Black Thursday

A buying and selling game for the piecepack.

On your way to work at one of New York’s most prestigious investment firms, you consider the successes of the past fiscal year:

'I have been blessed,' you reflect. 'My portfolio is diverse, yet strong in all areas. Sickle Moon Steel is having record sales in the mid-west where those new tractors are pulling larger and heavier plows. A bumper cotton crop has made Sun Textiles a real winner in the Carolinas. Clean Arms Chemical just built that new plant in California. And who would have guessed that Crown Petroleum would find so much oil in Oklahoma? Yes, I have been blessed. However, since summer the market seems to be a bit bearish. Perhaps I should just take profits on a few shares and treat the family to a nice Florida vacation for the winter?'

Thursday, October 24, 1929. You are a New York investor floating an economic bubble that’s about to burst. Suddenly caught in the market panic, you use shrewd trading (and a bit of luck) to get rid of as much stock as possible and avoid jumping out any windows.