The Hollywood Stock Exchange, or HSX, is a web-based, multiplayer

game A game is a structured form of play (activity), play, usually undertaken for enjoyment, entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator s ...

in which players use simulated

money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are as ...

to buy and sell "shares" of actors,

directors Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

, upcoming

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

s, and film-related options. The game uses Virtual Specialist technology invented by HSX co-founders and creators

Max Keiser Timothy Maxwell "Max" Keiser (born January 23, 1960) is an American broadcaster and film maker. He hosted ''Keiser Report'', a financial program broadcast on RT that featured heterodox economics theories. Until November 2012, Keiser anchored '' ...

and Michael R. Burns, who were awarded a in 1999 for the invention. Claims of this patent cover trading applications for trading virtual securities using virtual currencies over a network. The company moved into the former Ritts Furniture building designed by Harry Harrison on

Santa Monica Boulevard Santa Monica Boulevard is a major west–east thoroughfare in Los Angeles County. It runs from Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica near the Pacific Ocean to Sunset Boulevard at Sunset Junction in Los Angeles. It passes through Beverly Hills and West ...

Operation

Because trading directly affects the prices of the securities – purchasing enough shares of a stock causes its price to rise, and selling causes its price to fall – and because the ultimate value of a moviestock is based on the film's box office, stock prices act as

box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicke ...

predictions. For example, if a particular moviestock trades at "H$40.00", the market is predicting that the movie will gross US$40 million at the box office in the first four weekends of wide release. In 2007, players in the Hollywood Stock Exchange correctly predicted 32 of the 39 major-category

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

nominees and seven out of eight top-category winners. The Hollywood Stock Exchange is considered a good example of a

prediction market Prediction markets (also known as betting markets, information markets, decision markets, idea futures or event derivatives) are open markets where specific outcomes can be predicted using financial incentives. Essentially, they are exchange-trad ...

. Previous incarnations of the game included a

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

market (for purchasing musical artists), prizes for top gainers and, briefly, a "buyout" program in which HSX would reward top players by purchasing their portfolios at a price of US$1.00 per HS1 million if the player listed the portfolio for sale on

eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became ...

. These features have been discontinued. The practice of selling portfolios on eBay was inaugurated by Curtis Edmonds, a former Texan lawyer. HSX attracted some private investment during the

dot-com boom The dot-com bubble (dot-com boom, tech bubble, or the Internet bubble) was a stock market bubble in the late 1990s, a period of massive growth in the use and adoption of the Internet. Between 1995 and its peak in March 2000, the Nasdaq Compos ...

and ran TV ads on cable channels in an effort to attract players. After the

dot-com crash The dot-com bubble (dot-com boom, tech bubble, or the Internet bubble) was a stock market bubble in the late 1990s, a period of massive growth in the use and adoption of the Internet. Between 1995 and its peak in March 2000, the Nasdaq Compo ...

, HSX was eventually acquired by units of

Cantor Fitzgerald Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P. is an American financial services firm that was founded in 1945. It specializes in institutional equity, fixed income sales and trading, and serving the middle market with investment banking services, prime brokerage, an ...

. Cantor has used HSX's moviestock prices to assist Cantor's

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...

operations in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, in which bettors can place bets on how much money US films will gross. HSX is headquartered in

Century City, Los Angeles Century City is a 176-acre (71.2 ha) neighborhood and business district in Los Angeles, California. Located on the Westside to the south of Santa Monica Boulevard around 10 miles (16 km) west of Downtown Los Angeles, Century City is one of ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Special warrants

During the holidays, there were "holiday warrants" that allowed one to predict the final gross of a movie by President's Day weekend of the following year. For example, there was a ''

Narnia ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven high fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' has been Adaptations of The Chron ...

'' warrant of H$180 million. Since ''Narnia'' would make over US$300 million by February 20, 2006, anyone who purchased the warrant made over H$120 per share. On the other hand, ''

Zathura ''Zathura'' is a 2002 science fiction children's literature, children's picture book written and illustrated by American author Chris Van Allsburg. In the story, two boys are drawn into an intergalactic space adventure when their house is magic ...

'' had a holiday warrant for H$70 million. Since ''Zathura'' closed a month after its release and made less than U$30 million, anyone who predicted that it would make more than US$70 million lost their investment. During the summer, there were similar "Blockbuster Warrants" that allowed one to predict the final gross of a movie by Labor Day weekend of that year. Currently, Blockbuster Warrants are issued throughout the year for those movies that will gross $100 Million or more through their first 12 weekends of release. Every winter there are special warrants to predict the

nominees called "Nominoptions" followed by Award Options to predict the actual

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

winners. There are special warrants for first year scripted TV shows based upon the number of episodes that will be shown by May 31, the end of the TV Season. HSX also releases various special derivatives throughout the year. During the summer of 2006, there were derivatives for the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

. Other past special warrants involved the contestants on '' Survivor'', ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

'' and top categories of the

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

References

{{reflist, 1

External links

Hollywood Stock Exchange

International Herald Tribune article 27 November 2005
Prediction markets Browser-based multiplayer online games Multiplayer online games

Operation

Special warrants

See also

References

External links