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November 2014 Financial Time Machine first appeared in 1982 as "The Great Wall Street Fortune Hunt" for the Odyssey 2 Console. later it reappeared as C64 version with the current title. The version for the Commodore Amiga from 1985 was shipped together with its C source code, although a single source file (lessee6.c) has been lost. http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=71641 this project here is based on that source code and tries to recreate the missing functionality and use modern backend to be able to run the game on recent operating systems in order to preserve it for the generations to come. To compile it, a C99 compiler, SDL library, and "make" utility is required, however lacking the latter, it should be sufficient to just manually compile ftm.c. Original README follows. rofl0r November 1985 This new release of THE FINANCIAL TIME MACHINE includes a new command for those people who can't wait for history to repeat itself slowly. The new command is called JUMP. This command allows you to set the game into a mode where it speeds through time. This means that it is no longer necessary for you to wait through long periods of inactivity to see how well your investment strategy is doing. In addition, for those intrepid enough to try, you'll find that all regular commands are still active in JUMP mode! And for the real speed addicts, if you turn off the stock ticker click (by holding down the control key and typing Q) things really being to fly. To play along at this speed you'll need a crystal ball and blindingly fast fingers. Here's how the command works. Type: JUMP 10 This will put in JUMP mode for 10 weeks. If you try: JUMP * it will put you into JUMP mode for 3500 weeks, enough weeks to play the entire 55 years. Don't panic if you need to get back out of JUMP mode. Just type: JUMP 0 Good Luck! ADDITIONAL INFO & HINTS ----------------------- For those of you who like short cuts and hate typing you'll find that FTM recognizes any distinct abbreviation for a command, as well as for stock names. For example: B 2 IBM is as good as BU 2 IB is as good as BUY 2 IBM but B 2 I is no good because FTM can't tell if you want to buy IBM, IMF, or ITT. In addition you can always check a command by hitting the ESCAPE key. This will NEVER execute the command but it will expand commands into a more readable form. For example: B 2 R would expand to BUY 2 RES AT 120 when you hit the ESCAPE key. ON TAXES -------- If you don't hold a stock at least a year then anything you make is taxable as short term gains (50% tax rate). If you DO hold it a year or more it's Long Term Gains (only 25% tax rate. FTM always sells the shares that you've held the longest first in order to give you the best deal. For those interested in really playing the angles on taxes this is how taxes are figured. If both Short Term and Long Term Gains are positive or both are negative then just multiply both by their respective tax rates (50% and 25%) to come up with your taxes due or tax credit. If one or the other is positive and the other is negative then things are a bit more complicated. This is what happens. First you add the two numbers together (Short Term Gains + Long Term Gains; where one of the two is negative, a loss). Then you pick which of the two numbers (Short or Long Term Gains) is largest, ignoring the negative sign, and use that numbers tax rate on the number you got by adding the two together. Essentially what is happening is that you can cancel Short and Long Term gains and losses against each other and the tax rate is determined by which one of the two was largest (in an absolute sense). Got it??? If not don't worry the program takes care of all this for you. Bond interest is always taxed at 50% and is considered Other Earnings, as are earnings from options. If a stock splits and you can't hold the extra shares (the limit is 9999) then you get cash instead and that's taxed as Other Earnings as well. If you own IMF when ANY stock splits you get a cash dividend as well, again taxed as Other Earnings (50% rate). If all this taxation is getting you down then you'll be pleased to know that FTM automatically carries forward any tax losses you might have from year to year. Sorry, no refunds. A HINT ------ In the real world it's tough to make money and so it is in the world of THE FINANCIAL TIME MACHINE. Those bar charts in the instruction manual for each of stocks are the key. They provide a measure of how stocks generally (but only generally) react to various events. It's worth the time to study them. Also don't be reluctant to deal in options, there is money to be made, as well as lost. In addition, if you buy on margin you effectively double your buying power and potential return (while at the same time doubling you risk). But interest accrues on you margin debt so beware. And, after all is said and done, keep in mind that the prime rate generally reflects the inflation rate and that in real life you would be fighting against inflation as well as trying to make money. Those of you interested in seeing how you are doing against some benchmark can try one of two methods. Either set up a second dummy player that invests everything in bonds (this will reflect how much you could have made by just holding bonds; remember bonds don't incur any brokerage fees either), or set up a dummy player that invests everything in IMF (this reflects how well the market performed overall). Take some risks and enjoy! NMc