FAQ

• DON'T try to organise price-fixing cartels to make shares rise or fall artificially.
• DON'T try to influence share prices by using multiple accounts.
• DON'T phone up the newspapers to try and plant false stories to boost your shares.
• DON'T try to hype share prices by plugging them on message boards or other public places.
• YOU MAY NOT downtrade.
• YOU MAY run multiple accounts if you want to try different investment strategies.
• YOU MAY talk about share prices, offer tips or recommendations to other players, as long as you are not hyping them with false rumours or deliberately misleading people as to the real value of shares.

The full rules of the competition are available.

Finally, please do not play with usernames which are rude or offensive in any way as they will appear on the Players' Chart. If we consider your username to be offensive, we will contact you and ask you to change it, but we do reserve the right to close your account without notice if necessary.

Share Price Movements - Just like in a real stock market, share prices rise and fall as demand for them changes - so as well as receiving dividends, you can make money by buying cheaply and selling high for big bucks.

Dividends - Every week, the shares you own will pay out a dividend, based on the sports pages and supplements of national newspapers.

Win Bonuses - Then there’s also the weekly win bonuses which can help you top up your cash. We’ve selected some prime events and if you buy shares in the names taking part, before the event begins, and then hold onto them for an allotted period then you could pick up a lump sum if they come out a winner.

So you’ll need on eye on the sports pages, one ear on the radio and a finger on the pulse of the market to get to the top of the charts.

Click on "ACCOUNT SETTINGS" on the left hand navigation and you will be given the option to "CHANGE EMAIL UPDATE OPTIONS". Here you can opt to receive weekly update emails or daily update emails from Sportdaq, or you can opt to receive no emails at all. Please note that unless you opt to receive emails, you will not receive them.

You can also delete your Sportdaq account via the "Account Settings" page.

The BBC will only ever use your personal details for the purposes of administering the game and will not publish them or provide them to anyone without your permission. If you would like to know more about the BBC's privacy policy, please see Privacy Policy.

Prices go up and down according to three things: the straightforward demand for them, because of their price history and current performance, demand based on their potential dividend and finally number of shares held in that name.

Demand: If demand for Beckham is high because traders can see his price is already rising - i.e. lots of people are buying lots of his shares - his share price will rise. If lots of Beckham shares are being sold, his share price will fall.

To find out about buying and selling shares, click here.

Dividend Prospects: Every day we measure the coverage each sports star got in the morning's press, and we convert this measurement into a total dividend payment, paid out at the end of the week on a Thursday. If a sports star gets lots of press coverage, they will have a good dividend prospect and this may increase their value - i.e. their share price rises as traders buy them based on their dividend prospects.

Find out more about dividends.

The Sportdaq stock exchange has sophisticated controls in place to ensure that players cannot buck the market by artificially inflating prices. The share price, dividend payment and level of trading in each share are constantly cross-checked by the system to warn us of any dodgy deals being stuffed into a brown envelope on the training ground.

The Dividends paid out every Thursday are based on the amount of press coverage listed sports personalities get. To gain the full dividend for your chosen sporting names you must hold the shares from Monday night until Thursday morning (when you'll receive your dividends). Dividends are paid in the early hours of Thursday morning so you must still be in possession of the shares when they are paid.

Press Coverage - We measure the amount of coverage generated for listed names in the sport RSS feeds of the digital versions of selected national newspapers. Both headline and body text applies.

These figures are then applied to our formula for calculating the potential dividend and entered into the system.

The list of digital publications is as follows:

Monday to Saturday: Daily Mirror, The Sun, Daily Star, Daily Express, Daily Mail, The Times, The Independent, The Guardian, The Telegraph

Sunday: Sunday Mirror, News Of The World, The Star On Sunday, The People, Sunday Express, Mail On Sunday, The Sunday Times, The Independent On Sunday, The Observer, The Sunday Telegraph.

Each sector of the market is attached to a risk rating, based on average actual coverage and average predicted coverage. The less coverage that a sport gets, the higher the risk rating.

These risk ratings will affect the speed at which prices can move in the market. For example, if the same number of shares are held in a football player as a snooker player then you should expect the snooker player to rise faster as they are considered a higher risk investment and so will be geared towards unpredictable spurts around coverage. We reserve the right to change these ratings at any time. Changes to ratings will be advertised in the news section of Sportdaq.

On a weekly basis we select sporting events and make them eligible for a win bonus. This means that if you invest in the names involved (non-playing substitutes will not be eligible nor are team owners, chairmen or chief executives) you could get a nice little payout if they win. We pay these out whenever there is an event selected. This is paid out on the next working day from 13:00 (or the next working day if the event is on a weekend). To qualify for the bonus you must own the shares at the event's deadline time. You do not need to hold the shares at the time that the bonus is paid. A list of the current win bonus fixtures is always available here.

Please note: traders who are millionaired between investing in a win bonus share and the win bonus payment date will not be eligible for the payment.

