9 Striking Similarities Between Baseball Cards and the Stock Market

Hi Friends,

  For those of us who not only collect baseball cards but invest in them as well, it's daunting when you look at the similarities between the Stock Market and the Baseball Card Market. Being a former registered stockbroker for a few years back in the early 90's (yes, during the "JUNK WAX" overproduction era of baseball cards; it's not a coincidence!), I'm able to draw some real parallels, and I'll break them down for you.

  1) Players, very simply, are the "Stocks". They are pieces of a whole, but sold individually. If you feel strongly about a player, you invest in him by buying his cards. Simple enough, right?

  2) Teams are a collection of players, just like a company is made up of a collection of stocks, or shares in its profit. The better the Team does, the better the stocks fair in the eyes of the public. Some players do outshine the others. We can call them "Preferred Stock" vs. "Common Stock", as they pay dividends (larger shares of the profit). Make sense so far?

  3) With stocks, we analyze the market value. How much profit is expected? How do we expect the common vs. preferred shares to perform? In Baseball Cards, we question whether the player will lead the league in average, home runs, etc. Will the team reach the playoffs and maybe the World Series? Speculation. The Data that is analyzed for stocks turns out to be the statistics we monitor closely in baseball, for example, the shootout among the National League to see who will win the batting title (In the AL, Altuve has that one locked up!). Stats=Data, and these are looked at in charts and graphs to see trends.

  4) Ever head of an IPO, or an "Initial Public Offering"? It's when a new company launches and its shares hit the market. IPO's are hot since they often skyrocket in price early on. That is what Prospects are. Bregman, Turner, Urias...they are all the IPO's of the Baseball Card Market. Catch them while they are hot, because if they cannot make it big in the sport/the market, their card prices will tank.

  5) Where is the corporate headquarters? For the Mets, I know it's Citi Field. The home team operates out of its "Store" or Corporate Headquarters, or Stadium. It's where they intake revenue. It's where the fan (potential investors) gets to see their favorite players, and if the player performs well, guess what? More purchases of their cards and increasing values!

  6) The Baseball Season is equivalent to a trading session in the Stock Market. After the season ends, Baseball Card trading quiets down some. But during the heat of the season/session, it's literally 24/7, just like our Global Stock Market.

  7) Post-Season play is equivalent to after hours trading that occurs in the market. The advantage goes to the players on the teams that made the post-season, as you can imagine, which points to the value-added of a team making the Post-Season!

  8) All-Star Games are basically a road show of the best of the best. Stock Market Road Shows are organized to make local investors aware of some upcoming offerings so they can prepare their financials to be able to invest. The All-Star Game prepares us for a hot 2nd half, and we get a look at both leagues to see where and with who do we place our investments most wisely.

  9) NASD is an association of Stock Brokers and dealers, and they do not have one specific location and are spread out all over the country. That is the Stock marketplace. What about the Baseball Card marketplace? What about baseball card shows happening all across the country and some dealers either attend some shows or none of them and some strictly sell online or from their shop. It's just as fragmented and decentralized as the stock market.

   As I mentioned, there are striking similarities between the two marketplaces.
   Incidentally, some new additions to our corner of the Baseball card Marketplace...

For your review:

1974 Topps #300 Pete Rose, Cincinnati Reds, All-Time Hits Leader "Hit King"

1976 Topps Dennis Eckersley ROOKIE CARD, Pitcher, Cleveland Indians, Card #98

1993 Finest #199 Mike Piazza Rookie Card, Sparkling Topps RC, HOF, HOT!

2008 Topps Update UH280 Max Scherzer ROOKIE CARD, Graded 9.7 MINT+

2010 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BCP101 Anthony Rizzo, ROOKIE CARD, Red Sox

Many thanks and Regards,
Your friends at CardboardandCoins.com

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