If you do this I'm quitting the game. Not investing is a perfectly valid strategy. I'll just start a new game, I'll be the administrator. Everyone will join my game, and we'll forget about this one.
I'm with Scott here. No need for drama at all. If people want to play but are unhappy with the banning of a valid way to play the game (i.e. having your money sit and earn 4% interest), we just start a new game. We can even agree on the settings as a group.
Your uninvested cash will earn a money market fund interest, which will vary depending on prevailing market conditions. This money market rate is usually around 4-6% and is set by the game creator. Margins will be charged with interest as well, set by the game creator.
How is it not a valid strategy to just sit there and earn interest? It's not mocking the game, it's just a lack of confidence in the stock market + an unwillingness to sell short because of the excessive risk involved.
And now, Today's market update - Nine quit over the weekend, putting Josh Bytes in the lead. Everything else, refer to above post, because for a reason unknown to me, possibly because I'm really not that bright, the game didn't update at all despite claiming the market was open.
Your boss gives you $100,000 to invest and you decide to be clever. "Lots of people lose in the market," you say, "so I'll just avoid losing by sitting on my cash. That will make my boss happy." At the end of the year, the boss calls you to his office and asks what kind of returns you've yielded. "I lost absolutely nothing," you reply. But the boss becomes enraged. He expected a return on his investment. He gave you the money, and now he's lost out of 12 months of opportunity that the $100,000 could have garnered him. The point of the business is to earn! That's what the stockholders want. That's what the investors demand!
Wow, I just looked through the list of players and there are only three players who actually play this game like a game. Or it's just that the rest didn't pay attention or have never traded in stocks.
Comments
Confirmation w.r.t. interest, from here: How is it not a valid strategy to just sit there and earn interest? It's not mocking the game, it's just a lack of confidence in the stock market + an unwillingness to sell short because of the excessive risk involved.
Also, the reason nothing updated today was because the stock market was closed for Martin Luther King Day.
Personally, I'd be much better off if we restarted since I'm currently last by quite a lot ^_~
Luke Burrage lost a whopping 7.29% today and now I'm not last anymore, while Timo is back under 100k.