# "Stock Market" for Entertainment **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 11, 2007, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-market-for-entertainment/407600 "2007-06-11T19:17:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-market-for-entertainment/407600/1 "2007-06-11T19:17:06Z")
There’s “stock markets” where people buy (with phoney money, of course), “futures” in things like the Presidential campaign, Oscar winners, and a few other things. It’s now been expanded to [entertainment in general](http://mediapredict.com/). You can buy futures on things like books, movies and music. I’m just going to say that they should have done something like this _years_ ago, since there were so many times that I’ve seen things heavily promoted that absolutely should _never_ have gotten the greenlight to begin with. Also, back when I worked for a bookstore chain, and I came across a confidential memo detailing what they’d projected the best sellers for a certain month worth, and what the _actual_ best sellers were. They only got about 1 out of 10 right, and _anybody_ with a clue should have been able to do better than what they were projecting. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-market-for-entertainment/407600/2 "2007-06-11T19:35:34Z")
Actually, these things have been around for years - Hollywood Stock Exchange ([hsx.com](http://hsx.com)) has been around since 1996! I remember this being one of the first really interactive things on the web that I got involved in. I remember I bet everything I had on Cameron Diaz and made a boatload of money, but then I changed jobs and forgot my username/password. I wonder what my worth would be today? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-market-for-entertainment/407600/3 "2007-06-11T22:11:49Z")
Yeah, I was part of the Hollywood Stock Exchange back at least a decade ago. Made some money (I was once in their monthly top ten), but quit cold turkey when I realized how pathetic the entire concept was. I mean, I made money on “Where’s Harry Crumb?” for God’s sakes. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-market-for-entertainment/407600/4 "2007-06-11T22:32:31Z")
I won a hat on HSX. Then I thought, why am I spending so much time researching movies to win a stupid hat? I should be researching real stocks instead. And that is when I opened my first investment accounts. Back in the 90’s there were also some games based on the real stock market - There was one called Final Bell, IIRC. I don’t know if any of them are still going. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-market-for-entertainment/407600/5 "2007-06-11T22:35:51Z")
I forgot to mention [Idea Futures](http://ideafutures.com/), which has been around even longer than HSX. I haven’t played it for 10 years or more, but I still get the occasional email when one of my predictions pans out (or doesn’t). ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stock-market-for-entertainment/407600/6 "2007-06-11T23:27:26Z")
[QUOTE=Manduck] Back in the 90’s there were also some games based on the real stock market - There was one called Final Bell, IIRC. I don’t know if any of them are still going. [/QUOTE] I had one on my Commodore 64 in the late '80s. No idea where it came from but one of the companies (#13) was based on the De Lorean Motor Company, which usually ended up trading at $1/share.