New Contest Features Monthly Prizes and Loyalty Prize
As we Traders and Investors slog through this tough Bear market (Dow down +20%), many Survivors are already looking forward to the start of the next contest which is scheduled to begin on Monday September 1st.
We are planning several changes based upon user feedback and our desire to make the game easier and more fun to play:
- Your Contest Portfolio will NOT GET ERASED! You will keep all your current stock positions and your portfolio value. If you don’t like your portfolio value, you can always Reset back to $100,000.
- Overall Prizes will be given Weekly and Monthly, in addition to the Daily random prizes. We will give out 10 prizes to best Investors and the best Traders every month.
- The Weekly and Monthly prizes will be calculated based upon percentage return rather than overall portfolio value ranking.
- There is a new Loyalty Grand prize given to the Survivor who racks up the most Loyalty Points every Month.
We are in the midst of finalizing all the details, but as always, let us know what you think!
- Posted in : Contests, Game Concepts
- Author :Mark Berger
Comments»
I’m not sure I like the idea of the portfolios not resetting to $100,000. I’ve been treating this like a short term contest (and not doing that well at it ;-)) but I was looking forward to everyone going back to the same starting point in September. This will make it more of a long term contest.
What are Loyalty points good for. Is there a store or something where they can be redeemed? I seem to remember reading something about a Loyalty Points Store.
Doug: Just because your portfolio value falls under $100,000, you would NOT be at a disadvantage to winning prizes because you would be judged on your Weekly and Monthly percentage gains — not your absolute performance in dollars and sense.
That way, everyone has an equal chance to win Weekly and Monthly prizes
James: Loyalty Points are currently redeemable for Portfolio resets and we will be adding new products in the future, specifically Amazon Gift cards.
I think everyone should be reset at the end/beginning for this reason: If someone has a $100,000 portfolio and in one month goes up to $120,000 thats a 20% gain, if someone has a $20,000 portfolio and they go up to $40,000 in one month thats a 100% gain thats not computing correctly to me of how you are going to do this percentage….to keep people from complaining and whining, I think a reset where everyone starts with the same would be better
I agree James…. I think we should all be able to restart on even ground at eh beginning of each contest….
I agree, I think that the contest portfolio should start at 100K at the beginning of the contest. But it does say you can use your loyalty points to resaet your portfolios.Here is a new twist. WSS may allow us to use both portfolios, the contest and permanent portfolios in the next contest.
I agree, I think that the contest portfolio should start at 100K at the beginning of the contest. But it does say you can use your loyalty points to reset your portfolios.Here is a new twist. WSS may allow us to use both portfolios, the contest and permanent portfolios in the next contest.
I agree with all my buddies here. amazing isn’t it!
Doug, however, makes the best point. I too have been treating my contest portfolio knowing it would end and start over again.
But, I also like WSS’s idea for different reasons.
I suggest that WSS stick with resetting everyone’s portfolio to 100.000 for the new contest on Sept 1st. AS everyone was expecting. And then implement this “no-rest for new portfolios” rule for upcoming contests. Thanx
Seti03
I think the portfolio should be reset to $100K ….Doug~i thought it was the case that a negative portfolio couldn’t win?…anyway…i still like the idea of resetting and putting everyone back to the same level playing field at the start of the game….
I like the idea of the monthly Loyalty Points prize, but please, please, PLEASE let us reset our portfolios (without us having to use up our loyalty pts to do so)
JamesLT, Rosebud et. al.-
The plan is that your new maximum holding will change from $25,000 to 25% of your total portfolio. So, James, Rosebud and others, one would NOT more easily be able to double your portoflio by starting at $40k compared to someone who starts at $100k. Both Survivors would be equally challenged to double their portfolio because the maximum position limit will be the same for both.
Having a negative portfolio (under $100k) will no longer dis-qualify anyone from earning a prize.
Make sense?
Author: Mark Berger
Comment:
JamesLT, Rosebud et. al.-
The plan is that your new maximum holding will change from $25,000 to 25% of your total portfolio. So, James, Rosebud and others, one would NOT more easily be able to double your portoflio by starting at $40k compared to someone who starts at $100k. Both Survivors would be equally challenged to double their portfolio because the maximum position limit will be the same for both.
—-
Response:
I think it is more difficult to be able to “double your portfolio” by starting at $40k compared to someone who starts at $100k. because you just don’t have the same amount of money to put into a trade so if you can only invest $10 on 4 trades as oppose to $25k on 4 trades it is not an “equal challenge” ….
Unless, i totally don’t understand this mark….???
