Open Ended "Advice Column"

I'm not sure how many regular readers I have on my blog.  Probably not as many given my laziness as of late- hey, I've taken a little time off, so sue me.  A free-for-all "advice column" - Ask any question.  I'll answer anything.  It doesn't have to be TX related.  The scenario:  You're a new TXer, with T$1,000,000 (or a veteran with spare cash).  What's the quickest way to turn that into T$10,000,000 to crack that leader board. Legit advice:  Invest in your favorite presidential strike stock on the dips and search for value bonds.  I'll also point to an old blog entry of mine (note: entry 4. while still true is about to be voided due to an automated IPO process). I encourage everyone to participate.  Maybe if we're lucky, we can get Glathannus to explain "Cheating Strategery: How Not To Get Caught... Twice." H

HIR: Friday's Stock to Watch [IZIR, TX's Enron]

With the fallout of anti-user agreement play, the TX will now get to see where IZIR stands as a strike stock.  Don't look for it to hit T$133.00 again.   Also a word to the wise:  don't cheat.  The TX's "FCC" crew has no red-tape and doesn't wait 6-18 months to conduct an investigation.  You cheat, beware of falling hammers.   Have a great weekend,   H

Ask and Ye Shall Receive!

It didn't take long for some volatility to return to the TX. Issue some IPOs and watch the stock values sway like trees in a windstorm. Throw in a little controversy via delayed offering and voila, the TX springs to life! An interesting point has been brought up on Tom and Glathannus's blogs. How is all that extra money going to affect the dynamic of the TX? With tens of millions of dollars (or more) in the hands of many users, will that drive the price of stocks too high for the more casual and more numerous users? Will most of the shares of the best stocks fall into the hands of the ultra-rich few? Growth would appear to become exponential and if you know what exponential inclines look like, it isn't good, unless you're at the top end of the curve. H

Curing the Summertime Doldrums

I think a nice improvement to the TX would be a chart of the TX Index as a whole over certain periods of time- 30-day, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, etc. If that existed now, you might notice that it's been pretty flat the past few weeks, trading in a small trading range and not deviating much. This isn't a bad thing, in my opinion. I think that most of this has all been since the issue of the BUSH and KERY presidential race strike stocks. These are two stocks trading above T$70 and T$80, respectively and that takes a lot of capital to do so. There are also several other strike stocks trading fairly high (above T$25) and they have been that way since their release as well. This will probably be the status quo. That's why I'm offering up a few ideas (some in progress) to break the summer blues. 1. Get the IPO system revamped - That way the TX can start 2. Issuing IPOs - There's no quicker way to cause downswings on marginal or long-held stagnant stocks than to issue better, more exciting new stocks to put money in. The pre-issue selloffs are usually interesting to see, as they show what traders had put their money in previously, are taking profits and deem able to release for the next best thing. 3. Add some specifying text to the areas of Leader and Nation bonds (and equity & strike stocks, for that matter). New users and probably some existing users may not know what the point of those bonds are. Putting descriptions of the bonds on the actual TX may help explain their purpose, thus boosting their popularity. It's obvious most TX users don't bother reading the TX blog. If most do, then it speaks to the potential uselessness of bonds as they exist now. I'm hoping that's not the case. 4. Convert more equity stocks - There was more up movement than expected with some of the stocks converted last Sunday. In my opinion, lots (if not all) of other equity stocks would make great strike stocks with more specific wording. 5. Delist more stocks - There are still some likely candidates for delisting and the announcement of delisting could cause money to shift from these long-shot equities to more likely events and strike stocks. 6. Delete more inactive/illegal accounts - This is more of an 'x-factor' event, as no one really knows what stocks are affected by this. If some old accounts held lots of shares of good stocks, the downswing that ensued could spark a nice bounce or a sell-off, either of which is more "eventful" than no movement or sideways trading. All in my opinion of course and don't forget to wear sunscreen! H

HIR: Friday's Stock(s) to Watch [Converted Stocks]

This isn't analysis inasmuch it's just general commentary. I'm posting this fairly soon after the announcement and I don't suspect there to be much hubub over these stocks. Does conversion make them more likely? Not at all. I wouldn't be surprised to see very little movement involved with these stocks over the weekend. There is incentive to watch these more closely now as there is a reason to hold these pending news on the topics. The market has been flatlined over the past couple of weeks. I believe a lot of money is tied up in the election stocks and there isn't much cash floating around. This would explain the doldrums. I also don't forsee much movement based on this announcement but if activity does pick up, however slight, it will probably involve these seven stocks. Have a great weekend, H [DISCLOSURE - I own none of the to-be-converted stocks]

HIR: Friday's Stock(s) to Watch [Nation Bonds]

In addition to the article below, I'm going to elaborate a little more on these cheap, return-bearing nuggets. As it stands now, it looks like there's either lots of cash stored in accounts or no cash available in accounts. I say this because some nation bonds are still trading rock bottom. Some are over-valued, in my opinion. Why does Austrailia trade higher than Isreal or Saudi Arabia? Some of these bonds are due corrections and some of the corrections will be up. I think the TX is in a summer doldrums; everyone is waiting on the Olympics and are hedged in the presidential strike stocks. New users and users with cash on hand should buy into these bonds, especially ones below T$5.00 a share. Jordan, Libya, Indonesia, and Sudan are very cheap for a stock on the TX. These bonds will never pay out like a strike but should rise and fall based on global news. Give these another look in the case that you currently want something to gain a bigger yield than 250 shares of BUSH. [DISCLOSURE - I own 15 nation bonds, including Saudi Arabia (NBSA) and Sudan (NBSD).]