Playing the NBA Sector By Bruce (hessel) Good results in the Basketball sector will require careful study of ALL the Stat categories involved. If you’re a beginner you’re going to want to be concerned with one thing: getting the biggest return on your investment that you possibly can. This will mean, in the beginning, that you will want to trade these stocks daily. No matter how much you like a certain player, he won’t play every day. In the beginning, until you begin to build large cash reserves, it's important to keep earning as much each day as possible and re-investing your profits the next day on the best stocks. Before we delve into the finer points of NBA investing, a few pointers will serve you well in this and all other sectors. First of all, use the Top 30 board only as a guide. NEVER buy a stock listed there before you know why you’re buying it. Go to CBS SPORTSLINE or ESPN or Yahoo or MSNBC and look at the player's stat line. Compare it to the projections listed in the player's file at J$. Many star players have high projections, and even a seemingly great night by Kobe, Shaq, or many other stars will yield only a small divided due to high projections. Know your market and know your projections. The best example would be 2 players who each have similar portfolio values each buy the same Hockey stocks and have each purchased 3 NBA stocks. Player one has done his/her homework, checked the stat lines, checked the projections, and decided to purchase Kurt Thomas, Quentin Richardson, and Devon George because he has noticed that each Stock has exceeded his projections in enough of the stat category’s to make them attractive. Player two buys the same Hockey stocks but he/she buys Kobe, Shaq, and Allen Iverson because they are their favorite players. When the dividends are paid the following morning, Player one has thousands of dollars more than Player 2. Why? Because Player one purchased stocks that exceeded their per game projections by a larger margin. The more you learn about each player’s projections, the better you will be able to judge and make decisions about which Hoops stocks to buy. Now, to delve further into this sector, it’s important to understand that although many of the top gainers each day will not be NBA stocks, some NBA stocks WILL be in the Top 30. You never want to miss a big payout in this sector! The key to finding those top gainers is to first print out one of the spreadsheets in the Tools and Auctions section of the Forums page. Break down a Players’ per-game projections when you're trying to decide if any given stock will be a buy for you. Players who cover their projections in only one category are rarely going to produce a good dividend. The message boards are littered with "Why didn’t player X divi better?", when the answer is obvious. He didn’t surpass his projections in enough categories ( Points, Rebounds, Assists, 3 pointers) or had to many turnovers. Keep in mind, turnovers are a negative, so the more a player has, the LOWER his dividend will be. Generally, the more a stock EXCEEDS his projection (s) the better the divided. This is why very often, the star players do not Divi as well as lesser-known players (lower projections are easier to achieve). Remember, there is a good reason that Points, Rebounds, Assists, 3 Pointers, Steals, Blocks, and Turnovers (ack!) are all listed. That’s because EVERY one of these stats will figure into the magic formula that is used to calculate the dividend. Don’t overlook these stats! Check the box scores carefully! NBA buy volume is generally going to be much lower than the NHL stocks. Many players, after having built a larger cash reserve, have decided to Long-term (LT or "hold") many of these NBA stocks, leading to lower buy volume. There are also a lot of NBA players who have split and are being held long term. But don’t be fooled! NBA stocks often produce better gains than their NHL counterparts! Above all else, when an NBA question arises, don’t ever forget to message a vet for help. Most all of the veterans here will be glad to offer you insight and help. Questions about this article? Send a private message to the author.