Having Trouble With the Stock Market? by Ankharis |  |
Are you a dedicated NeoPets owner who gets online to check your account at
least once a day? Do you have a bit of willpower and the ability to make yourself
wait patiently to collect good rewards? Finally, would you like to make that
money with almost no effort? If you answered yes to these questions, read on.
The NeoPets Stock Market
is one of the best kept secrets of Neopia, and it's not even meant to be a secret!
It's right there, waiting to make money for anyone who is willing to invest
carefully and steadily, and yet most owners don't seem to even acknowledge its
existence. Those that do tend to speak of it in uneasy terms, and when asked
about their experience with the stock market, they express letdown, and talk
about small investments that lost value, souring the experience and making them
decide that the stock market isn't for them.
Well the stock market is actually simple, straightforward, and a great source
of Neopoints. I'm going to skip the explanation of what the stock market is
and get right down to a step-by-step guide to how to start feathering your nest!
The strategy is simple, and it goes like this...
Step-by-step Buying Method
1. Make sure you have 6000 NP in your possession.
2. Go to the Games section on the NeoPets navigation menu (that big yellow
bar on the left side of your screen). From the games room, look to the very
bottom of the screen and click on the Stock Market icon, which shows a rather
fast-lane Chia talking on a cell phone. This will take you to the stock market
screen.
3. Click on the Bargains link in the top menu. This will take you to a screen
displaying the rock-bottom stocks of the market. Choose the one at the very
top of the list. This is the cheapest, lowest rated stock on the market. This
is the one you want. Check out what it says in the column that has "curr" at
the top. This is the stock's current price per share, and it should read 6 or
less. (If it reads more than 6, skip down to my section on What To Do During
A Boom and prepare to be a little disappointed). If it does read 6 or less (for
those of you who might need that little extra bit of help, the numbers below
6 are 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1, and these are the numbers you want... The lower the
better!) then click on the stock's shortened name under the "ticker" column.
This will take you to the stock's profile.
4. Once on the profile page, read the description if you like. Once you're
through and are ready to proceed, click on the full name of the stock, which
should be in very large letters. This will take you to the purchasing screen.
5. You'll see a little Scorchio with a computer dispensing stock-market wisdom,
and you'll also see a box with "Number of Shares" written beside it. Enter the
number 1000 in that box, and then press the "Buy Shares" button. Bingo! You're
finished buying if the transaction goes through. You will be taken to your portfolio
page, which, if this was your first buy, will only have one item on it.
So what did you just do? Why, you just purchased 1000 shares of a low-end stock.
You own a fairly good-sized chunk of a company that's doing badly. Why do you
want a chunk of a company that is doing badly? Because when that company does
better (and the chances are it will) it's going to make money for you. And after
purchasing low, that could happen at any minute. Now, let me explain to you
how to harvest the stocks you have purchased, and of course how to tell when
they are ripe for the picking:
Step-by-step Selling Method
1. Go to the Stock Market page again, and click on the "My Portfolio" link
in the top menu. You will see a list of all the stocks you own, with a lot of
information. I'll skip to just the information you need to know to make money.
Look at the "current price" and then look at the "paid" price. The math here
is simple. If you sell a stock while the current price is higher than what you
paid for it? You make money! If you sell a stock while the current price is
lower than what you paid for it? You lose money. Since I'm assuming you followed
my strategy above, we'll deal with this as if you purchased all stocks in 1000-share
blocks. If so, then a stock you paid 6 a share for which has gone up to 7 a
share will result in 1000 NP of profit when you sell 1000 shares of it. (7000
sale price - 6000 paid price = 1000 profit). If a stock you paid 6 for has gone
up to 12, then when you sell 1000 shares of it, you profit 6000. Get the idea?
I hope so! Anyway, look over your list of stocks and see if there are any that
have increased in value enough to sell. When is the right time to sell? That's
completely up to you. My advice, though, is to hang on to a stock until it has
doubled in value at least, then sell. The stocks might rise and fall, but as
long as you bought low, you'll stay in good shape. But let's say you spot a
stock you want to sell.
2. Click the "sell" menu option at the top of the portfolio page and you'll
end up on the selling screen. Make sure you have at least 30 Neopoints with
you to cover the cost of the transaction, then simply enter the number of shares
you wish to sell of any given stocks. I suggest sticking to selling things in
1000 share blocks like you bought them, to keep your portfolio cleaned up and
to keep things easy. Once you have entered the numbers for everything you want
to sell, click the "sell shares" button at the bottom of the list, and, pow!
Sold.
3. Go enjoy your money, or save it in the bank.
Okay, that's pretty much it! That basic strategy, if you buy stocks daily,
will allow you to earn money. How much, though, is based completely on your
patience. If you sell off stocks as soon as they gain a point of value, then
you'll make a little extra each day. If you hang on to stocks until they rise
significantly, then you'll make that much more. If you play it hard-nosed and
hang on to stocks only until they boom? You can be sitting pretty! Take a look
at the most costly stocks on the exchange, and you'll notice some have prices
like 80 points a share. There is a good chance that at one time, those stocks
only cost 6 or so points a share. Wouldn't it be a great feeling to spend 6000
Neopoints and then later on have it turn into 80,000 Neopoints? For people who
held on to those stocks, that's just what may have happened!
But let's be practical. If you're like most people, just having money in the
stock market isn't going to cut it. You need to take that money out to buy goodies
for your pet! What's a good strategy for selling? Well, in the end it is up
to you, but I'll give a suggestion. Buy stocks daily in 1000 share blocks, and
hang onto them. Each day when you buy, check your portfolio. If any stock has
increased in value 100% or more then go ahead and sell it. But, if a stock has
just increased in value a point or two, leave it alone, and check back later.
You'll probably, in the end, find yourself selling pretty regularly as stocks
reach maturity, and once this pattern gets underway, your stock market portfolio
can become a source of income that beats the pants off the interest they hand
out at the bank! That's why the stock market can be a much better place for
your money than the bank. In the bank, it just sits there, but in the market
it can grow! But, that's also why buying low is so important. If you buy low,
it leaves less room for you to lose money and leaves far more of a chance for
you to make money. Buying high is risky, because you might end up stuck with
stocks that are worth nowhere near what you paid for them.
Earning money from the stock market is as easy as clicking and watching, but
you've got to be wise. |
