Contest/Competition Stock Market Learning is an approximately four-month online competition in which pupils, students, trainees, teachers and journalists trade fictitious capital on the stock exchange and test strategies. The winners are the participants who achieve the greatest increase in value in their virtual portfolio by buying and selling conventional and sustainable shares. Each team / each participant starts with 50,000 euros in the contest. Organizer Stock Market Learning is provided by savings banks in several european countries How it started In 1983, the competition started with a little more than 4,500 teams in Germany. At that time, 73 securities (shares and warrants) could be traded and the starting capital was 50,000 DM (German Mark). Development With more than 43,000 teams and approximately 96,000 participants, Stock Market Learning has become Europe’s largest platform for financial education (figures January 2023). Internationality Savings banks in Germany, Austria, France, Italy and Luxembourg currently organize the learning contest. Targets With Stock Market Learning, the savings banks are helping to familiarize young people and adults with securities. The platform offers basic knowledge about how the stock market works in a playful way and reduces inhibitions about investing in securities. Participants are also encouraged to actively engage with the capital markets and current economic developments. Registration and procedute of competition Registration is possible every year from September to November, and the four-month playing period from the beginning of October to the end of January of the following year. Participants Pupils from general and vocational schools can take part. Students, teachers and journalists can also take part in their own competitions in Stock Market Learning. Schedule of trading Participants can trade shares, funds, ETFs and bonds of the Stuttgart Stock Exchange. The settlement of the orders takes place continuously on the basis of the real bid and ask price during the stock exchange trading hours. Prizes Cash and non-cash prizes will be offered at various levels. Sustainability Social commitment and ecological action are also becoming increasingly important in business. Sustainable investment strategies are therefore the focus of a separate rating category. Awards For its focus on sustainability, the stock exchange simulation was recognized by the German UNESCO Commission as an official project 2011/2012 of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. Likewise, in 2016, 2018 ,2020 and 2022, the Planspiel Börse received the German “Comenius seal” for educational learning projects. Best result The biggest growth in the portfolio to date was achieved in the stock market boom year of 2001. The winning group “The Foxes” increased their starting capital by 238 percent from 50,000 to nearly 169,000 euros.