Press Release: Speculator: The Stock Trading Simulation Software

NEW SOFTWARE STOCK TRADING SIMULATION LAUNCHED Ronin Software is pleased to announce the release of the latest upgrade release of our Windows software game program, "Speculator: The Stock Trading Simulation" (Version 4.0). ($19.95 until January 1, 2023, at which time the price will increase to $21.95) CLICK HERE for a summary of recent improvements and additions to the program. Speculator is a highly realistic simulation of the stock market and economy, in which each player begins with a modest inheritance of $100,000 and competes against up to nine other human or computer players in buying, selling and shorting stocks, trading government bonds, corporate bonds (including convertible bonds), put and call options, and commodity and stock index futures. The object of the game is to parlay that $100,000 inheritance into a comfortable retirement fund after 30 years of play. Players can "play it safe" and stick with conservative investment strategies, or can take bigger risks to perhaps make a killing -- or perhaps have their brokerage account closed if it falls below $10,000, or even go bankrupt if unable to meet a margin call! All action in this fun and educational game occurs in a simulated "live" economy and stock market, using a simulated online discount brokerage account. Play is punctuated at times by financial booms or shocks, technology or marketing breakthroughs (or breakdowns) at individual companies, and major political or economic events, with constantly scrolling stock and news headline tickers providing a massive flow of investment information. The investment environment constantly changes as players do their investment research and trading, using the wide range of research tools provided, while seeking out profitable investments in the turbulent and very realistic financial financial markets and economic model created by the simulation. No two games are ever the same. While players start with $100,000 U.S. dollars (or the equivalent in any of 18 other currency choices), and may do as much trading as they wish of stocks and bonds in a cash account, they must invest their money successfully in the initial stages of each game to qualify for the the right to: Open a margin account with their fictional stockbroker (such as McSwindle, Churn & Tout), by growing their portfolio to $200,000; Engage in short selling, if their account grows to $300,000; Trade put and call options on any of the 1,000+ stocks in the simulation if their account grows to $400,000; and Open a commodity account and trade extremely risky commodity futures and Stock Index futures, once their account net worth reaches $500,000. The small, deceptively simple-looking main screen of Speculator is like a small "black box" that masks a vastly intricate interior, which creates a complete and highly realistic trading experience in great detail, with nothing left out but the phone calls from your broker with his or her latest "hot" stock. Players will quickly find that Speculator compares to other trading simulators like chess compares to checkers.... Developed by author Michael D. Jenkins, a Harvard-trained lawyer, CPA, and lifelong investor in stocks, bonds and options, Speculator is a highly addictive, realistic stock trading game that is designed to teach players about investing as well as to entertain. Experienced investors will note that the software's sophisticated proprietary algorithms consistently generate remarkably realistic prices for the stocks, "straight bonds," convertible bonds and options in the simulation, as well as realistic "contango" or "backwardation" in commodity futures pricing. Players say it feels like the real thing, including the constant news feeds and Daily Market Commentary that updates every few seconds. Players will also see that they can experiment with conservative strategies, like buying convertible bonds that convert into 1,000 shares of stock while shorting 500 shares of the underlying stock, with the possibility of profiting whether the stock goes up or down; or can test option strategies, such as by being long or short straddles or strangles, or creating bull spreads, put (bear) spreads, calendar spreads, partially covered writes, "Condor" spreads, or "Iron Butterfly" options positions, all of which will appeal to the more sophisticated players who aspire to become real-world options traders. Version 4.0 has added an "Advanced Options Trading Station" that allows players to compose complex options strategies of up to 8 different positions on a single screen, and execute all the trades with one click on a "SUBMIT" button. Commodity traders can try to capitalize on "contango" or "backwardation" situations in futures prices, and the simulation also offers occasional opportunities for merger arbitrage when proposed mergers are announced, as well as tempting "cheat" opportunities like receiving inside information (although using the cheats will disqualify you from winning that game or setting a record score). The software includes extensive "Help" files and a glossary that can introduce players to the various complex trading strategies noted above. New Version 4.0 was released as of October 1, 2022, and, in addition to the Advanced Options Trading Station feature mentioned above, has added new alerts a player can set. These alerts will notify the player when commodity or cryptocurrency prices reach levels the player specifies, and Version 4.0 also adds rate alerts for when various interest rates or the economic growth rate reach specified levels. These alerts are in addition to stock price and ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund) price alerts, which were added in a previous release. In response to user requests, this new version adds new database search criteria, so a player can search for stocks of companies that are experiencing positive cash flow, or, at the user's option, positive cash flow before debt principal repayments. A user can now also search the database for stocks that appear to be good candidates for short sales (betting on a stock to decline in price). Version 3.0 introduced cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin and Ethereum) to the simulation, and while players start a game with only $100,000 and might not be able to buy even 1 Bitcoin, they can instead invest in shares of two new Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) that have been added to the simulation, one of which invests solely in Bitcoin, the other in Ethereum, and options can be traded on the shares of either ETF. Speculator is offered for sale by Ronin Software at $21.95 for the full (registered) version, and Windows users may download the free "try-before-you-buy" shareware version that is only limited by game length -- 3 game years instead of 30 years of play -- and by some stock charts not being available at all times. More information is available at: www.roninsoft.com/speculator.htm. See below to order or to download the free trial version. (CAUTION: "Speculator" is highly addictive, and may be hard on your nerves as you anxiously await the next upcoming quarterly earnings release that will affect the biggest stock holding or short position in your portfolio!)

Copyright © 2023 Michael D. Jenkins, Esq. and Ronin Software