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EmpireBuilding.net is Now Live!

Sun, 04 Jul 2010 22:26:00 -0400

Empire Building is switching to a new blog site with expanded capabilities. You can now find us at EmpireBuilding.net

Look for new features and content in the near future. In the meantime, please excuse the construction as we get everything switched over. Tumblr is not really supported for importing all the posts here.

We`ll keep the existing content here for anybody that has linked to it. However, we are copying everything over and all new content will be on the new site. Tumblr was a great home while we got started, but time to really get building that empire.

Cheers, Bill Pitcher.

We Have to be Patient

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:30:00 -0400

I am seeing a number of messages on the Empire Avenue site and on Twitter about people debating the future of Empire Avenue or their future on the site. Some people wonder if it has enough in it to keep them engaged over a longer-term or if it requires too much effort for what is gained. Certainly, I think it can be disheartening if you put a lot of work into raising your share price only to watch it slip away because you had to go out of town or you had family obligations. Plus, there is not that many people using the site. This limited audience reduces the value of social networking.

Next, the challenge ahead…
While I believe that Empire Avenue is going to get better every week, I think it is going to be some time before it reaches even half of its potential. The Empire Avenue team have come up with a great concept, and they have been working night and day to realize it. However, they are creating both a major game site with the stock simulation and a social networking medium. Two major tasks. I could develop a long list of features I want to see here, but I know my list would only be a fraction of what the founders have already put on their wish lists. Building the Empire Avenue platform is going to take time. As (e)Dups and others like to remind us — ‘That’s why it’s still in beta.’

So, what does all this mean for us? The short answer is we will have to be patient. As I said, it will get better. Most importantly, don’t let it get you down or frustrate you. It’s not the perfect networking platform yet. Nor is it the perfect gaming platform. I have invested time into developing this blog site, but I realize that Empire Avenue may never realize its potential. It is because of that incredible potential though, that I was prepared to take this chance. So, find the level of activity that is right for you, and remember despite any challenges you might have with the site, you are miles ahead of the people that will join in the coming months. Don’t let it get you down. It’s only fake money. What’s cool is at some point, there may be real money at stake. Imagine the place then?

What do you think? Are you prepared to stick with it while Empire Avenue develops? Has your opinion changed over time?

Blue Horseshoe Loves Endicott Steel

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 21:05:28 -0400

Until Empire Avenue converts our new site to a Blog feed listing, we are going to keep posting here too.

If you have been reading these blog entries, you know that we like interesting headlines here at the Empire Building network. Today’s, however, might have you really scratching your head if you cannot remember this (somewhat) famous stock-related movie line. The line was used by Charlie Sheen’s character in the movie Wall Street. Blue Horseshoe was a code used to give others like those in the media a tip that someone was going to be making a move on a particular stock. When Blue Horseshoe loved something, it was going up.

Next, the hot tips of Empire Avenue…

You may have noticed that there are stocks on Empire Avenue that respond as if someone just shared a hot tip with the world. Indeed like in the movie, there may be people working together behind the scenes to buy it. It does not really matter. If a stock starts to look hot, we all pile on. The bigger the initial play, the bigger we seem to pile on. So, watch for the movers in the recent arrivals list and check out Nelson Munoz’s great blog, Recent Empire, for tips on new members of Empire Avenue.

If you really want to score a fast win, keep refreshing your Portfolio Headlines page and watch for an investor buying a least a hundred shares of someone. If you are good and fast, you can also buy the stock before it goes up from the big purchase. I have done this a couple of times now and have watched a stock price as a big buy was made to see the timing of the rise. Adriel Hampton has a video discussing follow-on buys at his site, Game Mechanics.

Of course, things ended badly for Charlie Sheen’s character in Wall Street, but he was breaking the law. There is nothing preventing you from benefiting from a fast moving stock. Just remember, fast rising stocks can also lead to fast falling stocks. Do not forget about the importance of also picking stocks with long-term value.

