Speculator Game Manual
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................. 2
Object of the game........................................... 3
Overview of how to play...................................... 4
Beginning the game........................................... 8
Reference page............................................... 14
Symbols for Futures and Months............................... 17
Speculator, the program, graphics, and all game materials are
are copyrighted 1984 by O.C.O. Software, Inc. All rights
Reserved.
Portions of this program are copyrighted 1986 by ShareData, Inc.
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INTRODUCTION
Speculator is one of the most unique computer programs
available today. It has been meticulously designed by
individuals with years of experience in the futures market.
Speculator is an educational computer game that will appeal
to people who enjoy the challenge of financially oriented games,
those who want to learn more about the futures market, and those
who have invested in futures and want to improve their skills in
this exciting investment arena.
We have designed Speculator to be as true to life as
possible. Actual market data and headlines of the day's news
events are compiled in the data files. The prices and quote
symbols used in the game are the same ones used in the futures
market.
HIGHLIGHTS OF SPECULATOR
* 8 Days of Actual Market Data.
With Corresponding News Headlines.
* Designed in Accordance With Current Rules and Regulations
That Govern the 3 Major Commodity Exchanges.
* 10 Future Contracts in the Game.
* Game Screen allows the player to watch 2 of the 3 ticker
tapes displaying prices.
* Market Monitor Section lets player watch 8 of the 10
future contracts in a special section.
* 2 Levels of Expertise: Novice and Speculator.
* Player can enter trades, watch orders being filled on the
floor, check their positions, and see how much money
they have in their account.
* As the player makes money, Pit Brokers that occupy the
Trading Pits are Eliminated. Player wins when there
are no longer any Pit Brokers left.
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OBJECT OF THE GAME
Speculator is not only a game of rich rewards - it's
incredibly easy to learn:
Each player begins the game with a set amount of money and
has a certain number of "pit brokers" in the trading pits. A
Novice begins with $10,000 and has 10 pit brokers. A
Speculator has $20,000 and 20 pit brokers.
For every $1,000 that a player makes from trading, a pit
broker walks off the floor. When the player has eliminated all
of his pit brokers, he wins the game.
For the beginning player with $10,000 and 10 pit brokers,
he has to make only $10,000 profit to win the game.
If someone is an experienced trader and begins as a
speculator with $20,000 and 20 pit brokers, he has to make
$20,000 in profits to win the game.
The 2 skill levels of Speculator let you trade any of the
10 future contracts in the game. The only difference between the
2 levels are the amount of money each begins with, and the types
of orders each can place.
The Novice level can take positions by buying (going long)
or selling (going short) either at the current market price or at
a specified price.
Note: Since there are some sophisticated types of orders in
the futures market, and because we didn't want to confuse the
beginner with undue complexity, we reserved such orders for
level 2 (Speculator).
PREPARING TO RUN SPECULATOR
Running Speculator is very simple. Turn your computer on
and have it boot up as you normally do, using your DOS disk.
Put your SPECULATOR diskette into DRIVE A: and type MENU.
Follow the easy instructions and you will soon be enjoying
the game.
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OVERVIEW OF HOW TO PLAY THE GAME
To start a new game, press S. The game status screen will
appear. (To continue a previously stored game, press B.)
You will be asked to identify the following:
1) On which day to begin the game (1-8).
2) Number of players in the game (1-3).
3) Commission cost per contract (0-99).
4) Each player's 2 letter initials.
5) Level of expertise for each player
1 = Novice
2 = Speculator
We suggest you initially play the game at the Novice
level to get a feel for the game. Experienced traders
may choose to play the game at a higher level.
6) Which exchange tapes to display in the tape section of
the market monitor screen.
1 = Chicago Board of Trade
2 = Chicago Mercantile Exchange
3 = New York Commodity Exchange
7) Which future contracts to follow on the market monitor.
Type in ticker symbol for up to 8 future contracts.
(Symbols are available in reference section of game or
in manual under the description of the various
commodities.)
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YOU ARE NOW PLAYING THE GAME
After setting up the game screen, the main menu will
reappear. You are now ready to begin the game. Press B to begin
the game.
The Market Monitor screen will appear. If you're beginning
a new game, the time will be 7:24 a.m. CST. This is 6 minutes
before the first futures begin trading. The game is set in a 6
minute to 1 minute ratio, so the market will open in 1 minute.
Whenever you want to place a trade, press T (for Trade).
The Broker Screen will appear with the broker menu on the
right hand side. To place an order, press P (for Place).