Karand,
I don’t think you’re grasping the concept yet. It will not be easier or harder to double your portfolio if you start with less money.
Prizes are NOT BASED on Absolute returns any more. Prizes are based on Percentage returns starting Sept 1, not absolute dollar returns.
Let’s look at a scenario to see how it is not unfair for Survivors with less than $100k to start:
Poor Survivor has a $50k starting portfolio and increases it to $100k at the end of the first month.
That’s a $50k absolute gain, and a 100% gain.
Rich Survivor starts with a $100k portfolio and increases it to $150k at the end of the month. That’s also a $50k absolute gain but only a 50% gain.
Poor Survivor would beat Rich Survivor in the Monthly prizing because Poor Survivor returned 100% while Rich Survivor returned only 50%.
Notice how Poor Survivor and Rich Survivor both increased their Portfolios by the same absolute amount ($50k) but Poor Survivor won because of the better percentage return (100% vs. 50%).
Is that clearer now?
Thanks Mark~
that was a great explanation…sometimes it’s tough arriving on the “short bus”…but eventually i get there….
The 25% limit does change the overall fairness. But I still don’t like it. I think we should all start out at $100K.
What about the $10 commission per trade? Will that be factored in to the % gain? I know it’s not much, but it would make a difference. For instance, using your example, Mark, Poor Survivor and Rich Survivor each buy an equal proportion of the same 10 stocks at the same time and hold them for the same amount of time. Their percentage gains would be exactly the same, except for the commission. $100 to Poor Survivor is a bigger percentage of their portfolio than the same $100 to Rich Survivor.
Doug:
Commissions will remain the same for everyone: $10/trade.
Still.. the poor guy.. with a 25% limit of port value.. cant invest the same amoutn of money.. and cant realize the same gains.. Just like real life.. the rich get richer.. and the poor get poorer.. Very slim margin of error for the little guy…
I have changed my opinion, now that WSS has fully explained it to me. i think this is a great idea. Just think guys n gals. You won’t have your portfolio dumped at the end of a contest.
Think now, what happens to a stock that you bought at a dollar, the stock takes off, the contest ends. You weren’t going to sell it anytime soon, but, now that in the past, you would have to repurchase the stock at a higher price ( unnecessarily increasing your downside risk)
You get to keep the stock at the price you originally paid for.
Great Idea….does any of this make any sense…
Originally my opposition to the idea was based on looking at what my permanent portfolio has been doing (it is basically a flat tire seeping air slowing)… but that is really not fair since i don’t pay as much attention to that portfolio as i do the 50k portfolio… now i am thinking it might be interesting to see how i can perform when i switch my attention to a more “real life” situation….
Not true Lorelie!
Dollar gains don’t matter in the new game! Percentage gains are what matter.
Everyone has the 25% buying limit and the prizes are based on PERCENTAGE gains, not DOLLAR gains, so everyone is judged the same.
What Mark said still makes me worry about he guy that has a low dollar porttfolio, A person that has a portfolio at $25,000 and at the end of the end of the month has $50,000 increases thats 100% . A player has $100.000 and at the end of the month they gain $25,000 thats a 25% increase, the guy that has a smaller portfolio has the advantage…that all my point was about…the way it stands now I have a better chance to get money with my $22k portfolio than even someone with a $75,000 portfolio….thats If I can pick the right stocks
JamesLT -
You will see that you won’t have an advantage with a small Portfolio.
Take this example:
Rich Survivor has a $150,000 portfolio and Poor Survivor has a $50,000 Portfolio. Both Survivors buy the maximum amount of Yahoo @$25/share.
Due to the new 25% max. buying rule, Rich Survivor can buy $37,500 worth of Yahoo! and Poor Survivor can only buy $12,500 worth.
Now, no matter what happens to Yahoo’s stock, each Survivor will gain/lose the same percentage of their original portfolio and thus remain equal in the Weekly and Monthly standings.
So, if Yahoo gains 10% to $27.50, Rich Survivor will see a Portoflio gain of $3,750, or 2.5%. Poor Survivor will see a Portfolio gain of $1,250, or 2.5%.
Both Survivors gain the same percentage amount: 2.5% and thus gain equally in the competition to win Weekly and Monthly prizes.
poor survivor is more than likely not going to have any buying power….hence the qualification “poor” survivor…….so it is a catch 22 situation….. theoretically you could buy $7500 worth of stock if you had portfolio of 30,000….but more than likely you don’t have the buying power to do so….
The same Buying Power rules hold true for a rich Survivor as well.
To raise cash, both Rich and Pooor Survivor must liquidate existing positions if they have not enough buying power.