the Games page. You start with the game’s starting cash.

No. The game uses entirely virtual currency. You cannot deposit, withdraw, or convert game money into real money.

Tap Stocks and pick a stock. On a computer, the order ticket sits beside the chart. On a phone, tap Buy or Sell at the bottom of the screen to open it. Choose Buy or Sell, enter the number of shares and confirm. While the US market is open, a market order executes at the latest available price. Your cash is in the bar at the top of the page.

After a trade you stay on the stock’s page, which confirms what you bought or sold. Tap Back to return to the list you came from, with your filters as you left them.

A limit order lets you set a target price. If the stock reaches your price, the order fills automatically. On a stock’s order ticket, change Order type to “Limit” and enter your price. Limit orders are available only in games that turn them on.

US stocks trade from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm New York time on weekdays, except on US market holidays. A few days close early, at 1:00 pm. The order ticket on each stock’s page says when the market next opens.

In most games, a market order placed while the market is closed fills straight away at the last closing price. Some games are set to wait for the open instead: the order waits on your home page, under Waiting orders, and fills at the first price after the next open, which can be higher or lower than the price you saw. A queued buy is cancelled if you don’t have enough cash at that price, and you get a notification either way. You can cancel a queued order on the Orders page (under your picture at the top right) until it fills. Limit orders always wait for the market to open.

A game can have a per-trade fee. This simulates real brokerage fees. The fee is deducted from your cash on each trade.

A game can also have a currency fee, usually 0.5%. It's charged when you buy or sell a stock priced in another currency, such as a US stock in a game played in Australian dollars, the same as a real broker charges to convert your money. The order ticket shows both fees before you trade, and your game's rules show its rates.

Every stock in the game trades in USD, including the Australian and overseas companies listed in the US. If the game’s base currency is AUD, each trade is converted at the exchange rate at the time of the trade.

Only if the game allows it: see the game’s rules, under your picture at the top right. When allowed, you can sell stocks you don’t own to bet on prices falling.

Yes. You can connect Claude, ChatGPT or your own AI agent, and it can check your portfolio and place orders for you in this month’s game. Your AI chooses the trades, not The Wealth Lab, and you’re responsible for what it does. Players who trade this way have a 🤖 beside their name on the leaderboard.

See Trade with your AI for how to set it up and some prompts to try.

The player with the highest total portfolio value (cash + holdings) at the game’s end date wins.

You join the leaderboard after your first trade in the game. Players who haven’t traded aren’t ranked, so a portfolio left in cash can’t win on interest alone.

Stock prices are fetched regularly from market data providers. In-game portfolio values update as new prices arrive.

Go to Account Settings and click “Delete Account”. Your personal information will be anonymised and you will be logged out. This action cannot be undone.

Yes. Visit Account Settings and click “Export My Data” to download a JSON file containing all your personal data.