Stock Market Game Reflection: No2

This game does not officially end until the 26th of October 2011, 13 days after the assessment task is due. As a result all opinion and facts stated will be up until the 12th of October 2011.

All shares bought summary and very honest opinion:

If I could have had a decision I would not have bought any shares in August-September due to the fact that the US economy was shaky as it was just downgraded a credit rating by Standard and Poors, down to AA+. However this game could not be played without buying shares and I decided to buy shares from trusted companies that usually performed well. Also the current economic situation in Europe did not help Australian shares; except for a very recent surge in the stock market that meant that I did not lose as much money as originally thought.
I had thought of not buying any shares until the last minute but I did not trust myself in remembering to log on and buy some shares.

Due to this downturn I did not like the thought of logging onto the game and seeing how badly I was doing. I maintain my decision in not buying more shares however as it may have worsened my losses. By looking at the current Arden rankings however I don't think I could have done much worse than my current position.

Shares bought and reason:

BHP: I bought these shares as they are mining stocks and they usually perform well. However they are better for long term investment as the current economic climate does not tend well to short term investing.

RIO: These are also good shares for investing in the long term, and they usually perform well like BHP. However the current economic situation in the US and Europe affect Australia and it means that shares all round usually tumble. The recent recovery has improved my shares but it has not improved the fact that I lost a lot of money.

MQG: After buying RIO and BHP I felt that I needed another share in the pot in order to not just put all my money into the mining sector. Otherwise I cannot remember another reason in which I bought Macquarie shares. As stated earlier if I could play the game without buying shares I would have done it due to the economic situation in August.


Share performance:

BHP: It was steadily recovering from the news of the US credit rating decrease but by the beginning of September it declined due to news that Greece may not be bailed out. It declined to about 34 dollars a share until the October recovery where it is at approximately 37 dollars per share.

RIO: Like BHP it decreased in September but a steady but sharp decrease was not noted until the middle of September where its share price fell about 12 dollars in a matter of days. It has since recovered to just under 68 dollars.

MQG: The October increase was one of the only highlights for the Macquarie share price this year as it has fallen for the best part of this year before recovering in October. Like the other shares it fell dueing September and rose again in October, the rise nearly compensating for the losses it sustained in September.