Freedom Business Opportunities

Frederick Mann's Stockgeneration FAQ

Disclaimer: This is my personal FAQ, representing my own views, opinions, and interpretations. It does not represent any official Stockgeneration views, opinions, or interpretations. This information is communicated in accordance with the right of free speech. It does not constitute financial, accounting, tax, or legal advice. Anyone seeking such advice should consult a competent professional. Any losses incurred as a result of actions resulting from this information are solely the responsibility of those so acting. See also SG.

Note: This FAQ contains some out-of-date-information. The latest information on SG can be found at their website. See also SG Forum and our Risk Meter.

The Stockgeneration website can be accessed from our Business Opportunities page.

Q. What is the minimum that I need to play in Stockgeneration?

A. I haven't seen a minimum mentioned anywhere. Because FWO/Terra Libra earns 20% commission on the amount you start with -- and no further commissions from any additional money you may later put in -- I obviously want your starting amount to be as high as you can afford!

So you could start with $100, $500, $1000, or more. I would say the maximum you feel comfortable with. To be prudent, it needs to be money that you can afford to lose -- the same kind of criteria you would apply for deciding how much to invest in the stock market.

You can even start with nothing because there's an option to survey the Stockgeneration website, provide them with feedback, and they will pay you $50 for your time and effort. You can either withdraw this money or use it to buy shares.

Then you can refer others and earn 20% commission on what they initially spend. (During my first week I earned $1,200 in commissions, all of which I used to buy share #11.) So it's possible to make a fortune without any out-of-pocket risk or expenses! (The details of the referral program are on the "Share Prices" page.)

For completing the $50 survey, you also get the benefit of a 10% discount when you make your first share purchase. (After you've made your initial purchase, for say $1,000, 10% or $100 is added to your account.) This is another reason for making your initial amount as substantial as you can afford.

>Date Tue, 27 Apr 1999 144459 -0400
>From info info@stockgeneration.com
>Subject SG Bonus Update
>
>Dear StockGeneration Player,
>
>There seems to be some confusion surrounding the various bonuses to which
>players are entitled, and also the various methods of payment available.
>SG would like to take this opportunity to clear these matters up.
>
>Money can be deposited into your account in the following ways. Please
>check the updated autoresponse e-mails for complete details.
>
>a) CASH (Western Union) send an e-mail to
><western_union@stockgeneration.com> for further details.
>
>b) CHECK / MONEY ORDER send an e-mail to cheque@stockgeneration.com
>for further details.
>
>c) CALL-CASH Pay money over the phone using your credit card, the
>money arrives the following day send an e-mail to
>callcash@stockgeneration.com for further details.
>
>d) ONLINE CREDIT CARD PAYMENT- Go to
><http//www.stockgeneration.com/ccwarning.htm> for further details.
>
>e) BANK TRANSFER send an e-mail to
>bank_transfer@stockgeneration.com for further details.
>
>
>And now for the bonuses
>
>50 USD -- All visitors to the site who are not already SG accoun
>holders may complete the SG survey and receive 50 USD and a new account.
>
>10% bonus -- This bonus only applies to players who have successfully
>completed the SG survey, who have received their login name and password,
>and who then deposit money into their accounts. SG will add 10% to your
>first deposit of funds, REGARDLESS of which method you choose. This also
>includes online credit card deposits. You must, however, use your deposit
>and the bonus to purchase shares.
>
>30% bonus -- This bonus replaces the old 8% bonus. All players who deposit
>any amount of money at any time into their accounts qualify for this 30%
>bonus, as long as funds are NOT deposited using the online credit card
>payment method.
>
>20% referral fee -- If you introduce a player to the game and this player
>quotes you as his/her referrer, you are entitled to a bonus payment worth
>20% of the referred player’s first payment, REGARDLESS of which method the
>player chooses to deposit. Both the player’s first payment and the referral
>fee must be used to purchase shares.
>
>SG will continue to cover the costs involved in depositing money into
>the game, i.e. bank transfer fees, check handling fees and Western Union
>send fees.
>
>All bonus payments are cumulative. For example, if you complete the
>survey successfully you receive 50 USD. If you then deposit 1,000 USD
>via Western Union you receive 1,000 USD + 100 USD + 300 USD + the send
>fee.
>
>We hope this clarifies the situation.
>
>We wish you all continued success.
>
>Yours,
>
>SG
>
>PS. Please always include your FULL NAME when corresponding with SG.

For the latest additional bonus news, click here.

Q. How would I collect on referrals if I don't have a website?

A. Referral commission becomes due when someone you referred makes his or her first purchase. Both the referrer and the person referred send e-mails to <referrals@stockgeneration.com>. The commission is credited to your account. You can use your commissions to buy more shares. Whether or not you have a website doesn't enter into the picture. Click here for the referral fee information on SG's website.

Note that if someone you refer chooses the "$50 survey" option to start, and puts in money, you still get a referral fee based on the initial money put in.

