***Official*** ATOT Virtual Stock Exchange Thread

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Nov 21, 2006
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Originally posted by: Lothar
I meant in the game, not real life.
I don't own a portfolio on anything...I'm just a poor college student who manages his mother's portfolio.
That's OK - this is the best way to learn. Good luck in the game.
 

IEC

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Jun 10, 2004
14,600
6,084
136
Joined under isaac.cha (already had an account with VSE/Marketwatch).

Last time I did a 3-month competition with friends I had a net gain of 65%... let's see if I can get half that this time ;)
 

cheezy321

Diamond Member
Dec 31, 2003
6,218
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Just joined up. Never played on the stock market before, so I gotta start somewhere!
 

imported_Lothar

Diamond Member
Aug 10, 2006
4,559
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Good to see a lot more people joining.

Originally posted by: Spartan Niner
Joined under isaac.cha (already had an account with VSE/Marketwatch).

Last time I did a 3-month competition with friends I had a net gain of 65%... let's see if I can get half that this time ;)
A 33% gain?
Bahaha...Good luck.
That's assuming the economy doesn't tank.

Originally posted by: cheezy321
Just joined up. Never played on the stock market before, so I gotta start somewhere!
Best way to learn.
 

imported_Lothar

Diamond Member
Aug 10, 2006
4,559
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@motdrahcir
I don't think anyone is catching up to you anytime soon as long as you don't sell your current holdings or buy any new stock ;)

@PetunZ
What's the point in going both long and short with the same stock?

@Intrinsic Value
You must have some hardcore faith in RRPH there...After buying and selling it on the massive drop in share price, you still bought it and it experienced another massive drop again.

@Anonymouse
FRPT is one hell of a stock you've got there. I should have bought it for $16 when I looked at it in March.
 

cheezy321

Diamond Member
Dec 31, 2003
6,218
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Where do you guys primarily do your research? I am looking to get into the industry after I graduate and would like a head start!
 

IEC

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Jun 10, 2004
14,600
6,084
136
Originally posted by: Lothar
Good to see a lot more people joining.
A 33% gain?
Bahaha...Good luck.
That's assuming the economy doesn't tank.

It's a game, so I risk a bit more than in real life... if things start to look a bit dicey I might sell current positions, sit on cash for a while, and then buy ETFs.

If the economy tanks, even better. Then I can short like crazy :D

FYI, my ATOT VSE portfolio may have lost ~1.3% today, but my personal VSE portfolio gained ~1% ;)

IRL I just opened a T. Rowe Price account with $77/mo into PRLAX.
 

imported_Lothar

Diamond Member
Aug 10, 2006
4,559
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Originally posted by: Spartan Niner
Originally posted by: Lothar
Good to see a lot more people joining.
A 33% gain?
Bahaha...Good luck.
That's assuming the economy doesn't tank.

It's a game, so I risk a bit more than in real life... if things start to look a bit dicey I might sell current positions, sit on cash for a while, and then buy ETFs.

If the economy tanks, even better. Then I can short like crazy :D

FYI, my ATOT VSE portfolio may have lost ~1.3% today, but my personal VSE portfolio gained ~1% ;)

IRL I just opened a T. Rowe Price account with $77/mo into PRLAX.
PRLAX is an excellent choice for an overseas investment(Brazil/Mexico).
I put it in my mom's portfolio for her a long time ago before I even created this game.

I don't see a point in jumping into inflated Chinese emerging markets of which most companies there have a P/E ratio of 50 on average or more.
PRLAX, VEURX, and NTDOY(the only individual international stock in there) make up her Foreign investment.
 

imported_Lothar

Diamond Member
Aug 10, 2006
4,559
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Originally posted by: cheezy321
Where do you guys primarily do your research? I am looking to get into the industry after I graduate and would like a head start!
Research on what specifically?
 

IEC

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Jun 10, 2004
14,600
6,084
136
Originally posted by: Lothar
Originally posted by: cheezy321
Where do you guys primarily do your research? I am looking to get into the industry after I graduate and would like a head start!
Research on what specifically?

Marketwatch, Yahoo Finance, Morningstar, etc. all offer info and graphs about stocks, EFTs, etc.

There's plenty of free resources out there to gauge the health of a stock/company.

IMO cheezy321 should start NOW before graduation with at least a mutual fund. I'm 20 years old and I wish I'd started at 18... my choice for a stock then (TIE) would have profited over 300%. Since I don't have a lot of cash (attending university) to burn I've decided instead to invest $77/mo for now into PRLAX (Latin American mutual fund from T. Rowe Price) as a kind of savings account on steroids (mutual funds can perform very well when they are managed well). Also, it's smart to invest monthly/bi-monthly in a fund because it averages out the ups and downs and lets you ignore timing. It may not seem like much but if you invest say 10-20% of your income as your income grows your contribution does as well. Even at a constant $200/mo assuming 8% APY you're going to have ~$1 million in 40 years. Imagine if you started investing more... or if you picked funds that are likely to yield more...

