The NJPSE Contest is offered only in the United States.

  You must be a legal U.S. resident, 21 years of age or older, and physically present in the 50 United States or D.C., to participate.

For U.S. Government Employees and Contractors and Members of Campaign Staffs.  U.S. government employees and contractors, including employees of the U.S. Congress, and consultants and staffers to campaigns for election to U.S. government elective offices, may be subject to applicable ethics and gift rule guidelines.

OFFICIAL RULES

No Purchase Necessary.

  Internet access and email account required to participate.

1. Introduction/What is NJPSE?

National Journal Political Stock Exchange [the "Exchange"] is a political market trading game.  No purchase is required and no actual money is used; registration, trading and participation are free and open to legal U.S. residents, 21 years of age or older, and physically present in the 50 United States or D.C.  Each player is given a starting sum of ten thousand (10,000) fictional NJ dollars (NJ$) upon registration. Players can use these fictional NJ$ to buy and sell (trade) "contracts" through the online Exchange.  The price of each contract reflects the judgment of traders - as expressed through trading activity on those contracts - about the likelihood of certain events or outcomes taking place. 

The object of the Contest [the "Contest"] is to achieve one or more of the following prize criteria:

          Grand Prize: the highest amount of NJ$ at the end of the 2008 general election contest. The end of the Contest is defined as the expiration of all political contracts that are determined by the conclusion of the November 5, 2008 general election, including runoffs, re-counts and challenges.  

          Monthly Prizes: the highest one-month rate of return gain during any calendar month until November 5, 2008, exclusive of the month of November 2008. Each player's monthly rate of return is calculated by comparing his/her net total trading profit/loss during the month (including unrealized and realized profits and losses as well as fictional transaction fees) against the greater of his/her opening balance from the start of the month or 1,000 NJ$. [Rate of return = 100 x (net change in account value during month)/(the greater of account balance at start of month or 1,000 NJ$).  

Grand prize (1): $1,000 Visa gift certificate

Monthly prizes (2 per month): XM Satellite Radio (device, activation and 3-month subscription)

*Prizes may be taxable to the recipient as income.

A Month is defined from the start of the first day of the month (approximately 6:30 a.m. EDT) until the end of the last day of the month (approximately 6:00 p.m. EDT). You can participate during as many or as few months as you wish during the Contest.

2. Eligibility

The Contest begins 9:00 a.m. EDT, Monday, September 17, 2007, ends at the conclusion of the November 5, 2008 general election, including runoffs, re-counts and challenges, and is open only to legal residents of the 50 United States and D.C., age 21 or older, who are physically present in the United States. Employees and contractors of National Journal Group, Inc., Atlantic Media Company, and the members of the immediate families and households of such employees, are not eligible.

3. How to Compete

Go to njpse.nationaljournal.com and follow the instructions to register and create a user name and password.  Registration, trading and participation are free.  You will receive an account with a starting balance of 10,000 fictional NJ$ to use to make trades. Your account total is recorded at the end of each month to determine your rate of return for the month, but your account balance carries over from month to month.  You may choose as many or as few of the political contracts to trade each month using the available fictional NJ$ in your account.  To simulate actual futures trading, a transaction fee of 0.05 fictional NJ$ per share will be charged for each trade you make.  Limit one trading account per person and per email address.  Any attempt to acquire additional accounts (including individuals registering with multiple email addresses) is grounds for disqualification. 

4.  Selection of Winner/Validation

The object of the Contest is to achieve one or more of the following:

          Grand Prize: the highest amount of NJ$ at the end of the Contest

          Monthly Prizes: The highest one-month rate of return during any calendar month until November 5, 2008.  Each player's monthly rate of return is calculated by comparing his/her net trading profit/loss during the month (including unrealized and realized profits and losses as well as transaction fees) against the greater of his/her opening balance from the start of the month or 1000 NJ$.  [Rate of return = 100 x (net change in account value during month) / (the greater of account balance at start of month or 1000 NJ$). 

Players may compete in as many or few months as they choose during the Contest. There is no inherent advantage in making more trades or fewer trades; the exercise of judgment in selecting the proper mix and timing of contracts and buy/sell decisions are the factors that will determine your rate of return; provided that (a) if your account balance goes to zero, your participation in the Contest ends; and (b) if your account is below 1,000 NJ$, your rate of return will be calculated based on an account balance of 1,000 NJ$, in order to protect against skewing of the Contest results in favor of a player with an extremely small monthly opening account balance.

For complete details on the methods used to calculate profits and losses, click here. Monthly winners will be determined at the end of each month and grand prize winners will be determined on or about November 15, 2008, unless the 2008 presidential election has not been decided.  

