admin: the rules of gameplay

[seperis]

So we're about ten days away from the beginning of Somewhat Serious Business and getting a final count of participants. This will be a beginner tutorial on what you're about to do. It will probably sound condescending, but this is from my notes to myself when I started out. Anything that's unclear, ask in comments, seriously. Ask ask ask.



stock - this is what a company is made of. By Wikipedia definition, which I hate
but I can't do better right this second: the original capital paid into or invested
in the business by its founders.

Stock is, for the purposes of this explanation, the company.

share - shares are how stock is divided. When buying shares of stock, you are buying the equivalent of ownership in the company. Stock can be divided into a few thousand shares, a few million shares, or a few billion shares; it depends on the company.

ticker - the one, two, three, or four letter designation representing the company.

Examples: Apple = AAPL, Alcoa = AA, Google = GOOG, Bank of America = BAC, Kraft = K. Sometimes they are obvious. Sometimes, the ticker name seems unrelated to the company name.

transaction - trading stock. It can be buying it, selling it, or getting dividends. Anything you do with a stock is a transaction.



Links

For a very basic explanation, I like eHow's short version. Go there first.

Investopedia is a good resource but can get a little needlessly complex. If you get confused, stop reading. I came back to that one two months into trading and understood a lot better what they were saying. Experience does help; once you're doing it, some things will make a lot more sense.

The Motley Fool is a site for the normal investor who is not a multimillionare. It's also funny. They recommend stocks in themes, are kind of snarky, and generally give explanations as to why they do and don't like it. Also, the forums have hilarious flamewars. So not kidding.

Game Play

I'm almost done with a short explanation of how the game will be played, so below the cut is the rough draft. It will not change in rules, just in wording, for the final version.



For convenience, I'm using American dollars in the explanation; a currency list will be provided along with equivalents in other currencies. At the end of this entry, please leave a comment with the country you're in if it is not the United States so I can do the conversions and have a list up by next Monday.

1.) Each month you will have $150 to invest in stock. You can invest in one stock or several stocks. Each player is allowed to skip two months.

2.) Buying or selling a stock costs money. There are two ways you can invest.

Option 1: Real Time Trading

a.) You can invest at any time during the month whenever you feel like it, during days the market is open. You can go to any site that has live or almost-live stock quotes going (CNN, Yahoo, et al, a list will be provided), watch the price, and email me with the stock name (the company), the ticker (the designation), the time of day, the price of the stock (in your country's currency), and how many shares you want to buy within ten minutes of that time you are claiming to buy at.

Format of Declaration to Buy:
Name: Seperis
Company: Alcoa
Ticker: AA
Time: 2:05 PM CST
Price: $12.05 (in your country's currency)
Shares: 5

b.) The transaction price for a real time trade is $7.00 American (an equivalent list depending on currency will be posted). That comes out of your $150, so when you buy, remember to subtract that amount.

$12.05 X 5 = $60.25 <--this is the cost of the stock.
$60.25 + $7.00 = 67.25 <--total you will pay

Option 2: Automatic Investments

a.) Every Tuesday will be automatic investment day. That means you will state on Monday before 5 PM CST that you wish to invest X amount of money in X stock on Tuesday. You will not be able to choose the price; it can be any price that occurs on Tuesday during market hours. On Monday, the moderators will state what time the stock will be bought and whatever the price of the stock is on Tuesday at that time will be the price. You will be emailed on Wednesday the amount of stock you bought and at what price, and the money deducted from your $150.
b.) The transaction price for automatic investment is $4.00 American (an equivalent list depending on currency will be posted). That comes out of your $150, so when you buy, remember to subtract that amount.

3.) At the end of the month, a post will be made evaluating how everyone is doing.


All right, now is a good time for questions. If anything above is unclear, please feel free to ask. Again, there are no stupid questions; I mean, there are none. And remember to have fun!

Please add the country you are playing in and your timezone here. If you are American, I need your timezone only. This is to create a reference chart for everyone that states their market and market hours as well as have a list up to track for currency.

1.) United States GMT-6 (CST) - 7
2.) Australia - Melbourne GMT+11 - 2
3.) Canada (Manitoba) GMT-6 (CST) - 2
4.) Canada (Toronto) GMT-5 (EST) - 2
5.) Hong Kong GMT+8 - 1
6.) United States GMT-8 (PST) - 2
7.) United States GMT-5 (EST) - 4
8.) Japan GMT+9 - 1
9.) Ireland GMT+0 - 1
10.) UK GMT+0 - 1
11.) Canada GMT-7(MST) - 1

Okay, I think I got the time conversions right. This will be factored in for all time limits in trading; when I have the full list of participants, a chart will be put up for double checking.

