IT'S been a rough, old week. Investments are faltering and war with Iraq will further dent the economy. So why not escape the monetary madness with Celebdaq ' the celebrity stock exchange where the reputations of the famous are at stake? SIMON DONOHUE buys a portfolio of Manchester faces.

PREPARING to buy former Take That star Mark Owen and sell Sir Alex Ferguson? Then you might be one of 160,000 people who have signed up to Celebdaq, the virtual reality trading website where celebrities are the stocks and investors share the fall-out from their changing fortunes.

Based on financial stock markets - but more volatile - Celebdaq players receive '10,000 in virtual money to buy pretend shares in famous faces.

Inches

Prices rise depending on the number of column inches celebrities receive in newspapers and are also affected by investor demand, just as the price of a Safeway share soared when the supermarket became the subject of takeover talk.

I bought into the market on Tuesday by creating the Manchester Evening News Celebrity Fund - a portfolio containing 100 shares in each local face listed on the exchange.

It cost me '5,712 in virtual cash and has reaped lean rewards so far.

Among the climbers have been Sir Alex Ferguson (up from '5.09 to '5.47 a share, buoyed by the Juventus game), Kym Marsh (up from '2.85 to '3.11 a share, buoyed by who knows what?) and Sarah Whatmore (up from '1.75 a share to '1.91 a share as a result of her second single release).

But fallers include Chris Evans (down from '3.31 to '3.16) and Sara Cox (down from '3.20 to '3.09.)

The exchange's best performer each week takes a cash prize of '100 (in real money) provided by Celebdaq - which is produced by the BBC and publicised by Radio One and BBC Three.

Popular

And there are signs that Celebdaq is going to be as popular as fantasy football, the newspaper game which allows readers to score with a fantasy soccer team selected from the world's best players.

But stockbroker Roy Kaitcer, who works for Manchester's Brewin Dolphin, urges caution.

"Shares in the real world go up and down depending on newspaper sentiment," he says. "This is a very unrealistic view of how the stock market works."

Click on the headline below to check the latest prices for the M.E.N portfolio. Let us know how your portfolio is doing by submitting your comments below. Tweet