System Time: 20:07 03 Jul 2008 - 11 Players Online

Advanced Shares Play

Price Movements

Now that you have experienced a bit of buying and selling, take a closer look at what makes prices change.

There are four market forces that will raise the share price for any blog:

• Buying shares: As long as the P/E is somewhat below the public threshold (under 200 typically), buying shares will raise prices. See "Playing with P/E Ratios" below for more information on the P/E.

• Selling shares: If the blog has a low to mid-range P/E ratio (often between 20 and 150). but still below the public threshold, selling shares will raise prices.

• Public Pressures: If a blog has a low P/E (typically under 100), public pressure will often force the price up.

• Artefacts: These can be used to raise prices. See Artefacts for more information.

Similar to these are four market forces that can push prices down:

• Selling Shares: When a blog is in the high-range of P/E ratios (typically above 200), selling shares will force prices to fall.

• Buying Shares: in a blog with a high-range P/E will likely force prices down, and buying into blogs with a P/E ratio above the public threshold will certainly do so.

• Public Pressure: If a blog has a P/E ratio too high for its current valuation, public pressure will force the price lower.

• Artefacts: These can be used to lower prices. See Artefacts for more details.

Market Orders

Players can place market orders requesting to buy shares in any blog. Orders can be placed to sell shares in any blog in which the player owns shares. Required prices and minimum market price can be set by the player placing the order. If another player finds the deal acceptable, s/he will complete the transaction, and the order will be deleted. DO NOT use commas in the prices, this will cause the action to fail.

One Note: Most market orders are placed as an easy way for players to transfer cash since there is not direct way to do so. Most market orders sit unfilled when placed as a matter of game play. Don't expect many sell orders to be filled unless you have set a price which is too low on a popular or high-priced blog, often at a loss to your net worth.

Placing a Buy Order

Select any blog you wish to own shares in. Scroll down to the "Share Market" and click on the link for "Buy Order". On this page, select the number of shares you wish to buy. In the next box, select the price you require per share. In the third box, enter the same amount. Most players will place the same amount in each box in the form for simplicity, but you are free to make other designations if desired. You should get a confirmation that the buy order was created successfully after you select the "Place Buy Order" button.

Note: Buy orders will set aside the amount of cash needed to fulfill the order. Until the buy order is purchased or canceled, you will be unable to use this cash.

Placing a Sell Order

Select any blog you own shares in, Scroll down to the "Share Market" and click on the link for "Sell Order". On this page, select the number of shares you wish to sell (If you are doing this to sell Chips, note that most players select 1 share for simplicity). In the next box, select the price you require per share. In the third box, enter the same amount. You should get a confirmation that the sell order was created successfully after you select the "Place Sell Order" button.

Playing with P/E Ratios

Once you've got an idea of how to move share prices up to make a profit, its time to take a bit closer look at how to understand the P/E ratio in share trading. If you read Basic Shares Play, you understand the basic points about P/E. But, sometimes things are not as simple as black and white.

In this case, black and red is more appropriate. P/E ratios, as you may have noticed, will display in various locations, such as your portfolio, in either black or red numbers. It is important to notice that most blogs over 250 P/E are in red. Why is this?

As P/E climbs higher, the ratio of share price to valuation roughly increases. This can happen whenever the share price is raised, or the valuation is lowered. In either case, the public is less likely to be interested in purchasing the stock you are selling with each P/E increase.

Once the P/E reaches a level, typically 250-300, the public will refuse to purchase shares. Once a blog pushes past this threshold, the player must either wait for price pressures to lower the P/E (for example, a valuation increase will lower the P/E), or use an Artefact to alter the price.

When you see a P/E listed with red numbers, the blog's ratio is in the high-range for that blog. However, since the exact public threshold for a blog is not always easy to determine, the blog may well be under this amount. Selling shares in the red will drop the price in most cases, but there are times when a blog will gain value.

In general, try not to push P/E prices beyond 300 for typical game play. The great majority of blogs pass the public threshold and cannot then be sold until the P/E drops. Of course, when dealing in Artefacts, playing with P/E ratios takes on a whole new meaning.

Artefact Play

Artefact usage is a huge part of being able to trade in the most popular blogs. Many of the top players in the game battle on a daily basis to control and profit from trades in blogs such as PersianBlog and MovableType. In order to compete, it is vital to know how to manipulate blog prices and take control of shares by using Artefacts.

Read the Artefact page, first. Once you have a grasp on the 6 functions which affect blog share trading, consider the following basic strategy for using them.

Many blogs are in multiple Industries. Artefacts can only be used on blogs voted into the Artefact's industry. So each artefact should be used wisely to play shares. For example:

Player A owns all non-owner shares in Daily Kos. Player B wants to own the shares just long enough to make a nice profit. Player B uses her Artefacts for Politics and Liberalism to PRD the blog price, bringing it down to 25% of its pre-PRD price. Then, Player B uses her Artefact for Media to Restructure and gain control of some shares. If this didn't gain at least 20%, she may need to continue using artefacts to Restructure until 20% of shares are owned.

Once Player B owns 20% or more of the shares in Daily Kos, she performs a HTO of the blog using her Progressive Artefact. This gains her all remaining non-owner shares.

Naturally, Player B wants to have a bit of protection against Player A (or others) trying to gain possession of these shares in a way that causes Player B to make money in the process. So, Player B uses her English Artefact to Hype the share price. She can do this repeatedly until the price is in the desired range. However, she will need to keep an eye on the P/E, and ensure it does not become too high.

One thing to consider about multiple Hypes and PRDs. These actions become less effective when done in succession. The second Hype/PRD is less effective than the first (on average, there are exceptions). Keep an eye on the A.E.L. for a blog (listed in the Share Market section of any blog's Blogs.php). 75 or so means that Artefact usage will be very effective. Lower numbers equate to less effective Hypes and PRDs.

Once Player B has waited 6 hours, and assuming she still has ownership of the shares (a big 'if' for many popular blogs), she may use her Artefacts to Hype the price to just below the Public Threshold and sell them back to the public.

Now, Player B can consider her play of Daily Kos to be complete, or she can further expand her play of the blog. Once the shares are sold to the public, Public Pressure can be used to circumvent the normal 6-hour wait to repurchase shares. Figuring out where and when to perform this action, and other Artefact functions, is up to the particular strategy of each player, and is one complex aspect of the game that can take a lot of practice and patience to master. Good luck!