Important: If you join Stockgeneration as a result of being introduced by Frederick Mann/Terra Libra (ID# 0005859414) and/or as a result of this website, please inform Frederick Mann. When you join Stockgeneration and you come to a form where they ask you "Where did you hear about SG?," please answer: "Frederick Mann/Terra Libra referred me" (copy and paste the above into the form, please). You can also enter 0005859414 as your referrer.

Q. The price of share #11 is now (mid-December, 1998) over $1,500. I don't have that much money. Can I buy partial shares?

A. You certainly can. The first time I bought share #11, I bought 0.204 shares for $300.

Q. I would like to be a part of this Stockgeneration, however, I do not have credit cards or a checking account; can I still participate?

A. You most definitely can. You can send them a money order or you can send cash via Western Union. To get details on all the different methods of payment, send e-mail to the following autoresponders:

cheque@stockgeneration.com - for checks and money orders.
western_union@stockgeneration.com - for cash.
bank_transfer@stockgeneration.com - for bank transfers.

(Those paying by credit card can do so online.)

When you withdraw money from Stockgeneration, you can do so in a variety of ways, including cash via Western Union.

Q. Can you provide complete details of all the withdrawal options?

A. 1. You can withdraw money by bank transfer and have Stockgeneration transfer money to the account of your choice.

2. You can withdraw money by cash via Western Union and have it sent to the person and location of your choice.

3. You can withdraw money by check or money order, made out to the entity of your choice, and sent via standard mail or Fedex to the address you specify.

4. You can withdraw money by credit card, provided the amount is the same as was originally paid in and it's to the same credit card.

(The payment and withdrawal details are in the "PLAY" section of the Stockgeneration website.)

Q. Before I decide to participate, I would like to speak to someone in the company, as well as to some other players. Is this possible?

A. On the Stockgeneration website, under "Contact Us," there's a Chatroom. "Jack" who works for Stockgeneration is sometimes logged on. The Chatroom enables you to communicate to Jack, ask questions, and communicate with anyone else who is logged on. I also suggest you check out the public forum and mailing list operated by independent Stockgeneration players.

Q. Where do you recommend I put my initial money?

A. I suggest you consider only shares #9, #10, and #11. You could split it equally between the three. (I haven't studied the behavior of shares #1-8, so I don't know what's needed to win with them.)

Share #9, returning 10% per month seems pretty safe to me. You can lose a maximum of 5% of your capital every time the price changes. (Prices for shares #9-11 change twice a week, once on Tuesday and once on Thursday.)

Share #10, returning up to about 50% per month is much more risky. You can lose up to 50% of your capital every time the price changes.

Share #11, returning up to about 100% per month is more risky still. You can lose up to 100% of your capital every time the price changes.

For maximum return, I would "go heavy" on #11. A friend of mine just put in $5,000. He put $1,000 in #9, $1,000 in #10, and $3,000 in #11.

Q. This seems awfully risky to me. I don't know that I'm willing to take such high risks. What can I do to minimize my risk?

A. I think the first thing to realize is that Stockgeneration is a "money-flow game." As long as more money flows in than flows out, prices of shares #9-11 are likely to continue to increase. This is similar to how stock exchanges work. (More on "money flows" below.)

Here's a technique for taking advantage of certain high-risk opportunities, such as shares #10 & 11:

Suppose you commit $500 to share #10 and $500 to #11, and after about six weeks you've doubled your money.

Now you take out your original $1,000 and after that you risk only your winnings. Periodically or every month after that you take out a portion of your winnings.

Q. How long have you been playing the Stockgeneration game?

A. I made my first purchase on December 6, 1998.

Q. Have you attempted to make any withdrawals?

A. I've made several successful withdrawals. In fact, I've withdrawn multiples of my original capital. One of the first things I did after finding out about Stockgeneration was to check to see if I could find anything bad about them on the Internet. I figured that if people had been trying to make withdrawals and didn't get their money, there would be something about this on the Internet. (You can't hide something like this on the Internet. For example, do an AltaVista search for "Global Prosperity Group" and see what you get. Do the same for "Stockgeneration.")

A friend of mine put $10,000 into Stockgeneration, share #11. He paid by credit card. After about 5 weeks he withdrew his original capital and had it returned to his credit card. It took them five days to return the money. Meanwhile, his original $10,000 had grown to over $16,000. He then had $6,000+ left in share #11, which could grow into a great deal of money. Some of his experiences are described on the Stockgeneration Forum. Because of the potential for public exposure Stockgeneration is likely to be reasonably quick in paying out withdrawals.

Q. What do you think of using Stockgeneration as a kind of bank?

A. I must emphasize that in my opinion, Stockgeneration is a kind of casino, rather than a bank. However, if you have spare cash lying around you may be better off having some of it in Stockgeneration, earning a hefty return.

