Playing & Trading Strategy

Hi, I'm Dimensional Traveler.  DT for short.  I've been a player at HSX for three years as of the day I'm posting this.  In that time I've seen a lot of advice given by some very successful players.  People who have played for five years, ten years and longer, with portfolios worth billions.  Now obviously they know just a bit about playing the game.    Even better, many of them are very generous with their time and advice, being very willing to help new players learn, play better and grow their ports faster.  Many of them also run websites analyzing securities and giving advice and I recommend you check them out.  To all of them a big thank you.

Without intending to belittle what they've said, there is one thing I've noticed about all the advice they've given.  It all seems to be intended for high intensity play requiring a lot of time every day, all day.  While it obviously works for them there are a lot of more casual players.  People like me who can only log in once a day for maybe an hour or so, maybe not even that often.  Those players have to approach things a bit differently.  Instead of spending the time to squeeze every last penny out of every security they invest in during the next hour or two, they have to think more long term.  We tend to "buy and forget", holding securities until delist or adjust.  I felt it was time for an advice post for that kind of player.  So here are some of the things that I do that seem to have worked for me.

First off, I have to include a disclaimer.  All of the following is advice only based on my personal opinion.  It may not always pay off, nothing is certain.  These suggestions are based on my personal observations and have been generally consistent for me.  You follow any of this advice at your own risk and discretion.

Okay, as a casual player and very conservative investor I am looking for "safe" investments.  Securities that while they may not generate huge or fast profits I can be fairly certain are not going to lose me money in the long term.  Many of these are also things where the investing is based on general trends.  Individual securites within these groups will lose money but the rest will make more than enough to cover those loses and I still come out ahead.  Experienced players know about these but it can take time for new players to understand the game enough to learn about them, so here are some in no particular order.

The "Earn H$" games: These are easy to overlook but they are pure profit, no investment required!  You should play as many of them as you have time for every day you log in.  If you have time to play all the rounds allowed of all three games what you win from them can add up surprisingly fast.  Classic Cash is a game of pure chance but Learn & Earn and Movie Mogul can be steady sources of cash.  Some basic Google work, usually looking it up on IMDb, will find the answers to the Learn & Earn questions.  For Movie Mogul, the box office made by a movie can be found at Box Office Mojo.  Looking up the movies there should guarantee you get those questions right.

Funds: Funds are run by experienced players who volunteer to do so and as such most are reasonable to very good investments.  Funds are divided into Studio Funds and Theme Funds.  Studio funds are restricted to investing in the films from a particular movie studio over a set time period.  I've never run a fund at HSX but from everything I've seen and read these are the most difficult kind of fund to run.  I have a lot of respect for the players who run them but despite all their best efforts they can't always make them big profit generators so I don't recommend them for the casual player as it requires a fair amount of research to select the ones to invest in.  Theme funds on the other hand are based on some theme such as Sci Fi, movies made or set in Europe, movies with actors who have at least X films in their history, etc.  These cash out when they reach H$100 and since they are usually run by the player who thought up the theme, they have a much easier time making money so they are generally better investments.  Theme funds are good "buy and forgets" as the majority of them will cash out fairly quickly. 

Limited Release IPOs:  There are a surprising number of movies listed on HSX that report tiny amounts of Box Office.  Shorting any IPO with an initial price of less than H$10 doesn't cost that much to invest in.  It won't generate huge profits but 99% of them will make you some money.  A fair number of these will also pay off in only a few months.  While they don't require a lot of attention one should check them as they get close to release and soon after release so you can bail out or flip your investment when one turns into a sleeper hit.

"Penny" Stocks:  These are movie stocks that are priced in the pennies.  Depending on my mood to me this means a stock that is either H$0.05 or less or H$0.10 or less in price.  This is a category of investments that is getting some attention on the HSX forums lately and searching there will give the new player a lot to read.  The idea behind the Penny Stocks strategy is kind of like the lottery.  Most of them will lose money but as each one didn't cost much you don't lose much on each one and when one pays off it tends to pay off huge, more than covering your investment with a big profit.  The downside is that this is a very long term strategy.  Depending on your luck and timing it may take a year or two before it starts paying off.  On the other hand its another "buy and forget" strategy that doesn't take a lot of time to implement.  Just run a search for MovieStocks below a certain price every week or two and buy accordingly.  Personally I don't buy any movies in the "concept" phase as that is usually a good indication that its headed for a dead delist.  If one of those is currently priced high enough I'll short it.

Starbonds:  Many new players have trouble understanding Starbonds.  It may take some time to understand them but if you can do so they can be very safe investments that pay off well.  One can think of Starbonds as measurements of how well the actor's career is going.  (The actor may not agree with that simplification however.   )  Basically a Starbond's price is based on the average Box Office of the last five movies they starred in.  So when a SB adjusts, that adjustment is based on the difference in Box Office between their latest movie and the one they were in five movies ago.  That's a gross, perhaps over-, simplification but hopefully gets the general concept across.  There are a number of sites that help explain Starbonds and/or analyze them for players to identify the best ones to invest in and the rules governing them are in HSX's FAQ and Glossary.  I would strongly suggest new players take the time to learn how Starbonds work.  They can be a great source of income and I've personally built much of my portfolio on them but they are involved enough that explaining them is too long a subject for this post.  They are not "buy and forgets", you should check and update your Starbond investments at least every Tuesday after the Starbond Adjust in the morning.

Blockbuster Franchises:  Much as many of us complain about the lack of originality in Hollywood there is a reason the studios keep making more Star Trek's, Spider-man's, Fast & Furious's, Die Hard's, etc.  They make money.  They can make you (fake) money too, IF you invest early enough.  Like at the IPO.  Most of the investments I've discussed so far don't cost much but these can cost quite a bit so I would suggest that new players wait until they've grown their ports significantly before getting into these.  These can also be very long term investments as the IPOs for some of these franchise installments can be years before they will premiere.  That also makes them riskier.  They can also be money sinks at times as over the years other players will "play" the stock so it will go up and down in the short term but over the long term they will usually go up in price as they tend to IPO well below what the eventual Box Office will be.  For the casual player that can be more important.

The final item I want to talk about is enjoying the game.  Because it is just a game.  What you get out of it is entirely up to you.  Any goals you have for it should be set by you.  If you don't want to be competitive, then don't be.  If you want to just goof off with your portfolio, do it.  If you do want to be competitive and racing up the ranks, go for it.  Don't let anyone else tell you whether you are having fun or not, only you can decide that.  Myself, I'm on HSX as much for the forums, the community and the chance to talk and learn about movies as I am to make fake money.  I hope what I've written is helpful or thought provoking for some of you, regardless of whether you are a veteran HSX billionaire or just a casual part-time player.  Enjoy yourselves, all of you.