Beat The Street!

At last, a game to be proud of. The Beat the Street Game. I have felt ever since the spate of games came about last year, that the artificial nature of them, the pick one small dollar stock and hope it moves around like a jumping bean, is so totally unrealistic and not at all like real life, that it wasn’t worth doing. Anybody can get lucky; those games were luck personified.

Ah, but a portfolio of stocks with limited trading, isn’t that how it is? A portfolio of stocks with bets against a sector and with one, that’s close to reality. Of course, I can’t ask that a portfolio be diversified, because in a given week you are not going to get a great gain with a portfolio full of Procters and Chevrons, but the method this game employs requires some real thought and some real stock picking with less trading and more thinking.

It reminds me of the rotisserie league concept that I used at my old hedge fund, described in the book Real Money.

Why do I like this game so much besides it realistic nature? BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO LEARN MORE THAN ONE SILLY STUPID LITTLE STOCK THAT CAN BOUNCE AROUND AND MOVE IN WAYS THAT GIVE YOU NO INSIGHT INTO THE MARKET OR COMPANIES FUNDAMENTALS.

With this game you can learn NEW stocks and it can have applications beyond the $5000. This game forces you to learn sectors and pick good stocks or bad stocks if you go short.
In short, this game makes you a better investor, which is why I encourage all the college kids I have met on my tours, all the budding portfolio managers and all of the homegamers to play. The $5000 in this game is just a sideshow, some delicious icing to those who play.
So, go pick em. Go trade em when you can.