Play the Stock Market - Courtesy of Microsoft

Dreaming of becoming a heavyweight player on the stock market, but you are a tad short on funds? Well, you should by no means let financial resources be an impediment. On the other hand, you could very well have the necessary money, but at the same time exposing yourself to financial risk and loss might be a draw-back. But, if you still want a taste of the action, then Microsoft has the right offer for you via MSN Money and Motley Fool.

Under the slogan "Investors helping investors beat the market," the two companies are collaborating on The Motley Fool CAPS on MSN. "MSN Money is proud to provide its users with one of the first and best online stock rating services," said Chris Jolley, group manager of the Financial Product Group at Microsoft. "We are confident that the CAPS community will continue to grow and become more and more successful with its stock picks."

The Motley Fool CAPS on MSN is nothing more than a community hotspot designed as a stock rating service. Users have the option of trading stock without dropping a single cent. And on top of this, Microsoft is even offering the MSN Money Stock Picks Contest, claiming that the challenge comes as a natural reaction to the growth in popularity of the CAPS stock rating service. On January 31, 2008, a total of three contestants will be awarded prizes based on how well their stock portfolios will preform by that time. Together with the Motley Fool, the Redmond company is offering no less than $2,500 cash, and Xbox 360 Elite and a Zune 80GB digital media player.

"We are very excited about the tremendous success of the CAPS stock rating service. Through our collaboration with MSN Money we are providing investors and consumers with the tools and content they need to make smart financial decisions," commented John Keeling, senior vice president of Fool.com. "We look forward to continuing the development of community-generated stock ratings with MSN. In the year since the launch, we are pleased to see that CAPS four-star and five-star stocks are significantly outperforming the S&P 500, while one-star and two-star stocks are underperforming the market. MSN and The Motley Fool are committed to helping investors find better stocks."