The best advice I have heard is to be a "disciplined" investor and invest regularly and rationally. At the same time, you should invest in higher-return, higher-risk stocks when you're younger and eventually shift to bonds and indexes/funds (hint: diversify) later on in life when you want risk to be lower. I compromised and took PRLAX - potential for higher returns along with higher risk, but less volatility overall due to it being a fund composed of several stocks.
 

IEC

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Jun 10, 2004
14,600
6,084
136
Come on, more people should join so I don't feel as lonely near the bottom of the rankings ;)
 

cheezy321

Diamond Member
Dec 31, 2003
6,218
2
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Originally posted by: AnonymouseUser
Originally posted by: cheezy321
Where do you guys primarily do your research? I am looking to get into the industry after I graduate and would like a head start!

Investors Business Daily is what I use. Of course using the info incorrectly can be extremely costly (their stock picks are highly volatile), so read this book first.

thanks for the help! Just bought that book so I know more! Im not doing too bad so far, up 3% over the past couple weeks.

 

AnonymouseUser

Diamond Member
May 14, 2003
9,943
107
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Originally posted by: cheezy321
Originally posted by: AnonymouseUser
Originally posted by: cheezy321
Where do you guys primarily do your research? I am looking to get into the industry after I graduate and would like a head start!

Investors Business Daily is what I use. Of course using the info incorrectly can be extremely costly (their stock picks are highly volatile), so read this book first.

thanks for the help! Just bought that book so I know more! Im not doing too bad so far, up 3% over the past couple weeks.
YW :)

Watch out now though, as the markets have seen several distribution days. It could very well be the beginning of a bear market, and if it is then cash is king.

As for my position, well, I'm already underwater so bad on FRPT (just in the game) that I am just gonna hold. It will bounce back in due time.
 

imported_Lothar

Diamond Member
Aug 10, 2006
4,559
1
0
Originally posted by: cheezy321
Originally posted by: AnonymouseUser
Originally posted by: cheezy321
Where do you guys primarily do your research? I am looking to get into the industry after I graduate and would like a head start!

Investors Business Daily is what I use. Of course using the info incorrectly can be extremely costly (their stock picks are highly volatile), so read this book first.

thanks for the help! Just bought that book so I know more! Im not doing too bad so far, up 3% over the past couple weeks.
I suggest THIS book.
 

AnonymouseUser

Diamond Member
May 14, 2003
9,943
107
106
One thing I have learned from this competition is that I know nothing about shorting stocks. I was so right about JSDA it isn't funny, but my timing was all wrong. Same for HOV. Thankfully it didn't cost me any real money.
 

imported_Lothar

Diamond Member
Aug 10, 2006
4,559
1
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Originally posted by: AnonymouseUser
One thing I have learned from this competition is that I know nothing about shorting stocks. I was so right about JSDA it isn't funny, but my timing was all wrong. Same for HOV. Thankfully it didn't cost me any real money.
Same here.
I've never shorted stocks on my mom's portfolio but decided to try it here for the 1st time.

Lesson learned...Never short a stock listed on the S&P 500 Index. It's there for a reason.

When I was shorting HD, I kept on watching as my profit was going up to $3000 and I kept holding it. Within 1 week it went to $39.38 from $37, and I went trigger happy selling it for a loss of $1000 or so at $39.44
HD had a 4.6% jump today because of their share buyback...
Of course it was sitting back at $38.30 yesterday.
 

cheezy321

Diamond Member
Dec 31, 2003
6,218
2
0
Yeah, I tried to short RIMM, and it didnt work out as well as I had hoped. Thought people would begin to sell once all the good news about PALM came out. Guess not.

Still up 5% tho.
 

imported_Lothar

Diamond Member
Aug 10, 2006
4,559
1
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Originally posted by: cheezy321
Yeah, I tried to short RIMM, and it didnt work out as well as I had hoped. Thought people would begin to sell once all the good news about PALM came out. Guess not.

Still up 5% tho.

Hehe...
Their share price just rocketed up 17% to $192.23 in after trading.

I'm not a fan of shorting stocks, but Palm "seems" like a better stock to short than RIMM IMO...
They are more likely to lose marketshare from AAPL than RIMM is. The iPhone is no business friendly phone.

With regards to RIMM, I would never think about shorting it...I wouldn't go long in it either.
It's about time they get a stock split too.
 

AnonymouseUser

Diamond Member
May 14, 2003
9,943
107
106
Originally posted by: Lothar
Originally posted by: cheezy321
Yeah, I tried to short RIMM, and it didnt work out as well as I had hoped. Thought people would begin to sell once all the good news about PALM came out. Guess not.

Still up 5% tho.

Hehe...
Their share price just rocketed up 17% to $192.23 in after trading.

I'm not a fan of shorting stocks, but Palm "seems" like a better stock to short than RIMM IMO...
They are more likely to lose marketshare from AAPL than RIMM is. The iPhone is no business friendly phone.

With regards to RIMM, I would never think about shorting it...I wouldn't go long in it either.
It's about time they get a stock split too.

I actually did short RIMM before their last earnings release. I think I broke even overall, but last time I covered was @ $140 and haven't even considered shorting it again. I did consider buying some today based simply on the recent trading activity, but alas I didn't. :(

This stock split may be the main reason it's up so much in after hours trading, but could very well signal the top for RIMM....