The Stache Exchange
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About and rules

A one-month stock-picking game that raises money for Movember. One to two stocks, a donation of $25 or more a team, best November wins.

How it works

Where the money goes

Every entry is a donation to Movember of $25 or more, made by you on J's Movember page. The money goes to Movember, which funds men's mental health, suicide prevention, and prostate and testicular cancer work. Movember sends you your own tax receipt.

Not playing? You can still give any amount on J's Movember page.

The prize

Bragging rights and the title of Stache Exchange champion. There's no cash prize: every entry is your own donation to Movember, with your own tax receipt.

Your picks

One stock or two. One stock is 100% of your team. Two stocks split in 10% steps, with each between 10% and 90%: 90/10, 80/20, 70/30, 60/40, 50/50.

You can pick any member of the S&P 500 or the S&P/TSX Composite, plus a few other NYSE, Nasdaq or TSX companies worth over US$1B that J has added. No ETFs, options or crypto. Where a ticker is on both lists, the TSX one ends in .TO: T is AT&T, T.TO is Telus.

Dates

Entries close Sun, Nov 1 at 8 pm Vancouver time (10 pm Eastern). Returns run from the market close on Friday, October 30, 2026 to the close on Monday, November 30, 2026, so Monday, November 2 is the first trading day that counts. There's no trading in between: what you pick is what you hold.

Changed your mind before the lock? Submit the form again with the same email. Your latest entry counts.

Scoring

Total return: each stock's price change since the lock, plus any dividends it pays. Splits are adjusted for.

Each stock is measured in its own currency, so a TSX stock's return is in Canadian dollars and a US stock's in US dollars, with no exchange-rate effect. With two stocks, your return is each stock's return times its weight, added up. Weights are set at the lock and then drift with prices, as if you'd bought the shares and held them.

The S&P 500 (SPY) and S&P/TSX Composite (XIC.TO) show in the standings on the same basis, so you can see who beat the market.

Ties

Returns equal to two decimal places share a rank. Expect ties: plenty of people will pick the same popular stock.

If first place is tied, the win goes to the team that entered first, by the time its form was submitted. Resubmitting moves your entry time to the new submission.

Takeovers and other surprises

Prices are adjusted for splits and dividends automatically. If a stock is taken over, changes its symbol or stops trading, J decides how it's scored and notes it here.

What's public

Team names, picks, and Instagram handles people choose to show. Names, emails and donation details stay private with J and never appear on this site.

Movember and mental health

Movember is about men's health, and mental health is a big part of it. Movember's mental health resources have ways to start a conversation with a mate and look after yourself.

If you need to talk to someone now, Movember's support page lists services across Canada. In a crisis, call or text 9-8-8.

Enter: $25 minimum