Surviving the Monday Morning Blues

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 13:36:00 -0400

We already have a long tradition of Monday morning not being our favourite time in the week. For those of us trading in the world of Empire Avenue, most of us now have another reason to grumble. It’s pretty generally known that Empire Avenue is quieter on the weekends. Our stock prices and portfolios tend to take a hit.

Next, how to bounce back…
The first thing to remember is that the week will give you lots of opportunity to bounce back. Many people are in the same boat as you. So, do not get discouraged. You just need to get out there and start networking. Here’s a a quick list of small steps to get you back in the groove:

Find a number of new and existing people in your portfolio to buy small amounts of stock from. Your goal here is not investing, it is networking. Hopefully, a number of them will buy you back providing you with cash for more purchases. If you are running short, sell a consistently under-performing stock.
Follow people and let them know. Add people on Empire Avenue, but also add them on Twitter. I add them to an EmpireAve list as well (a nice touch). Then let them know that you have done all this. It looks impressive in a single message. You might also endorse a blog and offer to add them on Facebook. Of course, if you are buying a few shares, it is even better.
Write something — anything. Whether it is on Twitter, Facebook, your blog or the site itself share something, anything about your thoughts on Empire Avenue. This could be a comment on your degree of success; what you like about it; an interesting message you got; a funny profile you read. It doesn’t have to be poetry — just make it genuine.
Find five people that you are either going to compliment or ask a question of about their work or their interests. Have discussions because there are lots of interesting people on Empire Avenue.
Focus on the interacting not on your stocks. Judging from all the amber and red stocks in my ticker this morning, including my own, it is natural to take a weekend hit. So, do not worry about it. Give your attention instead to interacting with people. Make that your goal and intend that you are going to have fun doing it. The cool thing is your numbers will improve along the way.

The bottom-line is that Empire Avenue is intended to be a game and a networking site. So, make the start of the work week about the networking. There is always time to be a cut-throat stock trader later.

Max Out the Third Way to Make Money

Sun, 20 Jun 2010 11:48:58 -0400

Up until yesterday, I had been planning on writing about the fact that I was focussed on my shareprice and not on my wealth. I really had not given much thought to developing a strategy maximize my dividends earnings. Then, a funny thing happened. Yesterday, I topped the earnings charts. Given that I had not focused on this, I was definitely surprised. My key to my earnings was not nearly as obvious as my dividend payouts.

To create dividends for others, you must be active networking on the site and through your connected social media. That’s why my dividend payouts to my investors are high. The fact that the dividends I am receiving are also high means I have invested in people quite active on Empire Avenue. Again, I had not set out specifically to do this, but another one of my strategies had this happy side effect.

I have written previously about how you want to buy from those that are active and sell those that are not. I was focussed on their share price in this regard. However, their dividends are even more effected. So, you will get a double financial benefit in supporting active members. However, people’s activity levels are not the only thing that will effect how much you receive in dividends.

The system calculates how active someone was and awards them a total dividend value. You will receive a piece of this pie. How big your piece is depends on what percentage of the total outstanding shares you own in that person. This is called Dividend Percentage in the portfolio listing.

These percentages is where things get interesting. As far as I can tell, someone new can basically make the same activity earnings as someone on the top of the leader board here. I haven’t seen change in my activity credits in the time I have been here. However, someone new might have a thousand shares bought by other people (outstanding) while someone atop the leader board might have 12,000 shares sold to others. If you owned 100 shares in each case, you would get 10% of the dividends of the new person, but only 0.8% of the dividends of the more established person.

So, when it comes to dividends, two strategies are called for. First, invest in people with proven activity records on the site. (People like me.) However, you also need to be looking for new arrivals that seem serious about Empire Avenue. New arrivals are riskier, but there payouts will be much higher for you when you pick a winner (not to mention the return from a rising share price).

Dividend payouts are the third way to make money. First, you collect achievement credits, then you make money when the share prices of your investments rise. Next, you need to make sure you are taking advantage of that third way. By balancing your portfolio with proven veterans and promising rookies, you can join me at the top of the Earnings Leader Board.

"Just a quick tip tonight. If you find yourself using Twitter a lot more since joining Empire..."

