three days, $91,000 to invest in stocks, what would you invest in?

In My Humble Opinion (IMHO)
#1

okay:
I have been playing a stock market simulation game with one of my professors (Investopedia) and we have a bet over lunch who makes more money within a certain amount of time.

well that certain amount of time is three days from now. I have $91,000 to invest and it’s in all of your hands! I don’t want to buy lunch! (it’s an extremely friendly game with us) needless to say she is winning and I need to pick it up!

Hit me with some symbols… and we’ill see how it turns out

also, since my integrity is also at stake (she won’t let me live this down), I might send a nice little care package to the person who recommends a stock with the largest return.

#2

[Moderator Hat ON]

Not really a great debate, more of an IMHO. Off you go.

[Moderator Hat OFF]

#3

Just watch Mad Money with Jim Cramer on CNBC. He will tell you the stocks you need to become a billionare. Buy whatever compnay whose name he screams the most.

#4

I would sell short QQQQ.

#5

If it’s gross balance at the end of the time period (3 days?), I might hold onto it.

If I misread, and you have more time, then I coudl suggest Health Care sotcks (UNH, AET, WLP), as they tend to do well when the market slows (as I see it doing now). To make decent money, you’d need to stay in until about year’s end (health care stocks typically enjoy a 4Q upsurge).

Wal-Mart may do well in the next few days, too.

-Cem

#6

You might try Home Depot (HD) for much the same reasons as WalMart.

#7

The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates by a quarter of a percent tomorrow or the day after. Perhaps you could short the stocks of a big homebuilder like KB Homes (symbol KBH). Or you could be bold and invest based on a lowering of interest rates. If you’re right, you’ll make a bundle, since everyone expects a rate hike.

#8

None of these investment ideas are likely to score big on a 3 day horizon - well, maybe Kramer’s picks, but that’s an anomaly (the Kramer effect, formerly known as the Lou Dobbs effect).

Does it have to be stocks? If you want to really take a chance on the Kramer effect, you could instead try options on the stocks he touts, where available. Put options on his bears and call options on his bulls. Or you can make a futures play, hoping that the market reacts sourly to the interest report (although, in theory, a quarter point drop has already been factored into prices).

#9

We need more information. How long have you guys been playing the current game, and how far ahead is she?

If you’re way behind, you should abandon all conventional wisdom about investing, since it’s not real money and it doesn’t matter how much you lose by if you do lose. Your only goal is to give yourself a chance to win. Gamble it all on a single volatile stock. Something with a price of a few dollars, which just needs to go up a fraction of a point to give you a huge percentage gain.

#10

Now that housing is slowing down (you might even say the bubble is popping…) I’m not sure I’d buy HD right now…

#11

Yeah, if it wasn’t for that “3-day thing”, I might argue with you: Buy low now and wait for a run-up next spring.

#12

If you’re in a losing position riht now I’d just say go for something with extreme volatility.

There’s a fifty percent chance that you’ll lose, but a fifty percent chance that you’ll win as well and if you’re in a losing position right now then that’s the best chance you’ll likely have.

If anyone here had some dependably better answers for making money on a 3-day basis in the stock market, then they wouldn’t be on The Dope, they’d be day-trading.

#13

I’m about 10 grand behind :frowning:

#14

You need a better than 10% gain in three days. Chuck the conventional wisdom.

You need an inside tip. :slight_smile:

#15

Is this a game online or cd-rom form?

#16

  1. Search Google News for “SEC investigation” and write down all of the names that come up in connection with insider trading violations.

  2. Find e-mail addresses for these people/addresses.

  3. Write them an e-mail asking for stock advice explaining that they can try to just play off all of their real insider trading as what they believed to be “play-trading”. Like for instance Martha Stewart: she didn’t want to her stockbroker to sell off stocks in a drug company upon news of a failed drug, she wanted her play stockbroker to sell off shares of a drug company with a failed drug. It was all just a big mix up with the Rolodex, you see.

  4. Profit. Or, free lunch.

#17

Since you’re talking about speculating, rather than investing, I have no answer. Just pick a stock and hope it floats?

What is the bet? Who can get a better 3-day gain? What would that prove?

#18

ERIE BREWING CO Cusip: 294893102

#19

it’s actually free game at www.investopedia.com click on “simulator”
Actually, I would be willing to start a private competition among the dopers if there is enough interest. if you are interested, post it… then I’ll arrange everything, and we can get it going.
Everything is free… one thing we all have to agree on is the day which we want the tournament to end and if we want any prizes (everyone throw in a couple dollars) we can all figure it out later.

oh and by the way every stock mentioned in this post was bought I will let you know how I am doing.

#20

Go to Atlantic City, pick a casino and then a crap table. Put it on red or black, your choice. With three days to go it’s the only logical investment. (it’s just as much of an “investment” as many you’ll find, if not most)