What's the point of having money if you can't spend it on lavish status symbols? That's why we created a Millionaire’s Club complete with status symbol icons.

Once traders reach 2 million, their portfolios will be emptied and their cash moved to an offshore tax haven, courtesy of our top accountants. They will keep a flat 10k float to carry on trading with, and a shiny new icon will be added to their names on the charts and on their portfolio page. We make it a flat figure, regardless of exact totals, to ensure that millionaires can't use any residual wealth to gain an unfair advantage over new traders. Here's how it'll work:

• £1m: fat wad of cash
• £5m: sexy car
• £10m: luxury yacht
• £25m: very big house in the country
• £50m: executive jet
• £100m: exotic island
• £500m: crown of a minor nation state
• More than £1bn: you become Roman Abramovich

So when you make your first 2 million, you get 2 wads of cash. When you reach your 5th million, you get a sexy car icon, your 10th is a luxury yacht and if you ever reach a billion you become Roman Abramovich.

By clicking on the "My Shares" button you can see what shares you own, how much they cost you, and how much they're worth now. You can also check how much cash you have left to spend, how much you're worth including the value of your shares, and how much money you've made (or lost!) since last week.

The TRADING TOOL. This allows you to buy and sell shares in any of the listed sports stars direct from your portfolio. There is also a VIEW PROFILE button which allows you to look at more detailed information in the sports star’s investor relations section, more of that later. First, a guide to what you can do with the trading tool.

The BUY MAX button gives you a quick way of buying all the shares you can afford in a sports star - useful when their price is rocketing up and you need to invest your money in a hurry!

The SELL ALL button gives you a quick way of selling all the shares you own in a sports star - useful when their price is plummeting and you need to make a quick exit!

The BUY and SELL buttons gives you the option of choosing how many shares you wish to buy/sell in your chosen sports star. Just right for when you don't want to put all your eggs in one basket.

Click the TRADE button next to a sports star's name, once you own them, to go to their investor relations section where you will find information on their trading data, a profile and a guide to relevant Sportdaq news. There is also a TRADING TOOL, which allows you to actually buy or sell shares in that sports star from that page.

The Data section gives you an overview of the recent trading history of the sports star so you can see how they are performing in the marketplace.

The Profile section offers biographical information on the sports star, which can be useful if you're not entirely sure about who you are investing in, or if you just want to know a bit more about them before handing over your dosh.

You can visit other sports stars’ profile pages by using the market lists near the top of the page.

The symbols in the CURRENT PRICE columns show how that share price has been moving over the last 24 hours - green for up, red for down, and grey for no change.

"My leagues" are created by you, the trader, and allow you to compete against your friends/colleagues/family/enemies in a fierce and deeply personal rivalry, safe from the throng of the main chart.

First you must go to your portfolio. Then you will see a link saying "edit/create your own leagues". Click it and you will come to the mini-leagues pages where you have three choices.

Personal Leagues
Add a new league - click on this to create your own league. Remember - no obscene or offensive names or we will delete the league. Try to think of a suitable name for your league that sums up who is competing. Leagues are limited to a maximum of 30 players.

Leagues You Own
If you click on one of the leagues you can see who is in it and edit the membership. To add someone you'll need their User ID number (they'll have to send you this themselves) - it's on the "My Shares" page. You can also change the league's name by following the instructions. You are responsible for managing the members of any league you create and should not add people to your leagues without their permission.

Leagues You Are In
Here you can see all the leagues you are in, both ones you own and ones you are competing in. You can delete yourself from any league, even ones you own, if you no longer wish to compete. Just follow the instructions.

The League of Leagues is where you can find out how well you own leagues are doing in comparison to everyone else’s.

All leagues containing at least two players will be entered into the League of Leagues and you will be able to view them in the same way you view the Players’ Chart - everyone will be able to see the top 30 as well the leagues 15 places above and below theirs.

The chart will be calculated and ranked in order of the average percentage gain for each league (sum of all percentages divided by the number of players in the league). It will be updated on a daily basis at the same time as the main chart.

Where a player joins or leaves a mini league during the trading week the weekly percentage gain for that league will be reset to zero.

Each Friday, the top three leagues will be awarded a gold, silver or bronze medal to mark their success.

Here are the days you need to remember for your diary every week on Sportdaq:

Wednesday: New listings and Win Bonuses added
New names, by popular demand and the instigations of the Sportdaq Team will also be added on Wednesdays. We will live it up to traders to hunt out the new offerings and decide whether they offer real value for money.

Thursday: Dividend Day
The big one when we’ll be paying out the money that your shares have earned through coverage in the press and on Five Live. They are processed overnight in the small hours when the site shuts down for maintenance, so when you arrive at your desk on Thursday morning there should be a nice wedge of extra cash in with your shares to spend as you like – but only if you have invested wisely.

