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Once again it’s time to drop in on Neopia’s foremost financial forecasters. Joining Neil and Maria today will be Halibert the Chia, National SpokesChia for The Confederation of Fish Lovers. Halibert will be here to discuss the ecological effects of Maraqua’s destruction, and how it’s begun to impact the value of fish in the Neopian marketplace. Now, here are our hosts…
KAUVUTO: Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of The Neo-Market Report. I am your host Neil Kauvuto, financial editor of The Neopian Times, and as always I’m joined by my co-host, the lovely and talented Maria Blumaroono, who’s at The News Desk with the latest scoop from the exchange. Maria, what’s the big story on the floor today?
BLUMAROONO: Well Neil, the story that’s made the biggest splash this week has been an announcement by Bob the Blumaroo of Bob’s Big Bonus Bingo of a new “super lottery,” whose grand prize will be millions of NP and a laundry list of super-rare items. Once the “super lottery” was announced, Neopians scrambled to the nearest Bob’s bingo parlour to snatch up tickets, sending the company’s stock skyrocketing a whopping 32 points a share. Since the bingo parlours are spread throughout Neopia, many eager customers went so far as to fly to their nearest location. For example, inhabitants of Krawk Island who wanted to play the lottery had to go all the way to Mystery Island to purchase their tickets. As a result, Hakaheke Island Flights also turned a handsome profit this week, watching their stock value rise a stunning twenty-nine points.
KAUVUTO: As we reported last week, Neopia’s desire for an economic boost has been a big plus for the heavy industry sector. Once again, this week saw manufacturers like Powlex and Chia Steel post respective gains of nine and six NPs a share each. As could be expected, with Neopians beginning to earn more, they’re starting to put more money away, which has been good news for last week’s guest, Hugh McKougra of the National Neopian Bank. This week, the bank posted a fourth consecutive gain, watching their stock value jump another ten points to go to 35 NPs a share.
BLUMAROONO: On the other hand, one company that hasn’t shared in this return to prosperity has been Fish Pops. Ever since the demise of Maraqua, the demand for Fish Pops and other fish-related products has plummeted, leading to a ten-point drop in stock value for Fish Pops. Joining us today to explain Fish Pops’ predicament, as well as other ecological and economic results of Maraqua’s demise will be Halibert the Chia, acting National SpokesChia for The Confederation of Fish Lovers. Halibert, thank you for stopping in to join us today.
HALIBERT: Thanks for having me, Maria.
BLUMAROONO: Now, could you explain to us the chain of events that have occurred since Maraqua’s destruction?
HALIBERT: Well, it’s like this; after Maraqua was destroyed by that terrible whirlpool some weeks ago, all the food that would’ve been eaten by Maraquans was suddenly left unharvested. As a result, there was way too much Kelp, Seaweed and Urchins left over for Neopia’s other sea-dwellers, leading to an overabundance of Fish Pops, Salmon Fishwiches, Fishy Nibbles, and Hotfish. The overabundance of Fish items caused prices to drop, leading to shopkeepers buying way too much fish. Then, when their overstock didn’t sell and went bad, the shopkeepers lowered their fish orders, resulting in a much greater supply of fish products than there was demand. So now, organisations such as Fish Pops and ourselves are stuck with all this product and virtually no demand.
KAUVUTO: Given the current situation, what do you propose Neopians do?
HALIBERT: Neil, what I’d like to say the folks of Neopia is, without your help, the situation is only going to get worse. Companies like Fish Pops will continue to suffer, and in fact, many Neopians such as myself might even lose our jobs. But that’s only the beginning; the ecological imbalance created by Maraqua’s destruction is rapidly spiraling out of control. Right now, a temporary abundance of fish foods like Kelp and Seaweed is leading to a burst in the fish population. However, unless Neopians do their part by eating as much fish as possible, our oceans will soon be plagued by overpopulation. This overpopulation will deplete our supplies of fish food, and then a most dire circumstance will occur: when there’s not enough fish food to go around, the bigger fish will begin eating the smaller fish, resulting in a number of small fish species becoming extinct.
BLUMAROONO: Goodness, that’s terrible!
HALIBERT: I’ll say! That’s why it’s so important that we, as Neopians, do our part to keep such a terrible catastrophe from happening. And so, I beg you all, to join the fight and help keep Neopia beautiful for all fish!
KAUVUTO: I’m afraid that’s all the time we have today. For Maria Blumaroono and Halibert the Chia, this is Neil Kauvuto saying thank you and so long….
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