Beating Nigel at the NeoDAQ

The slowest way to the greatest riches in Neopia can be found in the stock market. By investing your hard-earned Neopoints into the NeoDAQ, you too can make a pretty penny in just 5-10 years time!

The NeoDAQ Stock Market has existed since the earliest days of Neopia, and today we're going to delve in deep. First, I'll be giving you my guide full of tips that'll help you out-sell the most notorious stockbroking Chia there is, Nigel.

An Explanation Of The Stock Market

The Neopian Stock Market allows you to invest your Neopoints in various businesses around Neopia. This has mutual benefit for both you and the business of your choosing, they will get an sum of money to help them grow their business, and when they are doing well and making profit, you will be able to sell your shares off for more money than you paid.

Some examples of the different companies you can invest in are: Alien Aisha Vending Ltd. (AAVL), Faerie Clothing Ltd. (FAER), and The Neopian Auction House (TNAH). You can even invest in shares of The Neopian Times (TNPT).

Once you've decided which booming business you want to toss your Neopoints to, you can buy up to 1,000 shares per day. The cost will be whatever the current value per share is, which changes throughout the day. So if you see a price you don't like, just wait a bit and see if it becomes more favorable.

If you play the stock market long enough, you'll earn a rare avatar. To earn this avatar, you need to invest a lot of NP into the market over a long period of time, so be patient (patience really is the key to everything related to stocks).

Quick Stock Tips

If you really want to master the market, you're going to have a few decisions to make. There are a few different ways to tackle the market, some riskier than others. In this section, we'll take a look at these different techniques and also delve a bit into the strategies of them.

- Buy Low / Sell High

This is the easiest and safest strategy, and also the most popular. The concept is in the name: buy low, sell high. The lowest price that Nigel will let you buy is 15 NP/share (unless you win some favorable boon in the Battleground of the Obelisk, in which case you can purchase a stock as low as 10 NP/share).

So, you'll buy a stock at the lowest possible price and then wait. Buy 1,000 shares every day, only buying whichever stock is at 15 NP/share. Diversifying your portfolio by buying from different companies each day is very helpful!

As time goes by, keep an eye on all your stocks. You'll see them fluctuate greatly over the next weeks, months, even years, but eventually they will grow! Everyone has a different point at which they sell, some are happy to sell at 30 NP/share (doubling their money), but I personally wait until they grow to 60 NP/share. If I'm feeling lucky, I'll wait even longer to 100 NP/share. It can take a very long time, but it is fairly safe to invest in the current companies, with an almost guaranteed profit.

- Day Trading

This is a riskier strategy, one that involves a bit more studying and also a greater investment. However, there isn't TOO much risk of loss as long as you never sell at a loss. The concept behind day trading is that you sell a stock within the same day (or within a few days) of buying the stock. As I mentioned earlier, all stocks fluctuate constantly throughout the day, usually by only a few points. You can buy 1,000 shares of a stock at any price above 15 NP/share, and then check up on it throughout the day to see if the share price has gone up.

Doing this can net you as much as 1,000 NP profit if the share price climbs even one point. Stocks have been known to grow over 7 NP/share in a few hours before, so this strategy can help you get those few extra Neopoints you need in an emergency.

NEVER SELL AT A LOSS! If you are day trading and the stock drops and shows no sign of going up, wait! Eventually it will climb back up into profit, even if it takes weeks, but just keep waiting! Never sell at a loss!

- All-In-One

This technique isn't used as often as the others but can still lead you to profit. The idea is simple, invest every day in the same stock. My recommendation, if you use this method, is to invest every day in a stock as long as it stays under 20 NP/share. Once you bulk buy the stock to your liking, or until the price goes over 20 NP/share, it's time to wait til you're at a comfortable selling point. As I did during the Buy Low / Sell High strategy, I recommend selling at 60 NP/share with this method as well.

Bankruptcy

A Neopian's worst nightmare: bankruptcy. A stock reaches bankruptcy when the price per share drops to zero. At this point, the company has gone under and is completely out of business. What does this mean for you? That hard earned NP you invested is no more. If the company is out of business, they can't make any money to pay you back for your investment. This is the only real way for you to lose money by gambling in the stock market and it is VERY rare. So rare, in fact, it hasn't happened in over a decade. But it can indeed happen again, so be wary.

If you're brand new to stocks, this can all be very intimidating. Don't fret, you can do it! This article isn't the only tool to help you. There is a whole Neoboard devoted to the stock market, full of amateur Nigel's ready to give you all the assistance you require. Stay patient, keep investing, and keep hoping, someday in the (far, far) future you'll possibly be wealthy enough to afford a convertible as nice as Nigel's!