Thanks! We may want to add Netflix since most consoles now make heavy use of it. Though as much as possible we might want to stick to businesses that are deeply involves in games. Let's try to think of devs that are publicly owned that I may have missed. Is onlive public? I'll check. (edit: doesn't look like it. Couldn't find it on google finance) We could make a separate investopedia game for the movie industry, and a joined game for the entertainment industry. Let's start with gaming industry for the first game and expand from there ;) let me know if you guys joined so I can add you to the ladder board.

@ baalzamon. It's looking good for your school project! Was it limited to entertainment, or you could pick just any stock? Well, good job picking Nintendo. Though Nintendo's upswing seems bound to the upward jump of the japanese market, Nintendo stock does seem generally low and can really mostly go up. The fact that the next upward surge cycle is within a year and a half coming probably also helps. Smart move to pick a company in an industry you have your feet deep into!

We could basically pick anything from a stock, a mutual fund, commodities, bonds...pretty much anything as long as it traded above $5. We did have the ability to short a stock if we chose to as well.

Thread Update

New thread features

Okay guys, I'm introducing 3 new features to the thread:

1) Word study of the day: I will choose a word in the glossary, and study it a little and post my research.
2) Daily news: A digest of stock related news for all companies we're following.
3) Daily Stock Watch: A list of stock variations for the day for the companies we're following.

Stock Simulator

About the stock simulator, I'll be making a new pilot project lasting a week, it'll begin this coming Tuesday (when markets open), hope you can participate!

Once I see how the pilot projects go, we may have dedicated threads for them, in the style of Mafia (1 thread per round).

Term of the day

Cash Flow (source: NASDAQ.com Glossary)

In investments, cash flow represents earnings before depreciation, amortization, and non-cash charges. Sometimes called cash earnings. Cash flow from operations (calledfunds from operations by real estate and other investment trusts) is important because it indicates the ability to pay dividends.

Brief Study term Cash Flow

From what I understand, cash flow is different from the broader term earnings in that it is probably a value before certain other cuts or spreading of assets or expenses over a period of time. If I understand correctly cash flow should be greater > earnings in value. What are depreciation and amortization, and what could be an example of non-cash charges? 

depreciation (definition 1) -> A method of allocating the cost of a tangible asset over its useful life. (Businesses depreciate long-term assets for both tax and accounting purposes.)

amortization (definition 2) -> The deduction of capital expenses over a specific period of time (usually over the asset's life). More specifically, this method measures the consumption of the value of intangible assets (such as a patent or a copyright).

non-cash charges (examples) -> accounting policy changes or significant depreciation in the market value of an asset or inventory.

Ultimately Cash Flow (cash earnings) seems to have more meaning than the broader earnings for investors, in that it probably conveys better the money the company made (hence cash), and thus its ability to pay dividends to shareholders.

Feel free to discuss, agree, disagree or help others understand.

I joined the group - it didn't ask me for a password though? Not sure if I'm doing this right :)

Once you're signed up to investopedia and logged in

Go ahead and paste this VIP URL (in the same browser from which you logged in)

goo.gl/hJqCm 

EDIT: You only need the passkey (58958) if you're going from the search function. Otherwise, with the VIP url you won't need it. ;)

Once there you'll see this join game screen:

Then, once you've joined the game, you'll be directed to your "My Portfolio" (Portfolio tab).

1) Use the Trade tab (circled in green) to buy/sell stocks. Make sure you're in the right game (also in green below).

2) The market hours are circled in brown, as well as your account status (Account Value, Buying Power, Cash and Annual Return).

Try it out, also try the "Buying Stocks" tutorial (circled in green above).

Jump to VGStockz Market Simulator League.

If we do a stock sim I want to invest in Nintendo, Netflix, and Pandora. Hell, I should just throw Apple in there for an easy bump.

It says that I'm already part of the game- I think I might be as well, since I can already buy stocks in preparation for market opening. I don't remember putting the passkey anywhere though, nor can I see anywhere to put one

Well, we can do a general stock sim in the future for sure. For the pilot though we'll stick to industry players. (Listed in page 1).

I might add Apple and Google, since they both hold application platforms which include games (iOS, OS X and android).

@Radish. Yeah :) You're right. The password is for people who don't have the VIP url ;) So yeah, you're in :) I'll add you to the ladder.

Oh it would just be video game related companies then right?  What about companies like Redbox which now rent video games out?