The cursor will appear on the buy position. To enter a buy
order, press enter key. If you want to sell instead of buy,
press the right arrow key to move cursor to sell position and
press enter key.
Type in the order by entering the number of contracts and
the contract symbol and pressing the enter key. For example: 2
gom stands for 2 contracts of June Gold.
Note: If you're entering an order for a grain, be sure to
state the order in number of bushels, not number of contracts.
For example; if you're entering an order for 2 contracts of May
Soybeans, it would read 10M SK, not 2SK. You need to use the M
for any grain order.
An easy reference guide for the symbols of the various
future contracts and months is located on the back of the game
manual.
A contract is the unit by which futures are traded. The
value of the contract is equal to the size of the contract times
the price it's trading for.
The margin required to take a position in the futures
contract is usually a small fraction of the total value of the
contract. More information on margin is available in the
reference section of the game and under the commodity description
in the manual.
After entering the number of contracts and the contract
symbol, enter the price and press the enter key. If you're
entering a market order, just press the enter key.
To move the cursor during the order placing process, press
the right arrow key.
Speculator will now analyze the order to determine if it's
a valid order and if the player has enough money in the account
to convert the margin requirements.
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If there are no problems, the broker will call the order
down to the exchange floor where an order clerk will give the
order to a runner who will in turn take the order to one of the
trading pits to be filled.
After the order has been placed, the broker screen will
reappear.
Note: For a detailed explanation of the actions you can
take from the broker menu, review the Placing A Trade section of
the manual.
To exit the broker screen and return to the main menu,
press the ESC key.
From the market monitor screen, it's possible to watch
either the day's headlines scroll by, or an intra-day chart of a
specific future contract.
To watch an intra-day chart instead of the headlines, press
the D key. You will be asked for the ticker symbol of the future
contract you wish to follow. (Check the back of this manual for
the correct ticker and month symbol.) Key in the ticker symbol.
If it's a 3 letter symbol (DMM) it will be accepted
automatically. If it's a 2 letter symbol (SX), press the enter
key after keying in the symbol.
Note: For further information on the Intra-Day charts
available in Speculator, review the Intra-Day chart section in
the game manual.
To Exit Market Monitor section and return to the Main Menu,
press the ESC key.
To review open and closed positions, you must go to the
Open/Closed positions from the main menu page.
From the main menu, press O to bring up the open/closed
positions page.
Enter your initials. Your open positions will be displayed. To
view your closed positions, press N when the cursor is at the
bottom of the page.
Note: To find out more about this section, go to the Open/Closed
Positions in the game manual.
To exit this section and return to the main menu, press the
ESC key.
To end the game, press Q (quit) on the main menu screen. The
game will be saved, so when you return to the game, you can press
B (begin play) and the game will begin where you left off.
Following is a brief description of the main screens:
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1st screen: Main Menu
S - Set up new game.
Use when beginning new game. This will erase any
previous game and prepare the program to set up a new
game.
G - Game Status/Change game screen
Allows players to determine current status of game by
displaying current day and time of game in progress. Also
displayed are the tapes being displayed and the future
contracts listed in the market monitor section, as well
as allowing players to change market monitor and market
tapes.
O - Check Open and Closed Positions.
Allows player to check current equity and the open and
closed positions for all players.
B - Begin Playing the Game.
T - Trade.
Takes player to broker screen to place order or check
other orders on floor.
R - Reference
Takes player to reference section where information
concerning the futures can be found.
Q - Quit Playing game, return to DOS.
Saves game in progress and returns to DOS.
Note: From the main menu, you may move to many parts of the
game. Many actions can be taken at this time. If you want to
review a 30 day chart for the futures market prior to beginning
game, press C. You will need to key in the ticker symbol for the
future contract.
The chart will appear with instructions stating to press any key
to continue. This will return you to the main menu.
To review open and closed positions, press O. The Equity
page will appear with cursor in position to accept player's
initials. The first page will display all open positions with
the current profit or loss noted for each position. To review
the closed positions for the player, press N when the cursor is
at the bottom of the page.
To exit equity screen, and return to the main menu, press ESC
key.
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BEGINNING THE GAME
To begin playing the game, press B. The market monitor screen
will appear with current quotes going across the tapes on the
top of the screen, and headlines displayed in the middle of the
screen. The game begins at 7:24 A.M. CST. This is 6 minutes
before the markets open to give the individual an opportunity to
place an order before the markets open. This is only 1 minute in
real time.
