rrt sc buying shares sends the price down?

[kamchow]

hi guys,

 

sorry to trouble you but i'm seeing what i think is weird behaviour. i'm hoping one of you with more knowledge about RRT SC could explain the mechanics to me.

 

let me set the scene. i've manipulated the stock market in the first two years to get a lot of cash.

 

then, in the third year, when i buy up stock, the share price actually falls!

call me old fashioned, but i thought stock prices rise when it is bought.

 

i've attached a mp4 file to show you what is happening.

 

is this another bug/feature of RRT SC or is there a logical explanation?

 

thanks in advance.

railroad tycoon ii the second century unexpected shares behaviour.rar

[Gwizz]

When a train reaches a station and makes a profit,  The valus of stock increases.

If trains are not making a profit, the value of stock drops.

 

When you buy back your stock, the value increases.

If you sell too much of your stock the value drops.

 

If the ratios above don't balance the stock value will either go up or down, just like in the real world.

 

I watch when a high value train or two are about to reach their stations, I pause before trading in the stock market to check what the value results will be.

[kamchow]

ahhh, ok, that makes sense. i will replay the game and buy/sell according to those rules. thanks for your help.

[MaglevForever]

In your example, company book value is extremely low compared to share price. While I can't explain what is happening I think what you are seeing is due to the way one of the game's algorithms calculates stock price in this circumstance.

 

Did you read the " Holding the last hand of stock" thread? This method is based purely on manipulation of share price until there are no positive assets on the books. Gwizz's advice is perfect for this situation. The arrival of a train will increase book value enough that it will have a large effect on the price of the one thousand shares outstanding in your company. This method is so powerful that it makes the game too easy. For a real challenge, I play without the manipulation.

 

To play this scenario without manipulation I tend to invest heavily in the AI company that starts with New Athina -> New Izmir while building up my company (the AI is much faster out of the gate, especially since they buy engines even if they have no cash to do so). Eventually as my company grows and the AI stagnates, I will be slowly selling out of the AI and buying into my company which is still growing steadily. I tend to start in Spain (Madrid to Valencia) and will sometimes grab some routes around Venice if one of the AI doesn't start there. There are other options also. I prefer to start with those that don't have custom delays. Unconnected track is allowed. Use the advantage of this to keep your routes away from insane grades. The grades are the main thing that makes this map difficult economically, IMO. Avoid those and you should find success. The AI will also eventually cripple because of their poor track laying on the grades so it is important to preserve some of your riches made from investing in them, even if it is spare personal cash. Remember to focus on freight hauling as well, especially that boosted by the campaign screen bonus you chose. For a super challenge I have done this scenario using the high speed Thayls and Eurostar and full-cost electric track. The Brenner seems like a good fit for the grades, but the maintenance costs make it uneconomical.

[kamchow]

maglev, yes i have read the "last hand stock" thread. that was the tactic i was using in the attached mp4 file.

 

i have played the elbow room mission without this particular type of manipulation. i did exactly as you said, buying/selling into the AI, usually the company run by Donald Smith (Strathconda) or James Hill. after 2 years, i sell the shares, start a new company and have around $5m in the kitty.

 

however, even with such a large amount of money, in hard mode, it is a very difficult mission to complete and get gold.

 

electric tracks cost a lot of money. locomotives cost a lot of money to buy and run. on top of that, you won't get much money for whatever you haul.

 

for example, i had a connection between benghazi and cairo. hauling 3 pax + dining (which i believe gives more profits?) might net me only $200k or $300k. take away running costs and you have hardly anything left in the profit margin. then the AI throws in robberies + breakdowns + crashes + recessions etc and you simply will find it impossible to get gold.

 

to top all that, there are scarce resources and even if you haul grain->wool->goods or grain->cattle->food you won't get much profits.

 

getting 100 chemicals to GCP is a doddle. getting enough profits to enable buying $12m worth of industry is quite tough. getting $45m personal net worth is very tough.

 

hard mode should be challenging but should not be impossible. it becomes too frustrating and then becomes boring to replay the mission for the umpteenth time.

 

i did play and get gold on hard mode... eventually.

i'm curious, did you actually get gold on hard mode?

[MaglevForever]

i'm curious, did you actually get gold on hard mode?

Yes, numerous times. I do tend to micromanage with this game, stopping for every train that arrives to check its optimization with what's available. So that is what I have done with this map also. I tend to be a methodical player. I like efficiency. I mostly chose lower fuel and maintenance costs over greater short term revenue, and most of the time I build up my stations with all the upgrades possible before I consider making a new connection. Normally that means electric track and the E111 here, unless I am trying for a super challenge of the high-speed electrics. I also LOVE straight tracks and will plan as much as possible to have straight tracks. Are you aware that any corner is treated as a 2% grade by a loco? This is in addition to any actual grade on the corner. Add to this the fact that the train must slow down (to the yellow area of the meter) before taking the corner, the train will tackle any grade on a corner with far less momentum than it does when traveling at unrestricted speed (green area of the meter) along a straight. For this reason, corners, and, where possible, a train length either side should be kept as free from grades as possible.

[kamchow]

hmm, i see. ok, i'll take on board all you've said and try it out for myself. thanks for all the tips.

[jeffryfisher]

Although buying stock should push its price up, spending company cash lowers book value, contributing to stock decline. If a company is paying "too much" for its own shares, then the remaining shareholders are hurt (until more cash comes in).

Now, if a *player* bought a company's stock and caused the price to fall, then I'd be really confused.

[MaglevForever]

I didn't play this for a year or so, was just going off memory. I tried a start on it, to refresh my memory and make sure there was nothing I missed. I realized that I currently prefer the Venice to Torino route for an electric start.

 

Edit: I decided to put a more detailed look into my favorite strategy in the other thread you started about Elbow Room, as in the future more people will find it there and I felt I was dragging this thread off topic.

 

Jeffry, that is the point, buying shares with personal cash is driving the share price down! Strange.

Edited January 18, 2015 by MaglevForever