Hollywood Stock Exchange
Years ago, some friends and I played against each other in the Hollywood Stock Exchange. After years of not playing, it turns out our accounts are still active, and my account, which started with a $2 million stake all those years ago, now is at crazy Sultan of Brunei levels, clocking in at H$571,176,653.44 when I logged in today. More than two hundred and fifty percent growth on investment ain’t bad.
How I did it is pretty simple. Forget emotion, forget your own preferences. Stock value is supposed to equal, in millions, what a movie will earn after four weeks of release. If the price is less than that, buy it. If it’s more than that, sell it. It’s that simple.
So, The Brothers Grimm isn’t tearing it up at the box office right now? I bought it at $6.68. Unless Terry Gilliam starts showing up in theaters and killing movie-goers with a shovel, it will earn more than $6.68 million dollars in its first month of release. (In fact, it made $15.1 million in its first weekend.) That’s all there is to it.
I used to use my friend Greg’s UpcomingMovies.com site to look two years ahead for summer blockbusters before anyone else heard of them, since they tend to have the largest four week grosses each year. His site is now part of Yahoo! Movies, but the principle is still the same.
Now, if only someone would give me a $2 million stake in real life and unleash me on the stock market …
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