$500 to the highest portfolio
A trading challenge run on Stock Picks. Everyone starts with $10,000 and trades stocks and options at live market prices. Whoever finishes with the most wins. Free to enter, nothing to buy.
Markets are closed for part of the window (Monday, September 7 — Labor Day), so the leaderboard will not move that day. That is expected, not a fault.
How it works
- 1Get the app and enter
Download Stock Picks on the App Store and create an account. Trading in the app during the contest window is your entry — there is nothing else to sign up for.
- 2Everyone starts level
Every entrant begins at $10,000 when trading opens, so an account opened months ago has no head start.
- 3Trade the window
Stocks and options at live market prices. You need filled trades on at least 5 separate days to qualify — roughly one every other session.
- 4Highest portfolio wins
At the close on the final day every open position is valued at its closing price. Cash plus positions is your score, and the highest takes the prize.
Official rules
September 2026 edition. Sponsored by Realtime Software Inc., 12 W 44th St Ste 511, New York, NY 10036.
1.Entry
Free. No purchase or payment of any kind. Download Stock Picks on the App Store and create an account. Trading in the app during the contest window is your entry — there is nothing else to sign up for and nothing to buy. You can join at any point during the contest; you will simply have less time to trade.
2.Eligibility
18 or older, legal US resident. One account and one entry per person. Employees of Realtime Software Inc. and their immediate families are excluded. Void where prohibited.
3.Starting line
Every entrant begins at $10,000. Accounts created before the contest are reset to $10,000 on entry, so everyone competes from the same number.
Requests for additional practice funds are suspended for entrants for the duration. Any account that receives a top-up is disqualified.
4.How the winner is decided
The winner is the entrant with the highest total portfolio value at Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at 4:00 PM ET. Total portfolio value is available cash plus the market value of every open position, valued at that day's closing price. Because everyone starts at $10,000, the highest value is the best performance.
5.Minimum activity
Filled trades on at least 5 separate trading days within the window. Fewer than that and the entry does not qualify — the prize is for trading the contest, not for one bet that happened to land.
6.Ties
Broken by the earlier of the two entry times.
7.Disqualification
Multiple or shared accounts, automated trading, resetting an account mid-contest, exploiting a bug or a pricing error, or receiving additional practice funds. Determination by Realtime Software Inc. is final.
8.Prize
$500 USD. One winner takes the full prize. Awarded after the result is verified, with arrangements confirmed directly with the winner. No substitutions and no alternative prize. Any tax owed on a prize is the winner's own responsibility.
9.Results
The leaderboard is visible in the app throughout, so the standing is never a secret. Final standings are published on this page by Thursday, September 17, 2026, so nobody has to take our word for the outcome.
10.Fair notice
Stock Picks is an educational app. Trades are simulated against live market prices — no securities are bought or sold, and no real money is at risk inside the app. Results there, simulated or otherwise, predict nothing about real markets.
11.No affiliation
This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Apple Inc.