I saw a program where people bought "stock" on certain trends. Like who is going to b the next president

Question

People purchased like "Obama" Stock or "mccain" stock and they say that this predicts the actual outcome of the race. Anyone know where I can find these trend trading sites?

Answer 1

www.intrade.com is one, there are others.

Answer 2

Actually regarding the answer above that is not true. There have been studies that show that a market composed of many people is a better determinant of a particular outcome then the individual market participants. Its a little counterintuitive, but it is the reason that the vast majority of people cannot time the market. In effect, the market becomes a giant and accurate polling mechanism of everyone's opinion, therefore it can be quite accurate.

The analogy is how accurately markets price in FED decisions before they actually occur. (For the record better than most professional analysts)

Answer 3

sounds more like gambling/bookmaking and it doesn;t predict anything any more than any other reasonable method based on polls of actual voters