Sat, 19 Jun 2010 21:43:16 -0400

“Just a quick tip tonight. If you find yourself using Twitter a lot more since joining Empire Avenue, you really owe it to yourself to check out a Twitter client like HootSuite (if you haven’t already). I already mentioned how the app allows you to schedule tweets throughout the day. Another great feature is it provides a multicolumn display. I can have a column with a saved search on “#EmpireAve”, “#Empire Avenue” and “Empire Avenue. So anytime someone tweets about the site, I know it quickly. It will also track for you whether your messages have been retweeted and how far. If you are still using the Twitter website, consider trading up.”

- RZR on Empire Avenue

The Secrets to My (Fake) Success

Sat, 19 Jun 2010 16:00:00 -0400

I have already been asked a couple of times what I did to earn my investors so much money this week. The short answer is that beyond the fact that we are rewarded for almost all of our social interactions, I don’t know. The folks at Empire Avenue wisely don’t want us to know exactly what is in their secret sauce. This way we have to focus on genuine interaction and not some machine like responses designed to juice our results.

Anyway, I haven’t tweeted the most. I don’t have six RSS feeds hooked up. I only use Facebook once or twice a day. Many people have me beat on all these fronts.

I do post to this blog a couple of times a day, but others do the same with theirs. I try to do a bit of everything, and that probably gives me a bonus.

My understanding though is that Empire Avenue is not just about how much you say, it’s also about how much gets said back to you and by whom. The more people that you engage in real two-way conversations the better. If those people are also very active on the site, I believe you also earn more influence. It’s better to have Empire Avenue’s equivalent of Oprah write you than the local morning show human-interest story guy.

Two-way conversation is where I think that is where I think I excel here. I really am a Chatty Cathy. I also try to leave people comments and the like that elicit a response. I often ask people something about themselves when exchanging shoutouts. (For example, you will notice this blog post ends in a question.) This quest for real dialog is both something that comes naturally to me and something I cultivate. After all, real conversation is so much more interesting than the typical online small talk.

So, let’s have a conversation. I tend to be interested about almost everything. Tap into whatever activity credits you get from my influence score. What would you like to discuss?

Why Are You Here?

Sat, 19 Jun 2010 12:56:00 -0400

Why did you sign up for Empire Avenue? You might be one of those people that loves to share everything with your friends and this is just one more place to do it. Alternatively, you have may have seen an opportunity to build your business and expand your work-related social network. If you have a friend that is addicted to the competitive game aspect of the site, you might have joined just to find out what they were ‘on about’. Indeed, you may have thought EA sounds like a great game yourself. I imagine for many of us there was a combination of factors that led our joining with most just thinking EA was worth checking out.

Like a bunch of people, I first learned about Empire Avenue from an article in Mashable. I am a big fan of Mashable and a regular reader of their Spark of Genius series that profiles interesting new online startups where EA was featured. I actually have been thinking about a Foursquare type app where users would participate in a competitive game type scenario to make their favourite hangouts more valuable. I was familiar with the Hollywood Stock Exchange (HSX.com) and even gave thought to a way of buying futures in your favourite places. So, when I read about it, I had a natural interest in Empire Avenue and was quick to sign-up for a beta invite. (Little did I know how eager Twitter enthusiasts would have been to let me in right away.)

I immediately got hooked on the game, but that’s often the way I roll. I try something out for a bit. I get really into it, and then I am on to the next thing. However, there was one important difference with Empire Avenue. One potential business idea brought me to the site, and I immediately other ones. It took both a compelling game and a bigger picture to get me to invest my time and effort the way I have.

Prior to joining EA, I had everything that EA rewards you for — Twitter Account, Facebook Page, Flickr account and a blog. However, I did not use any of them very much. I understood their potential value, and I did maintain a certain level of dialog. I didn’t do more because my friends are not big into social media and I have kept quite busy work wise without pursuing an online audience. That all changed with Empire Avenue.