The future contracts open at different times, just as they
do in real markets. The future contracts you choose to follow
will be displayed in the market monitor at the bottom of the
screen. Note that each contract at the beginning of the game has
a C next to it. This is to indicate that the contract is Closed.
When the contract opens, the opening bell will sound and the
opening price will be displayed.
To check to see what the trading hours of the future
contracts you're following are, go to the reference section.
PLACING A TRADE
In order to enter or exit a position, you must place an
order with your broker. Your broker in turn will call the
exchange on which the future contract is traded and convey the
order to the order clerk. The order clerk will then give the
order to a runner who will take the order to the appropriate
trading pit and give it to a floor broker who will have the order
executed at the proper time.
To place a trade, press the T key. The broker screen will
appear with the broker menu displayed on the right-hand side.
Note that the players's initials are displayed on top of the
screen. If this player wants to place a trade, press P.
If another player wishes to take an action, press N for Next
player, then key in the initials for that player.
To place an order, press P. Various types of orders will be
displayed. Depending on the player's level or expertise, certain
orders cannot be placed. To move the cursor, press the right
arrow key pad. Press enter key when you have the type of order
you want to place.
You will need to enter the number of contracts and the
symbol for the future contract you wish to trade. Press enter
when this is completed.
Note: If you are placing a grain order, be sure to denote
your order using the number of bushels, not the number of
contracts. For example, buying 2 contracts of May Soybeans would
read buying 10M SK, not 2SK.
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Then you will need to enter the price you wish the order to
be executed at. Press enter key when you've keyed in the price.
If you want the order to be a market order, just press the enter
key.
If you enter a certain price, you may need to clarify when
you want the order to be executed. Note where the cursor is
located. If it's highlighting the type of order you want, press
the enter key. Otherwise, press the right arrow key to move the
cursor.
For example, the cursor may be highlighting the GTC (Good
'Til Cancelled). If you want the order you're placing to be good
'til cancelled, press the enter key. If you want it to be a day
order, not good 'til cancelled, press the right arrow key.
If you make an error, or want to cancel the order prior to
entering it, press the ESC key.
After you've completed entering the trade, the program will
determine if you have sufficient equity to cover the margin
requirements associated with the position. If there isn't enough
equity, a message will be displayed noting that there isn't
enough equity to cover the trade.
If the order is incorrect because of an inaccurate price or
improper clarification, a message will be displayed noting the
problem.
If the order is correct, the broker menu will return.
Other actions can be taken when on the broker screen.
VERIFYING A TRADE
If you wish to check an order that was placed earlier to see
what the order was, then you want to verify the order. You can
only verify an order that hasn't been filled.
For example, if you placed an order to buy the September
Swiss Frac but weren't sure if the price you used was 4250 or
4280, then you will want to verify the order.
To verify a pending order that was placed, press the V key.
This is available from the broker screen only.
All pending orders will be displayed as they were entered.
Any order previously filled or cancelled will not be
displayed.
To view any other order that was entered, press another key.
The next order will scroll into view. The orders will continue
to scroll until you leave that area.
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If there are no pending orders, the broker screen will
reappear.
To exit the Verify Order section and return to the broker
menu, press the ESC key.
CANCEL ORDER
If you want to cancel an order before it's been filled, then
you want to cancel the order.
From the earlier example, if you realized that your order
was to buy a Sept. Swiss Franc at 4280, and you wanted it to be
at 4250, then you will want to cancel the order to buy at 4280
and replace it with an order to buy it at 4250.
To cancel an order press the C key. This is available from
the Broker Screen only.
All pending orders will be displayed.
Answer Y or N on bottom of screen if you want to cancel the
order that is displayed.
The orders will continue to scroll by with the Y or N
questions at the bottom until you leave that area.
To exit the Cancel Order section and return to the broker
menu, press the ESC key.
FILLED ORDER
If you want to see where previously filled orders have been
filled at, then you want to check your filled orders.
To view where orders have been filled, press the F key.
Filled orders can be checked from the from the Broker Screen
only.
All current open positions will be displayed with the date,
time, and the price the position was entered.
Positions will continue to scroll until you leave the filled
order section.
To exit the filled order section and return to the broker
menu, press the ESC key.
NEXT PLAYER
To move from one player to another player, press the N key.
The cursor will move to the "Player's Initials" position.
Place the next player's initials in the appropriate
position. The cursor will then move down to accept whatever
action you request.
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EXIT BROKER SCREEN
To exit the broker screen and return to the game, press the
ESC key.
