How to Make a Killing in The Stock Market

There are a few mentions around the internet and this place on how to make your money using the assassination missions given to you by Lester, but few if any actually give a detailed step by step to make the most of it. In this guide I will give a step by step process with some hints and tips to speed things up a little.

 Lester advises Franklin of potential stock market investments

CAUTION: This guide may contain spoilers, nuts and ingredients that will affect those with an intolerance to dairy.

From the way I did it as described in this guide I managed to make $2.1bn, your total payout may vary depending on if you chose Option A, B or C (if after main missions) or if you made numerous purchases before taking on the missions, or do this before the end of the main storyline.

In the build up to my undertaking these missions, I had already purchased a Hanger and Helipad with Michael, and a boat slip with Trevor, as well as purchasing the Taxi Business, The Dock, Los Santos Customs, The Towing Company and the Mackenzie Airstrip, with differing characters and completed the main storyline missions.

Tips

• When you save your game at a safe house using Michael and Franklin time progresses 6 hours, when you save your game with Trevor time progresses 12 hours. Don't forget the quick save option on your in-game phone, this won't progress time but can 'bookmark' your save slot until you get back to a safe house.
• Markets don't really move during the weekend, so keep an eye on your in-game phone to check out the day of the week, but during this guide I will mention this before undertaking missions
• Any mention of time throughout this guide will be in-game not real time, so when I say 48 hours I don't mean you've got to spend a couple of days taking the dog for a walk, working, sleeping, spending time with the other half or updating your stamp collection. However doing this guide may take you a couple of real time hours.
• Optional: You can keep two save games going at the same time, one as a good copy so once each mission has passed and you've completed the pay-out cycle, the other as a work in progress save for when you're speeding up time, keep a mental note which one is the good one and which is your WIP one.
• In this guide I won't be detailing how to do each mission, as there are numerous guides around for that, and besides they are fairly self explanatory and easy missions anyway (barring the lack of a first aid kit during the 5th mission)
• When switching to the other protagonists don't forget Trevor gets himself in some real pickles including being chased by the cops which is awkward on some of the missions where you need to sell quick and buy the next lot of stock. When switching I would recommend switching to Trevor first, Michael second then Franklin last as you'll be doing the missions with him.
• I'll mention the marketplace each stock is on however I'm fairly sure some swap their markets (may have been done during updates, to be confirmed), so if it's not on the LCN check out the BAWSAQ and vice-versa.
• During my run through I had left the missions till last, however I had fully modded weapons and did very little modding of vehicles, depending on when you choose to do these missions keep an eye on your current account just in case you start running a little low.

Before you start

• Do not do the Hitch Lift 1 Mission, this is the Random Event where the guy whose car has broken down just off the highway on the west side of the map who wants a lift to the airport. This guy will give you a Stock Market tip which you can make a good return.
• Some of the stock tips require access to the BAWSAQ. This is an online only stock market, so you'll need to be connected to the internet and to the Rockstar servers (Social Club account etc.) for this to work. The LCN is offline so can be done at all times.
• Read each mission carefully first before committing, as some require the stock to be bought before the mission, and some after.

Basics

 The LCN Exchange is one of two stock markets in GTA V

• To purchase each stock, open your phone's browse, go to the Money section and select the relevant stock market (BAWSAQ or LCN), find the company and click on it, select Buy, then click and hold on the + until you've bought all of the stock you can. Then click Buy and Confirm. Note: when you get to the high values quickly check that the stock you are buying doesn't put you into a minus figure (buying more than you can afford) as the game won't purchase the stock, you may need to click the - a few times until you still have a positive balance.
• To check the payout of each stock purchase, open your phone's browser, go to the Money section and select the relevant stock market (BAWSAQ or LCN), select the My Portfolio tab and there will be a column for what the return percentage is.  There will be a +/- 1-2% variance with the payout this is due the fact the regular stock movement is included in the percentage.
• To sell your stock, open your phone's browser, go to the Money section and select the relevant stock market (BAWSAQ or LCN), select the My Portfolio tab then select Sell All, then confirm.

Let's begin...

 An internet connection is required to trade shares on BAWSAQ 

Mission 1: The Hotel Assassination

Note: This mission is mandatory and cannot be left to the end as you have to do it in order to progress in the game.