For reference:

World Stock Market Times - if you feel like it, find your market! A list with corresponding country and/or zone will be posted as well when we have all the participants.

...oh, they have everything in GMT, too!

Comments

[nafs]

I suspect this is just because I don't know what I don't know, but so far no questions. Checking in to say I'm from Canada.

[seperis]

*grins* Honestly, a lot of this seems odd until you start. The first two months of gameplay will make it very clear. That's why I'm trying not to overload anyone with information; a lot of it will hit you when you start doing it.

And adding Canada! Thank you!

ETA: Timezone?

[nafs]

Timezone is EST. I'm in Toronto :) I can almost throw something out the window and hit the financial district.

[abbylee]

Canada - Central (Manitoba central, which uses Daylight Savings, as opposed to Saskatchewan central which does not observe Daylight Savings.)

[out_there]

Australia - Melbourne. Timezone is... hmmm. GMT+1100, apparently.

So far this seems quite easy, but I have to ask if there will be any kind of reminder posted on Monday for the automatic trades. Since your Monday is our Tuesday... I'm just a little concerned that I'll forget to post something given the time difference

[seperis]

That's part of the reason I want the timezones so I can work out a chart for it and work out the logistics precisely. Plus I get to make another spreadsheet!

[snowynight]

Hong Kong. Time zone=GMT+8

[roguewords]

US Central. Just to be clear.

I've been reading over at The Motley Fool, I'm sure I'll have questions.

I did manage to find a quiz to help me figure out my investing style. I came up with mostly A's. After that, D's.

I'm sure you'll answer questions like what's the difference between the NASDQ and the S&P500 and the Dow? things like that are what I'm trying to figure out.

[eponymousanon]

US, Pacific time. I feel like I'll end the year with much much less than I started out (yay Monopoly money) but this will be fun!

[drunkoffthestars]

US, central! *gets reading*

[spn_girl]

Melbourne Australia, which Out_there says is apparently GMT+1100 :)

[out_there]

*snerk* When it comes to international timezones, "apparently" is as sure as I can get -- even with online proof.

[spn_girl]

lol, I had no idea either, was thinking I'd have to google it till I saw your comment :)

[cael]

In the US - Eastern

[imagina]

Tokyo, Japan. GMT+09:00

[dreamatdrew]

US - Central.
Hope you can cope with the time diff there Sep. *snerk*

[dont_panic42]

Canada, CST

[chalcopyrite]

So far, no questions.... give it a month or so. *wry g*

I'm in Ireland, GMT 0.

[ainsley]

US Eastern.

[cadee]

US, Central Standard Time

[mermade]

US Eastern

[aella_irene]

UK, GMT

[bodie]

US, Eastern

[trinity_clare]

US, CST.

[burnishedvictory]

Canada - MST (GMT-7)

I'm looking forward to this starting!

[starr_falling]

US Central.

[via_ostiense]

U.S. Pacific

[via_ostiense]

Question -- are there any online brokerages/sites you recommend for this kind of investing? i.e. low fees, don't need a personal broker or whatever it is the big companies do?

[swordage]

USA Eastern~

[eyrane]

US, Pacific (GMT-8)

[sami]

So, hey, I'm in Western Australia, time zone GMT +8.

[allopen]

Hi, I am Alison, from Singapore. My timezone is GMT+8.

[thexpuzzler]

Checking in from Germany. Wow, we have quite an international cast here! No questions as of yet <3 Just a huge thank you for doing this.

[caorann]

So far, no questions. I'm from the US.

[seperis]

What time zone?

[caorann]

Sorry, Eastern US, same time zone as New York City.

[seperis]

Got it! Thanks!

[loriel_eris]

UK, GMT.

Quick Question: Any money we don't use in Month A, does that get carried over to Month B?

It occurred to me that Stock Markets are very inconsiderate of people, and very rarely make their shares a price that will divide exactly into $150 (less charges)... *g*

[seperis]

Yes. You get two skip months, and the money carries over.

And yeah, the math of the stock will be huge fun. *g*