Fantasy Investing Start a league

Fantasy football, but you draft stocks

Fantasy Investing turns the stock market into a season-long league with your friends. You draft a roster of real stocks, set a lineup every week by splitting a virtual bankroll across them, and face one opponent in a head-to-head matchup. Whoever's lineup earns the better return that week gets the win.

How a season works

• Create a league and send the invite link. The commissioner picks the season length, roster size, playoff format and a few other rules.
• Draft. A live snake draft, one stock per pick. By default a stock can only be on one team, so the early picks matter.
• Set your lineup. Before Monday's opening bell, decide how much of your bankroll goes into each stock on your roster. Most leagues cap any one stock at 50%. Anything you don't allocate sits in cash at 0%.
• Play your matchup. From Monday's open to Friday's close, your lineup's weighted return is your score. Scores update live during market hours and go final on Saturday morning.
• Manage your team. Add and drop stocks that nobody owns, trade with other teams, and keep an eye on the league feed for weekly recaps.
• Playoffs. The top teams by record meet in the final weeks, and the winner takes the title.

Scoring

A stock's weekly return is its Friday close divided by its Monday open, minus one, using split-adjusted prices. If Monday is a market holiday, the week starts at the next trading day's open. Your score is the sum of each stock's return times its weight. Two scores within 0.01% of each other are a tie. In the standings, wins come first and season return breaks ties.

The side pot

Lots of fantasy leagues play for something. The commissioner can set an optional buy-in and a payout split (for example 70% to first, 20% to second, 10% to third). Fantasy Investing shows the pot, tracks who has paid, and shows who finished where. The money itself is collected and paid out by your league members, between yourselves, however you usually do it. The app never holds, moves or takes a cut of anyone's money.

Questions

Is this real money?

No. Every team plays with the same virtual bankroll, reset each week, so one bad week doesn't end your season. Prices are real; the money isn't.

Which stocks can I draft?

Any stock on the NYSE, Nasdaq or Cboe, plus ETFs if your league allows them. Over-the-counter stocks are left out so nobody can game the scoring with thinly traded penny stocks.

When do lineups lock?

At 9:30 AM Eastern on Monday, when the market opens. You can change your lineup any time before that.

What if I forget to set a lineup?

Your last lineup carries over, minus any stocks you've dropped. If you've never set one, your roster is weighted equally.

Is there an iPhone app?

Yes. The iPhone app and this site share the same account and leagues.