If you have any lingering questions about the basics of UpDown or you just enjoy watching cool internet videos, check out our new “How UpDown Works” video on the logged-out home page.

Special thanks to EyeView for making it for us!

Brendan
UpDown Team

Most Bought:

1. MS - Morgan Stanley

2. UYG - Proshares Ultra Financials

3. MER - Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc.

4. QLD - Proshares Ultra QQQ

5. GGP - General Growth Properties Inc.

Most Sold:

1. SPY - SPDR Trust, Series 1 ETF

2. C - Citigroup Inc.

3. POT - Potash Corp.

4. LVS - Las Vegas Sands Corp.

5. BGZ - Direxion Shars Large BR 3X

We are half-way through November. How is your portfolio holding up?

The UpDown Team

I am thankful to all members who have contributed to our fast growth by inviting many of their friends -  moolanomy, lordelrond, darrenpa24, and aminash have invited the most.

We’re looking forward to improving the site and to adding exciting new features to make UpDown the best site to practice investing!

Michael, Co-Founder

Most Bought:

1. V - Visa Inc.

2. BAC - Bank of America Corp.

3. ABK - Ambac Financial Group

4. FXP - Proshares Ultra FTSE/X ETF

5. YHOO - Yahoo! Inc.

Most Sold:

1. SSO - Proshares Ultra S&P 500

2. WFC - Wells Fargo & Co.

3. QLD - Proshares Ultra QQQ

4. MGM - MGM Mirage Inc.

5. PMI - PMI Group Inc.

Also, if you have energy stocks on your mind, check out this insightful analysis from member “obns” on the future of First Solar (FSLR).

The UpDown Team

Last night I caught up with our winner to learn more about him, his thoughts about UpDown and the new payout system, and his strategy for making money in today’s markets. Here’s what he said:

“I am a relatively new investor, only following the markets closely since joining Updown in September.  I enjoy challenges, and with the markets starting to collapse in September, I decided to challenge myself to beat the markets.  Being a student, I don’t have spare money to put into the markets for real, which is why Updown offers such an outstanding opportunity to learn some skills that I can employ once I graduate, and am able to set aside some money to put into the market.  I’m setting myself up with the challenge to continue to outperform the markets, and continue developing my market instincts.

“I am a short term value trader, typically holding stocks that I like for a few days, until they appear to have yielded what they are going to for the time being.  In October, I enjoyed big returns from stocks like General Growth Properties (GGP), AIG (in the early part of the month), and as the month ended, Las Vegas Sands (LVS) and MGM Mirage (MGM).

As far as my performance in relation to the others on Updown, I am proud of the fact that so many were able to outperform the markets.  I was impressed by the fact that all of the top 20 contestants in October beat the markets by 75%, or more.  I am humbled to lead such an impressive pack of investors for the month.

On the new payout system, I think in many ways, it is better than the previous method.  I still think it should be a little more balanced, because people who beat the market by 40%, like my brother, only get a fraction of what people who beat it by 75% get, even though both are incredible performances, and should both be rewarded.

Finally, I’d like to congratulate everyone on an outstanding October, and wish everyone a successful November!”

-Bryan “udfisher” Fisher

Most Bought:

1. AAPL - Apple Inc.
2. EEV - Proshares Ultrashort MSCI ETF
3. AIG - American International Group
4. DUG - Proshares Ultrashort Oil & Gas
5. DXD - Proshares Ultrashort DOW 30 ETF

Most Sold:

1. LVS - Las Vegas Sands Corp.
2. MS - Morgan Stanley
3. UAUA - UAL Corp.
4. FSLR - First Solar, Inc.
5. SSO - Proshares Ultra S&P 500

We hope that the list gives you some good stock tips for the coming weeks. Invest well!

The UpDown Team

Brendan
UpDown Team

Our real-money payout system has been very unclear and very confusing to many UpDown members. First and foremost, sorry about that. Second, we now have what we believe is a very clear and very straightforward way to show you exactly how much real money you will earn each month on UpDown.

If you visit the Contests tab, you’ll see that you have been automatically entered into the October 2008 $3,000 Monthly Performance Contest. For the month of October, you will be paid according to the amount, ranging from $500 to $0.01, that matches your ranking in this contest. We will repeat this process every month so you always know exactly where you stand and exactly how much money you will earn at the end of the month.

Don’t worry, long term investors! In January we will launch a year-long performance contest (and possibly quarterly performance contests too) that will not put you at a disadvantage and will have payouts much larger than those in the monthly performance contests. Our main goal right now is to finally make crystal clear the amount of real money that each member will earn each month.

What do you think? Please let us know!

Brendan
UpDown Team
brendan@updown.com

We’ve decided to automate this so you can reset your portfolio yourself. Just look for the “Reset Portfolio” link next to your portfolio total.

Go to your portfolio to check it out: www.updown.com/portfolio/

Most Bought:

1. JPM - JP Morgan Chase & Co.

2. RIMM - Research in Motion, Ltd.

3. GGP - General Growth Properties Inc.

4. BAC - Bank of America Corp.

5. GOOG - Google Inc.

Most Sold:

1. QID - Proshares Ultrashort QQQ ETF

2. WB - Wachovia Corp.

3. FXP - Proshares UL FTSE/X ETF

4. COF - Capital One Financial Corp.

5. EEV - Proshares Ultrashort MSCI ETF
It’s good to know that there are still some great investors making money out there. Good luck this week!

The UpDown Team