From: shoham@ll.mit.edu (Daniel Shoham)
Subject: Re: 1830: stock round question
Organization: MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Date: Fri, 1 Jan 93 19:16:02 GMT

In article <1993Jan1.030058.8152@bcrka451.bnr.ca> mdm@bnr.ca (Diane MacMartin) writes:
>The 1830 rules explicitly prohibit selling, then buying the same
>stock in the same stock round.  A quick perusal of the rules did
>not turn up any rule that said whether you couldn't or could
>buy THEN sell a stock in the same stock round.
>
>In our last game, one of the player's actions made us wonder whether
>to add such a prohibition to the rules.  Has anyone else ever found
>it necessary?  How did it work out?
>
>-- 
>Diane MacMartin       Bell-Northern Research, Ltd     Ottawa, Canada
>mdm@bnr.ca            Any opinions are my own and do not represent BNR.
>=========>> If this is printed on paper, please recycle it <<==========

Quite legal.

In fact, one can buy and sell within the same turn, not just the same stock
round. A commonly used strategy.

I suspect the player that have offended you so much has been systematically
depressing the prices of evryones else's companies. Do not despair, there
are enough factors at work to circumvent and moderate such tactics, as well
as counter-strategies:

1. When a lot of shares (say, 4) are in the bank pool, companies (almost)
   always pay out, collecting revenues from those shares to keep cash flow.
   Even if the owner one day must add own money to buy a train, since between
   the company and the owner 100% of revenues were paid, this is no loss -
   and the share price benefits.

2. If a player is buying share after share with the obvious intent to depress,
   sell 1 share yourself (going from 6 to 5 shares, or if allready at 5 - buy
   and sell yourself) - you will not stop the depression, but you will make
   the offender lose money (generally you will not further depress your share
   price, as it will hit a floor).

3. (late game) If your cheap companies get too depressed in price, send them
   into the colored part of the stock-market chart where they don't count
   toward your share-limit (by not paying out several times), and use your 
   newly created slots for choice investments. Leave them in the colored zone
   (by sporadically not paying out). Such companies get very cash-rich, use
   them to buy trains for the rest of your companies (who always pay out).

4. By inter-company train transfer, make your price-volunerable (i.e. highly
   priced, and far above the floor) unattractive (have no trains, or about
   to be outdated trains) during stock rounds. If any wise soul dare buys two
   shares, sell all of your shares and hand the company - a HEAVY LIABILITY -
   to it's new president.

5. (Early game) if all other opponents have sold shares of one (or more) of
   your companies, you no longer need 5 shares to maintain control (until the
   next stock round), sell as many as you can yourself. You will be able to
   buy your shares back next round at a LOWER price. You will also be able to
   use the "liberated" cash to invest in well-paying stocks, or even start a
   new company. While you will not get income for the shares you sold, the
   income will go to the company treasury and reduce the need to capitalize
   later. THIS WORKS PARTICULARY WELL IN A 2 PLAYER GAME. (When 5 shares are
   in the bank pool, we often use the term "half-capitalization").


Nevertheless, in our (extremely agressive) 1830 group, every company - sooner
or later - get depressed to a floor, slowly or all at once, during the game.
Afterward, it just "crawls" up the "steps", hoping to be on a floor during the
stock rounds (or suffer a one-box depression at someones hand). Sometimes a
share pays so well, that opponents would rather keep it than depress the price.

- much of the "cut-throat" nature of 1830 would be destroyed if share-price
depression via the buy-sell sequence was out-lawed. 


Dan Shoham               shoham@ll.mit.edu
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