Pre-Mission Preparation:

1. Make sure it is Monday at 00:00, if not switch to Trevor (12 hour save) and save your game numerous times to advance the time to Monday
2. Switch between all characters and invest all in Betta Pharmaceuticals (BET) on the BAWSAQ

DO MISSION 1: The Hotel Assassination

Post-Mission:

 In The Hotel Assassination, Franklin must kill the CEO of Bilkinton Research

1. Immediately after the mission is over perform a quick save into a new (or unneeded) save slot using your phone. If anything goes wrong with the following steps you can reload this and avoid having to repeat the mission.
2. Wait about 18 hours, save if needed (using your WIP save slot) with either Michael or Franklin. After each save quickly check your on your phone what the return percentage is. The stock moves regularly. For fine tuning it's worth checking it every hour to see what the return percentage is sitting at. This stock has been known to peak at just over 82%, however after it peaks it drops rapidly so it is best to cash out as soon as it breaks 80%
3. Target Return Percentage: 80%
4. Switch to all characters and sell all
5. (save game in your good slot if successful)

Pre-Mission Preparation:

Same as Above

DO MISSION 1: The Hotel Assassination

Post-Mission:

1. Immediately after the mission is over perform a quick save into a new (or unneeded) save slot using your phone. If anything goes wrong with the following steps you can reload this and avoid having to repeat the mission.
2. Sleep once as Franklin (6 hours), or till about 13:00
3. Target Return Percentage: ~38%
4. Sell all your stock with all characters in Betta Pharmaceuticals, then sleep once as Franklin
5. Buy all stock with all characters in Bilkington, which may be ~-47%
6. Sleep until the following Monday until around 13:00, after this point the stock starts to drop
7. Target Return Percentage: ~54%
8. Switch to all characters and sell all

(save game in your good slot if successful)

Mission 2: The Multi-Target Assassination

Note: From now on these can be left to the end or indeed at any time during the game, depending on how much of a Wall Street Shark you are. Your monetary returns will be significantly higher if you do the assassination missions after you are paid for The Big Score (one of the final story missions)

Pre-Mission Preparation:

1. Make sure it is Monday at 00:00 (vital in this mission), if not switch to Trevor (12 hour save) and save your game numerous times to advance the time to Monday very early in the day.
2. Switch between all characters and invest all in Debonaire (DEB) on the LCN

DO MISSION 2: The Multi-Target Assassination

Post-Mission:

1. Immediately after the mission is over perform a quick save into a new (or unneeded) save slot using your phone. If anything goes wrong with the following steps you can reload this and avoid having to repeat the mission.
2. Wait about 8 hours, save if needed (using your WIP save slot) with either Michael or Franklin, however due to the short time maybe best just sit in your car and listen to some tunes and watch the sunset, or go for a drive etc. After each save quickly check on your phone what the return percentage is; the stock moves regularly, but it's worth checking it every hour to see what return percentage it's sitting at. When checking if you want to squeeze every last penny out of the deal then you can check every 30 minutes until you see the percentage dropping, if this happens, SELL, SELL, SELL.
3. Target Return Percentage: 80%
4. Switch to all characters and sell all.
5. Switch to all characters and Invest everything into Redwood (RED) on the LCN
6. Wait 48-96 Hours, this may take you up to Saturday, the reason is unclear why it such a huge window of opportunity however when this reaches its target percentage it doesn't really move, so for this reason switch to Trevor due to the 12 hour save and each time you wake up check your return in your Portfolio.
7. Target Return Percentage: 300%
8. Switch to all characters and sell all.
9. (save game in your good slot if successful)

Total Expected Return for PS3/Xbox360 players ~380% 

Pre-Mission Preparation:

Same as Above

DO MISSION 2: The Multi-Target Assassination

Post-Mission:

1. Immediately after the mission is over perform a quick save into a new (or unneeded) save slot using your phone. If anything goes wrong with the following steps you can reload this and avoid having to repeat the mission.
2. Sleep as Franklin 2/3 times or until around 18:00 on Monday, as the stock in Debonaire tops off around this time
3. Target Return Percentage: ~39%
4. Switch to all characters and sell all stock
5. Switch to all characters and invest everything in Redwood (RWC), the stock at this time will be: ~-23%
6. Do several sleeps, possibly with Trevor to speed this up until somewhere between 16:00-23:00 on the Sunday as the stock levels off at this point before dipping on the Monday.
7. Target Return Percentage: ~203%
8. Switch to all character and sell all.