EA does two big things that turns many of us into online social butterflies — myself included. These are as follows:

The game gives us an excuse to chat and incentives it. Every time stock is traded or someone is followed, there is an easy opportunity to say hi. You can even use that moment to ask a person about something interesting in their bio and engage in deeper conversation. What’s more, you have an opportunity to chat on a ongoing basis. You get so that you know the online personalities of people. Of course, the game rewards this interaction. Each of us now has an incentive to strike up a conversation — both on the site and through other social media sites.
For many, Empire Avenue also presents a business opportunity. EA presents opportunities to develop products or services related to the site. However, the platform also provides another channel for promoting existing businesses. This is probably why companies such as Motorola and Westjet are checking it out. You may have noticed there are a lot of experts in social media on the site. As a group, they would see the possibilities as well as anybody.

Please do not get me wrong. I am not suggesting we would never chat without an excuse and incentive to do so. I am just saying that Empire Avenue raises the level of interaction thanks to the dynamics of the site.

Again, its the combination of game and social media platform that makes Empire Avenue so interesting. But when we have had our fill of the game, what’s next? I suspect the game will evolve to find new ways to keep us hooked as long as possible. But many of us will eventually face the question, “Why am I here?” I feel my own gameplay maturing less than two weeks in. Once I achieve my initial leader board goals, then what? The answer for me is going to be to build online relationships though the game dynamic. I can see this affecting both my work and social lives.

For work, I have already had someone who works for a charity ask me about the overseas expeditions I organize as fundraising events for nonprofit clients. For the website I want to develop, I have had someone help me with finding answers to my questions. For life outside of work, I have had someone mention he will be at an event I am attending, and another person I met at a different function mention he is on Empire Avenue.

Because my answer to the question, “Why I am here?” must involve more than a game going forward, I am looking for opportunities for meaningful engagement with all of you here. (Okay not every single one of you ;-) In the end, I think that will be much more rewarding than the fact I managed to earn the number one spots on both the Earners and Payouts Leader Boards today (woohoo!). I have touched on the concept of providing value back to the community in other blog posts. In my striving for the big picture, look for me to do more of that in the days and weeks ahead.

I have said elsewhere that I believe Empire Avenue has the potential to be something big. We depend in large measure on the founders of the site making that happen. But, we also have to contribute if it is to be an exceptional place for us. I hope you will join me in that journey.

In keeping with greater engagement, please join the conversation. Why are YOU here? Do you see that changing over time?

To Hook a Whale on Empire Avenue, Use Linkbait

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 19:00:00 -0400

In stockbroker circles, a ‘whale’ is a really big client ready to invest a wad of cash. Needless to say, we want whales to come our way on Empire Avenue. One way to hook a whale is by impressing them with a blog. I have been told numerous times already that someone invested in me because of my blog. However, it does not matter how compelling your content is if you nobody sees it. You need to promote your writing. A great way to do that for Empire Avenue is to use Twitter because so many people have their Twitter accounts linked to EA. But, what do you say to get people interested enough to click on your blog link. That’s where linkbait comes in.

Linkbait is a way of using a headline to get people to click. If you want to get someone to visit your blog, you would not say, ‘Linguistic techniques to foster spontaneous transaction’ instead you might say, ‘5 words to make your blog links irresistible’. It’s about using humour, provocative statements, breaking news and other action words to get people to act.

The following are examples of linkbait Twitter posts:

5 steps to doubling your money on Empire Avenue
Empire Avenue set to surpass Facebook
I will buy shares of anyone that leaves a comment on my blog
Why are you Favouring Your Dogs Over Your Cows on Empire Avenue?
Why Empire Avenue will Fail

Some people see linkbait as gimicky, ineffective and a turn-off. It can be. If you said, something like “The Reason Empire Avenue is a Failure” and your blog post said the reason is because you think it will be even bigger in the future, people would feel ripped off. On the other hand, if you backup whatever your clever heading was, people will be glad they clicked on your link even if they disagree with you. It all comes back to providing value. Help people and they will make you wealthy — well pretend wealthy anyway.

What do you think of Linkbait? Do you use it? Have you had any feedback?

"Do you have a big head on Empire Avenue? You should to better succeed. Leo LaPorte, well-known..."

