Their motto is Beat the market. Earn money. TheUpDown.com site is another paper trading (i.e. no money involved) stock simulator with basic functions (buying, selling, shorting, and covering). No options appear to be in play. The site has three methods of earning real money. The first involves beating the S&P 500 for the month. The payout takes into account the spread at which you beat the S&P and your past performance. It appears that making up for lost ground in previous months can add to the earnings. Their second method of earning money involves giving stock analysis. Like or hate a stock? Tell them why. The community votes on your analysis. I can see this process being easily abused. Their last method involves referral signups. For every person you refer, The UpDown will give you 10% of that person’s earnings. Who’s to prevent referring a stock market junkie to the site. There’s a thought!
I’ve been involved with TheUpDown.com for about a week now. Once the month rolls over I’ll let you all know what kind of payouts they’re giving. It may be worthwhile. TheUpDown is currently in closed beta. If you would like to try it leave me a comment and I’ll e-mail you an invitation. It appears that’s the only way they’re letting folks in currently (similar to Google’s Gmail invitations a few years back).