5.  General Terms

No automated trading systems, macros or other automated means of registering or submitting orders or trades will be accepted.  Any attempt to use any automated device or technique is grounds for disqualification.  Any attempt by a player to tamper with the Exchange, manipulate a market or circumvent any rule will result in immediate disqualification and possible legal action.  Player usernames may not be offensive or obscene. National Journal reserves the right to require players to change their usernames and failure to do may result in disqualification.  All entries, trades, records and other information are subject to verification and audit.  National Journal reserves the right to require proof of identity and eligibility of any player. 

Potential winners will be notified by email (using the email address of the potential winner as registered with the Exchange) and may be required to sign and return an affidavit of eligibility and a liability and/or publicity release.  Failure to comply when requested may result in disqualification and award of prize to alternate winner.  If the winner declines the prize or if it remains unclaimed for more than seven (7) days after attempted notification to winner, or if a potential winner cannot reasonably be contacted from the details supplied, prize will be awarded to alternate winner.

Prizes must be accepted as awarded and will be awarded only to the qualifying contestant. Identification will be required. Taxes, if any, are the responsibility of the contestant. Chances of winning the Exchange are dependent upon the skill used in picking contracts and the total number of eligible traders. 

No responsibility is assumed for lost, late or misdirected mail, entries, trades or data, or any failure, malfunction or unavailability of any electronic communications, including but not limited to the internet, websites, telephone lines or computers.  Nor is any responsibility assumed for any harm to any computer as a result of accessing the Exchange site or participating in the Contest.

By participating, you agree to release, discharge and hold harmless The National Journal Group, Inc., Atlantic Media Company, their affiliates, and their respective officers, directors, employees and advertising and promotion agencies, from all claims or damages arising out of your participation in the Contest and/or acceptance, ownership or use of any prize.  By participating in the Contest, you acknowledge that you will have no entitlement to any award or other prize unless and until you qualify and become eligible to receive such award as expressly stated in these Rules. National Journal Group reserves the right, in its sole discretion at any time and for any reason, to terminate the Contest without further obligation or liability of any kind to any participant. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, upon any termination of the Contest, your rights in and to receive any award or prize shall be terminated except to the extent already accrued as of the effective date of termination. If for any reason any portion of the Contest is not capable of running as planned, including infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or other causes which corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of the Contest, National Journal Group, Inc. reserves the right at its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Contest, to disqualify any individual who tampers with any aspect of the Contest or acts in any way contrary to the spirit of these official rules, and to award the prize among eligible contestants not affected by the problem.  In case of any dispute regarding identity of person submitting an electronic entry, the entry will be deemed submitted by the natural person who is the authorized holder of the transmitting email address at the time of registration. 

The decisions of the Exchange administrator are final on all matters of fact, interpretation, eligibility, procedure and fulfillment. The computer running the Exchange is the official time keeping device for the Exchange. The Exchange is governed by the laws of the District of Columbia.  By participating in the Exchange, you agree that any dispute, claim or controversy arising out of or relating to the Exchange (including these Official Rules) will be settled through binding arbitration in Washington, DC before a single arbitrator agreeable to both parties under the then-existing rules of the American Arbitration Association, and judgment thereon may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction. The prevailing party will have the costs of the arbitrator and its reasonable attorney's fees paid by the losing party. In the event that the arbitrator determines that neither party has substantially prevailed in its claim, each party will share the costs of the arbitrator equally and will pay its own attorney's fees.

For U.S. Government Employees and Contractors and Members of Campaign Staffs.

U.S. government employees and contractors, including employees of the U.S. Congress, and consultants and staffers to campaigns for election to U.S. government elective offices, may be subject to applicable ethics and gift rule guidelines. By participating in the Contest, you acknowledge and agree that you will not trade in or on, or counsel or assist other participants to trade in or on, trades involving policy, legislative, rulemaking matters or election contest in which you have a direct or indirect involvement, interest, participation (financial or otherwise) or other ascertainable conflict of interest. Conflicts could be grounds for disqualification and expulsion from the Exchange.

Anonymous registrations are not permitted for the Exchange, and falsification of registration will be grounds for disqualification and/or expulsion from the Exchange. Registrants are required to provide full disclosure of job, client and office affiliations. By participating in the Exchange, you represent that the registration information you have provided is accurate and complete and that you have accurately and completely disclosed all requested affiliations, including affiliations with any campaign or election contest.

The Contest is void where prohibited by law.

Sponsor:  National Journal Group, Inc., 600 New Hampshire Ave. NW, Washington, DC  20037