Hollywood Stock Exchange
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The Hollywood Stock Exchange is a web-based, multiplayer game in which players virtually buy and sell shares of actors, directors, upcoming films, and film-related options.
The technology that drives the Hollywood Stock Exchange is the Virtual Specialist technology invented by HSX co-founder and the exchange's creator Max Keiser who was awarded a U.S. patent no. (5960176) in 1996 for his invention. Claims of this patent cover trading applications for trading virtual securities using virtual currencies over a network.
Because trading directly affects the prices of the securities, and because the ultimate value of a moviestock is based on the film's box office, stock prices act as box office predictions. In 2002, players in the Hollywood Stock Exchange correctly predicted 35 of the 40 major-category Oscar nominees. It is considered a good example of a prediction market.
Previous incarnations of the game included a music market (for purchasing artists) and prizes for top gainers. These features have been discontinued.
HSX is now a subsidiary of Cantor Index Holdings, L.P. and an affiliate of Cantor Index Limited, a leading online financial spread trading firm. HSX is headquartered in Century City, California.
External links
- Patent Filing (http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=5950176.WKU.&OS=PN/5950176&RS=PN/5950176)
- Hollywood Stock Exchange (http://www.hsx.com)
- HSX Research (http://www.hsxresearch.com)