Virtual stock market environment

A method for generating a virtual stock environment that mirrors an actual stock market in real-time that corresponds to a user selection and provides real-time feedback to an engagement of a user in the virtual stock market environment, comprising:

• receiving the user selection that corresponds to an actual stock pick that is available in the actual stock market that the user requests to enter into the virtual stock market environment;
• assessing a virtual stock value for the user selection that incorporates a real-time assessment of an actual value of the actual stock pick that corresponds to the user selection as determined from the actual stock market;
• engaging the user selection into the virtual stock market environment to expose the user selection to a fluctuation of the virtual stock market environment that mirrors the actual stock market in real-time;
• incorporating raw stock market data aggregated from the actual stock market in real-time into the virtual stock market environment, wherein the raw stock market data is an actual representation of the actual value of the actual stock pick in the actual stock market in real-time;
• and
• determining the virtual stock value of the user selection in real-time in the virtual stock market environment based on the raw stock market data aggregated from the actual stock market as the raw stock market fluctuates in real-time relative to the actual stock market fluctuating in real-time.

The method of claim 19, further comprising:

• evaluating the performance record of the user to determine a performance threshold that the performance record of the user satisfies;
• assessing the virtual stock value of the user selection in real-time in the virtual stock market environment relative to a plurality of virtual stock values of a plurality of user selections received from a plurality of users that is positioned in the performance threshold of the user;
• assessing the virtual portfolio value of the virtual portfolio of the user in real-time in the virtual stock market environment relative to a plurality of virtual portfolios associated with the plurality of users that is positioned in the performance threshold of the user;
• and
• determining the virtual stock value ranking and the virtual portfolio value ranking of the user in real-time based relative to the plurality of users that is positioned in the performance threshold of the user.