Complete set of rules for 2017
- Pick a fancy name for your hedge fund. Show some creativity. A panel of judges will choose the best. Winner of the name contest deemed to purchase long positions at 1% discount and sell short positions at 1% premium!
- Before 9:30 am EST on 3 Jan 2017, in this thread, pick up to three stocks to go long and up to three to short. Equal dollar amounts are placed on each position, long or short.
- Stock only. No bonds, no options, no funds.
- No trades during the year, except that you can elect at any time during normal exchange business hours to "freeze" a price for any individual position at that day's closing price, i.e. liquidate any position. (Each position carries this option; you can choose to freeze different positions on different days.)
- Other than that, you're stuck with what you choose for the year.
- If a stock is taken out in a merger or a bankruptcy during 2016, I will do my best to do the right thing. An all cash offer will result in a freeze at the takeout price. An all stock offer will result in the conversion of the position to the acquiring company's shares. Mixed cash and stock offers, you'll just have to trust me to saw things off fairly.
- The universe from which to choose is either the S&P/TSX or the Russell 3000. No mix and match between the two groups, no exceptions. The tracker is too dumb to adjust for exchange rate fluctuations.
- Starting prices are the 3 Jan 2017 close, ending prices will be the 29 Dec 2017 close. (Adjustments may be made to either in case of crazy spreads, at my sole discretion.)
- Dividends won't count because ...
- It's all automated to make it easy.
- If you're picking US stocks, your picks must be in the Russell 3000 Index (26 June 2016 constituents list)
- If picking Canadian, go to this page, open the Constituents block, hit the "Download Data into CSV" link, and pick from what's listed in that file.