(save game in your good slot if successful)

Total Expected Return for PS4/Windows/XboxOne players ~242%

Mission 3: The Vice Assassination

Pre-Mission Preparation:

1. Make sure it is Monday at about 00:00, if not switch to Trevor (12 hour save) and save your game numerous times to advance the time to Monday
2. Switch between all characters and invest all in Fruit (FRT) on the BAWSAQ

DO MISSION 3: The Vice Assassination

Post-Mission:

1. Immediately after the mission is over perform a quick save into a new (or unneeded) save slot using your phone. If anything goes wrong with the following steps you can reload this and avoid having to repeat the mission.
2. The return on this one is fairly quick about 6-8 hours, so you probably won't have time to save anywhere to advance time.
3. Target Return Percentage: 50%
4. Switch to all characters and sell all
5. Switch to all characters and Invest everything into Facade (FAC) on the BAWSAQ
6. Wait 48 Hours, in this case it's pretty much bang on 48 hours from when you buy
7. Target Return Percentage: 33%
8. Switch to all characters and sell all
9. (save game in your good slot if successful)

Total Expected Return is ~83%

Pre-Mission Preparation:

Same as Above

DO MISSION 3: The Vice Assassination

Post-Mission:

1. Immediately after the mission is over perform a quick save into a new (or unneeded) save slot using your phone. If anything goes wrong with the following steps you can reload this and avoid having to repeat the mission.
2. The return is just as quick, and should level out between Monday 20:00 - Tuesday 03:00
3. Target Return Percentage: ~19%
4. Switch to all characters and sell all
5. Switch to all characters and Invest everything into Facade, the stock should be around: ~-21%
6. Sleep several times until around Sunday 19:00 as the stock levels off at this point and is still and increase on the initial investment.
7. Target Return Percentage: ~25%
8. Switch to all characters and sell all
9. (save game in your good slot if successful)

Total Expected Return is ~44%

Mission 4: The Bus Assassination

Note- For this mission, the Vapid Stock Drops-- you will purchase this stock AFTER the stock drops about 50%. The stock will return to it's trading range that it was in prior to the mission after the time indicated below.

Pre-Mission Preparation:

1. Make sure it is Monday, if not switch to Trevor (12 hour save) and save your game numerous times to advance the time to Monday
2. Do not purchase anything yet, although it may be worth switching to Trevor to make sure he's being a good boy (toilet incidences aside), for when you need to switch.

DO MISSION 4: The Bus Assassination

Post-Mission:

1. Immediately after the mission is over perform a quick save into a new (or unneeded) save slot using your phone. If anything goes wrong with the following steps you can reload this and avoid having to repeat the mission.
2. Switch to all characters (Trevor first just in case he's decided to start a fight with the police in the meantime), then invest everything into Vapid (VAP) on the BAWSAQ
3. Wait 48 Hours, again in this case it's pretty much bang on 48 hours from when you buy
4. Target Return Percentage: 100%
5. Switch to all characters and sell all.
6. (save game in your good slot if successful)

Total Expected Return is ~100%

Pre-Mission Preparation:

Same as Above

DO MISSION 4: The Bus Assassination

Post-Mission:

1. Immediately after the mission is over perform a quick save into a new (or unneeded) save slot using your phone. If anything goes wrong with the following steps you can reload this and avoid having to repeat the mission.
2. Switch to all characters (Trevor first just in case he's decided to start a fight with the police in the meantime), then invest everything into Vapid (VAP) on the BAWSAQ
3. Sleep Repeatedly with Trevor (Trevor sleeps 12 hours at a time) to advance the clock to the following Monday- at this point, the stock should level off.
4. Target Return Percentage: 100%
5. Switch to all characters and sell all.
6. (save game in your good slot if successful)

Total Expected Return is ~100%

Mission 5: The Construction Assassination

Pre-Mission Preparation:

1. Make sure it is Monday, if not switch to Trevor (12 hour save) and save your game numerous times to advance the time to Monday
2. Switch between all characters and invest all in Gold Coast (GCD) on the LCN

 With the correct investments it is possible to make over $2bn!

DO MISSION 5: The Construction Assassination

Post-Mission:

1. Immediately after the mission is over perform a quick save into a new (or unneeded) save slot using your phone. If anything goes wrong with the following steps you can reload this and avoid having to repeat the mission.
2. Wait about 24 hours before selling, this is quite a quick turn around, save if needed (using your WIP save slot)
3. Target Return Percentage: 80%
4. Switch to all characters and sell all.
5. (save game in your good slot if successful)

 Total Expected Return 80%

Pre-Mission Preparation: 

Same as above

DO MISSION 5: The Construction Assassination

Post-Mission:

1. Immediately after the mission is over perform a quick save into a new (or unneeded) save slot using your phone. If anything goes wrong with the following steps you can reload this and avoid having to repeat the mission.
2. The return percentage on this mission is quite a wide margin, and is probably more luck than anything, including when it levels out
3. The stock should level out between: ~37% to ~41%
4. The stock will level out between Monday 18:00 - Tuesday 09:00
5. This may take a couple of attempts if you are wanting to max this one out.