INTRA-DAY CHART
From the main game screen, it's possible to either watch the
tapes and the headlines or to watch an intra-day chart for a
specific future contract.
To call up an intra-day chart, press the D key. The screen
will request that you put in the symbol for the future contract
that you want to chart.
If that future contract is open, the chart will replace the
headlines and tape sections. If the contract isn't open, the
screen will display a message that the market isn't open, so an
intra-day chart cannot be drawn.
3 symbol future contracts will be accepted automatically. 2
symbol future contracts (SX= Nov. Soybeans) player must press
enter key for computer to display chart.
To go from an intra-day chart to the headlines and tape
screen, press the D key and press the space key 3 times. This
will return the headlines and tape scenes.
EXIT GAME SCREEN TO MAIN MENU PAGE
To go from the game screen to the main menu, press the ESC
key.
The main menu screen will be displayed.
CHECK OPEN/CLOSED POSITIONS
From time to time a player will want to review their equity and
the status of the positions.
The equity page will display the amount of cash in the
account, the amount of equity used for margin in open positions,
the profit or loss from the open positions, and the full list of
open positions.
To check the open and closed positions for any player, press
the O key from the main menu.
The equity page will appear with the cursor located where
you will need to indicate the player's initials. Once you key in
the player's initials, their current equity statement will
appear.
The statement will detail what their current cash position
is, how much of their equity is allocated to initial margin
requirements, and what their open trade equity is.
-11-
On the first page, all open positions will be listed. The
details concerning the date entered, the entering price and the
current price along with the current profit or loss of the
position will be listed.
At the bottom of the page the player will be asked whether
they want to look again at the screen. If no, type in N. Then
the screen will show all of the closing positions with the profit
or loss for each trade noted. To Exit to main menu, press ESC
key.
To exit the section and return to the main menu, press ESC
key when the cursor is at the bottom of the page or when it's at
the player's initials position.
30 DAY CHART
A 30 day chart is a bar chart detailing the high, low, and
close of a particular commodity for the 30 days prior to the
current day . For example, if you're playing day 5 and want to
see a 30 day chart, it will display a 30 day chart for the 30
days prior to day 5.
A 30 day chart is good for technical analysis. You can see
where historical support and resistance levels are.
To view the 30 day chart for a particular future contract,
press C from the main menu.
Player will need to key in the ticker symbol for the future
contract including the month of the contract. ie SPM = Standard
& Poor 500 Futures Index, June Contract. SX = Soybeans, November
Contract.
Once the symbol is placed, the chart will appear.
Press any key to return to the main menu.
3 symbol future contracts will be accepted automatically. 2
symbol future contracts (SX = Nov. Soybeans) player must press
enter key for computer to display chart.
BEGIN NEW GAME/CHANGE GAME SCREEN
This section allows you to change any of the display tapes
or market monitor sections of the main game screen.
To change the game screen while playing a game, press G key
from the main menu.
The game status screen will indicate the current position of
the game. To change a tape or future contract, move the cursor
to the position necessary by pressing the enter key.
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When the cursor is in the necessary position, key in the new
symbol. Press enter key to move through game screen area until
game returns to main menu.
BEGINNING A NEW GAME
If you're beginning a new game, press the S key from the
main menu.
The game status screen will show positions already coded
into the game.
The cursor will be located in the first position where the
player will designate which day to begin the game. Choose day 1
to 8.
Next the cursor will move to the position where the player
will need to designate how many players will be playing the game.
Choose 1 to 3.
Next, key in the commission cost per contract for the
players. Choose between 0 to 99 dollars.
Next, key in the 2 symbol designation for the players and
their level of expertise. Their level of expertise will
determine the amount of money that they start with and the types
of orders that can be entered.
For level of expertise, key in 1 for Novice who begins with
$10,000 or 2 for Speculator who begins with $20,000.
Next, key in which exchange tapes you wish to follow on the
main game screen. Note the key on the bottom of the screen.
1 = Chicago Board of Trade
2 = Chicago Mercantile Exchange
3 = New York Commodity Exchange
Next key in the 8 future contracts that you wish to follow
on the market monitor section. Be sure to key in the ticker
symbol correctly using both the symbol and the month.
Note: If the symbol is only 2 letters, you will need to
press the enter key to enter the symbol. If it's 3 letter
symbol, the symbol will be accepted by the computer. Complete
listing of the future contracts and the months associated with
them are in the reference section of the game and in the manual
under the description of future contracts.
After completing the game screen, the game will go back to
the main menu.