Because of the different ways to get money into and out of Stockgeneration, you may be able to use it for some funds as a kind of "bank." Of course, to get money into Stockgeneration by check or money order, they have to be made payable to "S. G. Ltd."

Q. Could it be if you play the game you add $$$ to the 'pot'... and then there are those who take $$$ from the pot... As long as the amount in the pot continues to grow, as opposed to being depleted, the game goes on... When or if substantial withdrawals take place... the game is over?

A. This is a very good point. In my opinion, it applies to Stockgeneration. By examining "Yesterday's Transactions" for shares #9-11, you can track the net inflow or outflow of cash. Currently (mid-December, 1998) the net inflow for these three shares is about $500,000 a day.

If the net inflow starts declining it may be a sign that the game might be coming to an end. I expect that at some point this will happen. Using Excel, I track the daily net flow for the three shares, the total net flow, and seven-day moving averages for these numbers.

Particularly with shares #10 and #11, it's in my opinion prudent to be prepared to lighten your holdings or get out completely when the "tide turns."

Fortunately, it seems like a very strong "tide" that may continue "coming in" for six months or more. (Maybe at some point Y2K hysteria will have an adverse effect.) I expect that at some point the "tide will turn" and Stockgeneration will become a different game.

In the meantime, the prices of shares #9-11 continue to go up every Tuesday and Thursday, and I expect this will continue as long as the "tide comes in."

Q. How will I know when to sell?

A. In my opinion, when the net cash inflow starts to slow down, it would be the time to start taking profits. If any drop in price of shares #9-11 occurs, it's probably time to liquidate the declining share completely.

I (Frederick Mann) will indicate on the Financial Independence list when I think it's time to sell. (My face will be red if I'm wrong!) Subscribe to FI list by sending a blank message to: financial_independence-subscribe@topica.com.

Q. What about momentum? Shouldn't you track that as well?

A. I'm glad you asked that. I do also track the 30-day momentum for shares #9-11. I divide today's price by the price 30 days ago. (It's very easy and quick to do with Excel.) In fact, as I'm writing this (Dec 18, 1998), share #9's momentum has held steady at about 110, meaning a 10% monthly increase.

However, share #10's momentum has in the last few days dropped to 139, meaning a 39% monthly increase. And share #11's momentum has dropped to 155, meaning a 55% monthly increase. (Share #10 maintained its 50% rate up to Dec 12, 1998; share #11, its 100% rate up to Dec 4, 1998.)

I presume that the principals of Stockgeneration use some formula to calculate whether they can maintain the 50% and 100% monthly increases. I further presume that even though the net cash inflow for shares #10 and #11 hasn't slowed down (yet), the current net inflow is insufficient to justify the 50% and 100% increases.

So, we may have an early warning here that shares #10 and #11 are "preparing for a fall." So it's probably time to be very careful.

If in the near future (or whenever) they do fall precipitously, after the fall I expect shares #10 and #11 to resume their 50% and 100% monthly increases.

Q. What will happen if someone put in a large amount like $1,000,000 in share #11, and then took out his $1,000,000 in winnings every month or so?

A. Stockgeneration is a comparatively small game. On the currency markets the trading volume is about a trillion dollars a day. For Stockgeneration (mid-December, 1998) the daily inflow for shares #9-11 is about $700,000 and the daily outflow between $160,000 and $200,000. This means that a "big player" taking out large amounts could change the demand-supply dynamics of the game. As soon as exceptionally large purchases or sales of shares #10 and #11 occur, I would become nervous about holding on to my positions.

If attempting to withdraw large amounts, SG may invoke rule 13 -- click here for more details. For strategies on dealing with this risk, I suggest you peruse the SG Forums.

Q. I'm perturbed that you seem to be promoting opportunities that have nothing to do with real value production from real companies. Why is this?

A. I use a number of criteria to select the opportunities I promote, including perceived reward/risk ratio, competence of principals and personnel, integrity of principals and business, etc. See also 'An Evaluation of BIG International'.

I operate on the basis that, though there may be certain "universal values" such as life, particularly human life, many "values" are subjective and "in the eye of the beholder."

I see phenomenal "values" being produced by Stockgeneration and the individuals who successfully play the game, in the form of generated cash they can use to free themselves so they can do more productive (of their own happiness and fulfillment) things than they were doing before.

Q. You seem particularly emphatic about promoting Stockgeneration; why is this?

A. The implications of Stockgeneration (and also BIG International) are quite profound. That you can have part of your capital grow at about 10% per month (Stockgeneration share #9), or 200-300% per year (Big International), or up to 50% per month (Stockgeneration share #10), or up to 100% per month (Stockgeneration share #11) has important implications. Furthermore, with both Stockgeneration and BIG International you can accelerate your earnings by referring others.

The most important implication is that any freedom activist -- or anyone else for that matter -- has a good prospect of becoming financially independent in 6-12 months. Imagine the effect of a few thousand (or million) freedom activists who no longer have to be constrained by 9-5 jobs.