DISCLAIMER: I’m not sure of the legality of Intrade, so I hold any reader responsible for researching their own laws before pursuing trade opportunities with Intrade.com. Kriticle.com nor myself are to be held responsible for any reading, clicking, linking, perusing, buying, trading, scheming, scoffing, or n’er-do-welling.
That being said, Intrade has a pretty neat concept: trading not on stocks, but on the future outcome of undetermined events. For instance, you can place trade agreements (buy contracts) on the winner of the Democrat 2008 Primaries, the amount of snowfall in NY, the winner of several categories in the Academy Awards, and a whole lot more.
Allen Taylor of the InvestingWorldToday.com personal investing blog, gives some details on how it works, and also agrees that it makes for some great entertainment and a chance at a little bit of income.
For those of you who bought on the chances for Barack Obama to win the primaries back in October, you’re probably sitting pretty happy right now. The primary election results are currently favoring Obama by a huge margin (80.8 to 19.2) after wins in Wisconsin and Hawaii, giving the Jr. Senator from Illinois 10 straight victories, all leading up to the Armageddon-like showdowns in Texas, New York, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania. In fact, his chances of winning Texas have gone up 17 points since the news hit.
However, it also points to how fickle and quick to judge the common trader can be. The fluctuations you will find on Intrade are far greater than many you will find on the stock market, with wild jumps occurring every time Drudge or Politico post a new bit of breaking news. With the meteoric rise in political pundits this year, you can be sure to find results jumping all over the spectrum.
Good luck, and happy trading!