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REFERENCE
The reference section is designed to provide you with
information on a specific commodity in the game. The data is all
accurate. It will detail the symbol that designates the
commodity (GO for Gold), and the months that the game
has for the commodity. Also, the information concerning which
exchange the commodity is traded on, the hours that it trades,
and a sample order for the commodity is detailed.
The reference section is accessible from any of the main
game screens. The reference screen is available from the main
menu, the market monitor screen (the main game screen, and from
the broker screen) Press R to bring up the reference screen.
The various futures followed in the game will be listed on
the top of the screen. Key in the number following the future
that you want information on.
Use a two number designation; ie for 5, key in 05.
To exit the reference section press the ESC key.
MARGIN REQUIREMENTS
In the futures market, a margin deposit must be placed with
your broker before a position can be taken. The margin deposit
is seen as a good faith deposit against the overall value of the
future contract.
The margin required is a small fraction of the overall value
of the future contract. If Gold is trading at $400 an ounce on
the futures market, and the future contract is for 100 ounces,
the value of the contract is $40,000. Margin required to take a
position in gold is $1500.
In this way, the individual investor is able to take
advantage of the leverage in the futures market by having a small
move in the futures causing a large move in the return from the
margin deposit.
Margin requirements are divided into two categories. Initial
margin and maintenance margin. Initial margin is the initial
minimum necessary to deposit to take a position while the
maintenance margin is the minimum that the margin can decrease to
before the investor receives a margin call.
Each future contract has a corresponding margin requirement
associated with it. Margin requirements are set by the various
future exchanges and change from time to time to take into
account the increase or decrease in activity in the contract.
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Spread margins are lower than nonspread margins because of
the decreased risk associated with a spread position. For
example, long West German Marks and short Swiss Francs would be
considered a spread as would long September Corn and short
December Corn. If the market was moving against one side of the
spread, it would probably move in favor of the other side of the
spread. Thus a loss on one side would be a gain on the other
side.
Since futures positions are marked to the market at the end
of every business day, the investor's equity statement is
updated everyday to take into account the daily movement of the
positions the the individual carries in his account.
If the margin deposit decreases to less than the maintenance
amount, the investor must either make a deposit to bring the
margin back up to the initial margin amount, or to liquidate the
position.
MARGIN REQUIREMENTS IN SPECULATOR
Speculator has been designed with minimum exchange margins
for all commodities. Some investment firms use higher margins
because they prefer the degree of safety that higher margin
requirements provide.
Some investment firms allow traders to use half of the
margin requirements if they are day trading; that is, entering
and exiting the position in the same trading day.
Speculator has been set up to allow for day-trading. This
enables players to take on more positions than they can cover
based on their equity. Players should be careful. If they are
overmargined at the end of the day, they will receive a margin
call before the beginning of the next trading day. For example,
a Novice with $10,000 in equity can actually take $ 20,000 in
positions during the day. By the end of the day though, they
should be below $10,000 in margin, or they will receive a margin
call before the beginning of the next trading day.
When the player receives a margin call, they must liquidate
positions before 9:30am CST to meet the margin call, or the game
will liquidate positions automatically.
MARGIN CALLS
A margin call happens when the money that the investor has
in their account does not cover the maintenance margin required
for the positions. When that happens, the individual receives a
margin call from their broker to inform them that they must
either make a deposit to bring up their account to the initial
margin amount or to liquidate positions to bring their equity up
to the initial margin amount.
-15-
For example, gold has an initial margin of $1500 and a
maintenance margin of $1125. If an investor held 2 positions in
gold, he would need to have a minimum of $3000. If the positions
went against him and he lost $375 per contract, he would either
have to put up more equity to cover the loss, or liquidate one of
the positions to increase the equity in his account.
MARGIN CALL IN SPECULATOR
Since Speculator is set up with each player beginning the
game with a specific amount of money, it's impossible for the
player to add equity to their account to meet a margin call. The
only way to add equity is to have the positions in the account
increase the overall equity in the account.
Thus the only ways a player can meet a margin call is by
having the positions he holds in his account increase the overall
equity in his account or by liquidating positions.
-16-
COMMODITY SYMBOLS
GO - Gold
HO - Heating Oil
JY - Japanese Yen
LH - Live Hogs
PB - Pork Bellies
S - Soybeans
SF - Swiss Franc
SP - Standard & Poors 500 Futures Index
SV - Silver
US - Treasury Bonds
Symbols for Months
F - January
G - February
H - March
J - April
K - May
M - June
N - July
Q - August
U - September
V - October
X - November
Z - December
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