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[Blood-Pigggy]

Also you betray us if you buy HoTU stocks.

[Tulac]

Yes and we will make trade sanctions against you.

[Sebatianos]

KA-CHING!

Every sanctions create a blackmarket (black stock market in this case) and I'll be running it MWAHAHAHAHAHA.

But seriously guys, there's something slightly disturbing I find about Thothmarket... Anybody else has that feeling?

[Tulac]

It's somewhat lame, because it doesn't say what's the number of stocks outstanding. So with IPO I own 10% of shares, 10% of what number?

[_r.u.s.s.]

http://thotmarket.com/about.php

Can I make money?

Yes, there are plenty of ways to make money. We suggest finding a job that you enjoy, find fullfilling, and makes the world a better place.[/b]

[Sebatianos]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tulac @ Sep 13 2007, 10:36 PM) [snapback]310735[/snapback]</div>

So with IPO I own 10% of shares, 10% of what number?
[/b]

Err... 10% of the full 100%... that would be the number you own times ten Unless they changed the laws of math.

[Tulac]

But the point is that there isn't a finite number of shares outstanding. Normally when you IPO, you sell an exact number of shares based on demand. So if 100 000 shares would be sold in the IPO I would have 10 000. And the 90 000 would be publicly traded. But in this game it doesn't say what is the number of shares outstanding so I don't know what is the full 100%.

[Japo]

Well, there are infinite shares outstanding. You've got 10% of them, and 10% of infinite equals infinite. I don't understand your query. There are infinite shares and you've got an infinite part of it, and since each share has a finite value then you've infinitely rich --that's more so than Bill gates. It's quite clear for me.

You think all this makes no economic sense? Well quite obviously you must be deranged.

[Luchsen]

@_r.u.s.s.
I wanted to post that, but thought I would be lapidated for it - now you will.

[Havell]

It's still possible for Tulac to own 10% of the company, even though there's an infinite amount of shares available. The websites listed on Thotmarket are all OIECs (Open Ended Investment Companies), or mutual funds, for all you Americans out there.

It's a perfectly workable system, and it ensures that the prices of the shares fluctuate purely on the basis of the performance of the company, rather than on the supply and demand for the shares themselves (as will happen with comapanies that have fixed numbers of shares). It also means that people don't sell their shares to each other, buying and selling is handled purely by the company.

Say my friend starts a company (using the OIEC system) worth £100, he gives himself 100 shares worth £1 each. I then buy 100 shares for myself from the company for £100; meaning the company has £200 in assets and £200 worth of shares have been issued. A month later, the company has been doing rather well, now having £400 worth of cash and assets. The shares are now worth £2 each as there are still 200 of them. I decide to cash in my investment. I get £200 for my 100 shares. The company is now worth £200 (having givne half of its assets to me), but the only shares remaining are my friend's, which are still worth £2 each.

(First year Economics student here)

EDIT: Though it seems that the value of the stocks are indeed affected by their supply and demand. I can't imagine what ker-azy system they're using, thoguh it's almost certainly not one you'll find in real life. Ah well, the point still remains that it's possibe for Tulac to own 10% of a company that there are infinite shares available for. In fact, it's possible to own 100% of an OIEC, and then to find that you suddenly don't anymore as someone's come along and invested money in it without you having any control over it (besides buying even more shares to increase your share again, of course...).