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 15:34:00 -0400

“Do you have a big head on Empire Avenue? You should to better succeed. Leo LaPorte, well-known tech broadcaster, called shooting for online media — ‘big head video’. He used this term because in order for faces to be seen on small screens like those on phones, you have to shoot tight closeups of people. The same is true of the little avatar pictures on Empire Avenue. They need to be cropped tight so that people can actually see your face. Why should you care about people seeing you better? Because people support you as a person, not just as a stock chart. Help people connect in the old fashioned way (not just in the follow-me/follow-you way) and you will earn more.”

- RZR on Empire Avenue

Are You Favoring Your Dogs Over Your Cows?

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 12:18:00 -0400

In marketing product lifecycle analysis, they used to talk a lot about four types of products: Stars, Cash Cows, Question Marks and Dogs. You developed a different strategy for each. Stars and cash cows were big money makers. Question marks were just that and you wanted to get rid of dogs with their low market share and low market growth. While selling shares in a stock system is very different than selling products in marketplace, there are lessons to be considered for Empire Avenue.

People are regularly telling me that they want to buy more of my shares as soon as they have enough money. I am getting pricey and you have to accumulate some cash to make a significant purchase. Sometimes, I go look at these portfolios. (Something you should do from time-to-time to get a feel for what others are doing.) When I review their investments, I often see that they have several shares that have lost money several days in a row and worse yet, the person behind the stock in question has not been active on Empire Avenue for days.

I have had the good fortune to have my share price triple in the last 9 days. My share price has jumped every day. For the sake of our discussion, all me a cash cow — milk me for profits. Those losing value, again using those marketing terms, let’s call dogs. In many cases you should get rid of your dogs and buy cows. In just one day, this could mean the difference in several dollars a share for your purchase.

I do try to give people a chance. Too much trading costs a lot in commissions. However, for all I know when someone goes inactive they may have had enough of Empire Avenue. If they come back to life, sure I have lost a few bucks there, but I have also used this strategy on people that were in the twenties who are now in single digits. I have made a lot more money using this strategy than I have lost.

Okay, you like some of your dogs. You may even hate that I am calling them dogs. (The stocks — not the people by the way.) So, make some more money by switching to cows and use the extra money you earned to buy them back if you want — especially if they are starting to chew their cud more and more. In a few days, I have made enough money to max out my purchase of anybody I want including those at the top of the leader board. By focusing on my success, I can do a lot more to help people than when my share price was in the low teens.

So, focus on your cows. By doing so, I am pretty sure, you will be mooing yourself before long.

So, what do you think, is this just smart money management, or do you think I am about to say, ‘greed is good’ next?

"When you first join Empire Avenue, you should focus on activity. Get your social media and blogs..."

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 14:00:00 -0400

“When you first join Empire Avenue, you should focus on activity. Get your social media and blogs connected, fill out your profile and start talking up a written storm. However, when your share price is into the 20s (and if not already it will be if you are active) you should already be focusing increasingly on value. You want to be providing value to other people. If you are helpful or have interesting things to say, people will invest in you. More importantly, you want the value of a real network of people where you and your opinions are valued. If you are addicted to the game aspect of Empire Avenue, you will probably find that moderates over time. What do you want to have to show for it when that happens?”

- RZR on Empire Avenue

"When it comes to helping you with time or advice for Empire Avenue, I am very giving. When it comes..."

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 12:01:00 -0400

““When it comes to helping you with time or advice for Empire Avenue, I am very giving. When it comes to your shares — it’s business.””

-
The RZR

Empire Avenue is Rigged

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 08:25:44 -0400

Yes, I said it. Empire Avenue is rigged. I have been playing it hard all week rising up the leader board, but I have come to the conclusion that it does not work like a typical free-market exchange like many people would think. No, instead it is rigged — in your favour.

Our favourite new site is rigged in several important ways. The first has to do with the fact that you are continually selling shares for which you get some money. Let’s look at how a real market works. A company goes out and conducts an initial public offering (IPO) from which they raise major funds. Then, the public trading begins, and one investor sells to another. If you want some Apple stock, you buy it from another investor. If you buy twenty shares at $24 a piece, Apple does not get any of that.