You should now have more money than you know what to do with, and the big question who to give the Golf Club to.

 Total Expected Return: Somewhere between 37% and 41%

Bonus Stock Tip - Hitch Lift 1

 The first hitch lift mission is available in Banham Canyon

Pre-Mission Preparation:

1. Make sure it is Monday, if not switch to Trevor (12 hour save) and save your game numerous times to advance the time to Monday
2. Start as Franklin and park up by the Gas station at the start of the Freeway heading north up the Western Freeway, do a quick save (using your WIP save slot)
3. Switch to all characters and invest all in Tinkle (TNK) on the BAWSAQ
4. Switch back to Franklin then head up the coast until you get the blip on the radar to give the poor guy a lift, if you don't get the blip drive up and down the road a few times (Fort Zancudo to the North the Gas Station to the South to allow spawning) until he shows, if not reload your saved game and try again.

DO MISSION: Hitch Lift 1

Post-Mission:

1. Immediately after the mission is over perform a quick save into a new (or unneeded) save slot using your phone. If anything goes wrong with the following steps you can reload this and avoid having to repeat the mission.
2. Wait about 18-24 Hours
3. Target Return Percentage: ~33%
4. Switch to all characters and sell all.
5. (save game in your good slot if successful)

Pre-Mission Preparation:

Same as above

DO MISSION: Hitch Lift 1

Post-Mission:

1. The return for XboxOne and PS4 is now pretty much instantaneous, that being said, just drive out of the Airport complex and park up at the parking lot by the garage used in the Gauntlet Car Missions.
2. Target Return Percentage: ~24%
3. Switch to all characters and sell all.
4. (save game in your good slot if successful)

You should now have more money than you know what to do with, and the big question who to give the Golf Club to.

Other Stock Tips

• This is a list of missions that have also been known to affect stocks as posted within THIS POST by ribon.  After testing the markets with these stock tips they can be fairly unpredictable and I would suggest trying them at your own risk.  With the caveat of, if they work for you then then cash in while you can, if they don't then c'est la vie.
• When I had tested a couple of them and then went back to my good save, the stock price had not reverted back to what it was when I saved (it carried over the stock price from before I reloaded) and meant the stock tip would no longer work.  In a couple of cases I had to speed up time in order for the stock to return to normal and then begin the mission; but the sting in the tail was that the tip did not work.  These differ from the main Lester missions and the Hitch Lift mission which are more predictable.
• Huge amount of credit goes to ribon for these tips,

In case it is not readily apparent-- look carefully at the returns for the missions below. For the ones with negative returns, how you would make money on these is by looking at the price of the stock before the mission starts. Do the Mission, and then wait for the stock to drop-- then buy the stock. Stocks with huge drops will eventually return to their former price-- this can take either time (waiting it out) or by completing more story missions. A perfect example of this is the mission Legal Trouble-- FlyUS drops by 50% after this mission and will not rise back up until after you complete Meltdown-- as you can see below-- a 50% drop and a 100% increase (a doubling) from that drop will bring it back to the same price. Some of these can be unpredictable and the order that missions are done or other variables may come into play while doing these. The time that it takes for the bounce to come can be several in game days.

In summary:

• For Negative return stocks-- purchase after the mission and after the stock drops-- Sell After they have returned to their former price.

For Postive return stocks-- Purchase before the mission, Do the mission, and then watch the price carefully (often) and sell after the bounce

Friend Request

Life Invader -45.57%

The Jewel Store Job

Vangelico -29.76%

Hotel Assassination

Bilkinton -67.26%

Minor Turbulence

Vangelico +42.57%

The Paleto Score

Cluckin Bell -39.99%

Derailed

Bilkinton +82.20%

Monkey Business

Life Invader -50.03%

Fresh Meat

Gruppe Sechs +11.17%

Legal Trouble

FlyUS -50.20%

Meltdown

Richards Majestic -50.03%

FlyUS +100.69%

The Third Way (after the credits)

MerryWeather -49.51% 

Augury Insurance +101.49%

Cluckin Bell +66.89%

Gruppe Sechs +10.80%