Friday: League of Leagues winners
Friday is the day when the three most successful leagues are awarded their gold, silver or bronze medals to reward their team work and ruthless trading prowess. Remember, there’s no "I" in team.

Saturday: Millionaire Day
In order to stop some traders getting too influential in the market, Sportdaq likes to take them down a peg by exchanging their gains for the sort of items that any top sports star could expect to own – private jets, silverware, flash car. Once you hit the 2 million mark we’ll siphon off the funds (tax free, of course) and buy you the items you can afford before leaving you to scheme on how to make even more than before with your 10 grand pot.

As scheduled
Win Bonuses – On a weekly basis we select sporting events and make them eligible for a win bonus. This means that if you invest in the names involved (non-playing substitutes will not be eligible) you could get a nice little payout if they win. We pay these out whenever there is an event selected. This is paid out on the next working day from 13:00 (London time). To qualify for the bonus you must own the shares at the time of the event's scheduled time. You do not need to hold the shares at the time that the bonus is paid. A list of the current win bonus fixtures is always available here.

Please note: traders who are millionaired between investing in a win bonus share and the win bonus payment date will not be eligible for the payment.

VIEW/SET EMAIL ALERTS - You can tell Sportdaq to email you when a share moves by a set percentage - for instance, if you suspect that Wayne Rooney is about to fall, you might set an alert at -5.00, so if his share price drops by five per cent, we’ll send you an alert email so you can pull out of your investment fast.

Go to your portfolio page and click the VIEW/SET EMAIL ALERTS link underneath your shares. If you have not yet set any alerts, you'll see a very empty page: click the ADD NEW ALERT button to get started.

Choose a sport star from the list, type a short message to yourself e.g. Get rid of Rooney!!, and enter your target percentage. Then click the SUBMIT button to set the alert.

You'll now find yourself back on the alerts page, with the new alert listed. You can edit or delete an alert at any time: just click the little round button next to the sports star, and then hit EDIT ALERT or DELETE ALERT.

NOTE: you cannot receive email alerts if you have changed your email options to 'turn off all mail'. Check this by going to your update details page.

In the fast-paced world of the sport stock market, you may lose money on your shares if you don't keep on top of the game, but if your account remains inactive for a set period, it will be deleted.

Traders whose accounts remain inactive for 30 days will receive a warning in their weekly email that their account will be deleted after a further 30 days if they don't continue to play the game.

This is to clear the game of unused accounts.

N.B. If traders opt to receive no mail from Sportdaq, they will not receive this warning. Find out how to change your email settings.

Every week on the Sportdaq homepage we run a Traders’ Choice vote to give you, the shareholders, the opportunity to have your say on who gets to join the hallowed halls Sportdaq Towers and who should be dropped from the squad.

The Traders’ Choice vote runs from 1pm on Wednesday to 1pm the following Wednesday, with the new stock listed and delisted immediately following the conclusion of the vote.

Traders who own shares in the de-listed celebrity at the time of de-listing will lose their investment, for this reason shareholders are advised to take a specific interest in the results of the vote throughout the trading week.

If a listed sports star dies they will be removed from Sportdaq as soon as the news breaks. The Board feel it would be inappropriate to continue trading in such an event.

Should shareholders still own shares in the deceased sports star at the time of removal, their investment will be lost. Traders who are bankrupted as a result may be given a small amount to enable them to carry on trading. This will be dealt with on a case by case basis.

If you decide to delete your account you can do so in one of two ways. If you receive emails from Sportdaq (daily or weekly) you can remove your account by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of your email. You will be given the following options:

Select option 3 and click submit.

Log in to your shares. To the left of your figures for the week you will see a link marked "ACCOUNT SETTINGS" below your shares which will take you to the page where you should select the delete account option. You will need to enter your password in order to verify that it is your account.

In both cases the account will be deleted immediately.

Downtrading is when you deliberately try and reduce your worth so that when the win bonus is paid out it looks like you have a huge percentage gain.

For example: a trader has £10,000 in their account - they know they're due a win bonus payment of £8,000 so they trade down until they reach a fraction of their worth, say £200. This is done by buying and selling shares continually over a sustained period of time - the traders' total worth is reduced because of the 1 per cent commission paid on each transaction. Once the win bonus is paid the traders' percentage gain will reflect their total worth rising from £200 to £8,200 (4,000 per cent) which would take them straight to the top of the leader board. Many Sportdaq players feel that this takes the skill out of playing. This issue was put to the public vote and traders voted to ban it as of 20/09/2005.

RSS feeds are usually identified by an orange button, like this one on the Sportdaq homepage.

There is some discussion as to what RSS stands for, but the majority plump for 'Really Simple Syndication'. Put plainly, it allows you to identify the content you like and have it delivered directly to you.

In general, the first thing you need is something called a news reader. You can find out how to get a news reader here.

Once you have chosen a news reader, all you have to do is to decide what content you want and drag the address of the feed into your reader. We have a selection of feeds for you to choose from...