Continual Share Offering
Compare the Apple situation to yours — some investor, ticker name LOOT, comes along and buys from you twenty shares at 24.00 eaves. You get roughly half or 12.00e (less commision) a share or 240e. Even if you run out of the 10,000 shares you have like that, you can still buy more (and should). When a company does that, they have to be careful about making themselves less valuable to their existing investors. That happens in theory here, but few people pay attention. Sure its good for a company when its stock goes up, but its much more personal and direct when your share prices goes up as it is cash in your hand.

Always Able to Sell
Not only is there pretty much no shortage of shares to buy, there is no shortage of shares you can sell. The system always buys them back. So, you don’t have to wildly raise an buying price or lower a selling price to do a trade in a stock that is not moving. This helps moderate huge swings.

Predictable Earnings & Dividends
The real stock market, doesn’t have someone magically raising your share price overnight if you have been busy and giving all your shareholders a nice dividend. This just gives someone more incentive to hold on to you if you are busy social networking through the site. It helps that the site makes it easy to see who has been busy and who has been missing-in-action further reducing the unknowns. You know for sure if someone has not been on the site that day, there stock price is going down at market close and if they have been active, it is going up.

No Interest on Bank Balances
In the real financial world, you can make money from guaranteed investments and savings accounts. You have to way this against how much money you think you can make in the stock market. On Empire Avenue, we do not get any interest on our bank balances making stock purchases even more appealing.

Investment Strategies
So what should you do as an investor? You should buy and hold those people that are active on the site. You do not have to worry too much that just because they may have had a big run up, they are going to have a big fall. You should also sell people that have not been active. They will go down overnight and people do not rush in to buy someone just because their price is low — unless they know that person has been active in the past and will be again. You should also be careful about attractive looking stocks that are not active. From what I have seen, those have not produced well.

My Approach
Me, I am not worried about trying to buy on dips. I do not care if your price is up 5eaves that day. I am looking at what I think you are going to keep doing activity wise. The riskiest thing I do is buy shares in brand new people without a track record. However, there the risk is rigged in your favour too. A recent arrival’s price might go down from lack of activity, but there cannot be a big sell-off when almost nobody owns shares.

Conclusion
So, pay more attention to long-term value building and less attention to individual price dips and rises. By keeping active on the site and using how the game is rigged in our favour, I have risen from the ranks of new users to number 15 on the share price leader board in just over a week. Come join me, the view is great.

Stock Price Watch Alerts

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 14:37:08 -0400

Alrighty then. Nothing long to say at moment. Instead, I want to ask you a question. It has to do with Stock Price Watch Alerts. In my first couple of days on the site, I used them to let me know if someone made a big move. They probably helped me get a feel for things. However, a few days later and I am not using them anymore.

I just watch my top gainers and losers in my portfolio now. I found that I did not have to worry about a fast riser taking a big plunge. The one exception to this would be a especially trendy named stock like BPfail. Overall, stock price seems to be pretty stable on the down side if you are an active user.

In case you do not know what they are, price alerts can be found on other people’s profiles. You can set a high alert to receive a notification and email when exceeds a certain dollar value and likewise with a low alert.

So how about you, are you using stock alerts? If you are, how do you use them?

"I mentioned previously that Empire Avenue charges 11% or more for trading someone a multiple times..."

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 09:32:00 -0400

“I mentioned previously that Empire Avenue charges 11% or more for trading someone a multiple times in a day rather than the 5% you pay on a first trade. I feel it is important that people know that, but let’s look at the impact of waiting a day. As of last night, my stock price was $26. The extra 6% commission on a trade would cost $1.56 a share. Meanwhile, my stock price rose about $16 last week, about $2.28 per day. So, on an expensive, slow moving stock, it pays to wait, but on a fast moving one — jump.”

- RZR on Empire Avenue

"You gotta love people who give thumbs up ratings to Protected Tweets on Empire Avenue. Perhaps they..."

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 22:32:32 -0400

“You gotta love people who give thumbs up ratings to Protected Tweets on Empire Avenue. Perhaps they are taking my blog post and advice about supporting people a little too far. What’s up about linking private tweets anyway? Folks, you want to be private - great. Either don’t link or set up another Twitter account.”

- With love - Bill.

Understanding Charts in Empire Avenue

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 13:31:00 -0400

The stock charts in Empire Avenue can be tricky to understand. Some people don’t even know where they are. (Click on the blue My Profile Tab and then the amber My Graphs tab.) Once there you will see three graphs showing your share price for the last 24 hours, the last 7 days and the last three months. I am going to focus on the 24 hour chart. I am by no means an expert on this. This is only what I have been able to deduce, but it might help you.

The first thing to notice are the scales. The vertical scale shows stock price and the horizontal scale shows time. Be careful when comparing two people’s charts. The graph always adjusts to the movement of the stock and the scales between two charts can be quite different. A stock that only moves up and down a cents can look the same as one that moves up and down dollars. You have to look at the price scale to figure out how big the movements are. On this 24-hour graph the time scale will change throughout the day. Your morning moves will look quite different as the day progresses.

Let me make a quick comment on the time. It appears that time listed is 4 hours later in the day (ahead) of the Eastern time zone (Toronto/New York). I am not sure why as Universal Time or Greenwich Mean Time which is used for international timekeeping is five hours off of Eastern time. I thought maybe there was a one hour delay in results, but new trades show almost right away. Ah well - still works.

Let’s look at the trades on the chart. This is my chart from about 11:30 am June 15.

(A) is the opening share price. More accurately, it is the closing share price from the day before which for me was 23.58. That number immediately changes to reflect, either up or down, your activity on the site from that closing day. I was busy on the 14th.
So, I took a bump up to about 24.4. A number that I can see in the first trade of my stock this day (B).
At this point, I had a fairly strong buy of 100 shares (Thanks LOA!). My stock took a nice little jump, but then someone sold me (C) and oops out of order (E).
Too bad for them because then the stock started rising again. (D) was a nice purchase of 60 shares, but it is important to note that the rise can look fairly gradual because the next purchase didn’t come until about an hour and twenty minutes later.
Then, got two smaller buys fairly close together (F) & (G). I think you get the idea.
(H) and (I) weren’t that different in size, they just had different times until the next trade.
However, (K) was a big buy.

So, when you understand charts, you can not only see if potential investments are going up or down, you can very quickly see how many people are trading, how often, how many up, how many down and how big the trades are.

Another word of caution reminding you about my not being an expert on this. When there is a lot of trading, I don’t think the charts show every data point. There could also be other variables. It’s also possible my interpretation is not 100%. That said, I put some of this together by watching my actual trades today, and my analysis here seems to match what happened today.

UPDATE:

Here’s an interesting chart I saw today:

Pretty big jump right. How big do you think the buy was? Answer: Not very - the stock only moved about ten cents. ;-)

Happy Empire Building.

"Empire Avenue rewards Facebook posts, friend growth and friend comments. However, a lot of people..."

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:15:53 -0400

“Empire Avenue rewards Facebook posts, friend growth and friend comments. However, a lot of people only use Facebook with their friends. So, I use this simple technique to build my friends list: Every time someone follows me on EA or buys my shares, I follow them their, follow them on Twitter, add them to my Twitter Empire Avenue list and ask them if they want me to add them to Facebook. I have gotten many followers on both services. Build your value, build your Facebook friend list. Start by friending me now.”

- RZR on Empire Avenue

"I am always surprised by the people that are active on Empire Avenue that haven’t completed..."

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:11:03 -0400

“I am always surprised by the people that are active on Empire Avenue that haven’t completed all the easy Achievements. I think the big reason is that they don’t realize what’s possible. On your profile page, you will see the ‘Latest Achievement’ trophy. Under that is a link that says, ‘view more’. Click that to learn what achievements you have not earned yet. Then, you can click each one to see what you have to do to accomplish it and how many credits you can earn. There you go, easy money.”

- RZR on Empire Avenue.