--- title: What the Buck Investment Papers: When to Cash Out Stocks description: How stock certificates reach your tray, how shares and staking work, and when to tear a paper for the payout. url: https://whatthebuck.wiki/bills/investment-papers/ --- Bills # What the Buck Investment Papers _[Image: A Mooncream Inc. stock certificate popup with a price chart, the stock value, shares times price, a staked amount, and the buttons +1 SHARE and TEAR IT NOW]_ _An opened Investment Paper. Buy shares while the line is low, tear the paper while it is high. Official Steam screenshot, © kohlgames / Loerting Games._ What the Buck Investment Papers are stock certificates that land in your tray instead of on the table. You open one, watch its price chart, buy extra shares while the price is low, and tear the paper for cash while it is high. confirmed They are the last money mechanic in the game, unlocked from the $100 branch of the skill tree, and they decide how fast you close the final gap to the ending. confirmed ## How to unlock Investment Papers Buy **Paper Trail** in the $100 branch of the skill tree. On release day its text read: a 0.04% chance for a withdrawn bundle to be an investment paper with stocks; tear it while the chart is high to destroy the most money, and while the chart is low buy extra shares so the next high pays more. confirmed Unlocking it earns the **Paper Trail** achievement. confirmed The papers collect in a tray at the side of the table. A pre-release key showed the tray holding up to 99 papers. confirmed ## What the stock screen shows The official screenshot of an opened paper shows every part of it: confirmed | Element | Meaning | | --- | --- | | Company name | e.g. Mooncream Inc. Stocks, with a one-line joke about the company | | Price chart | the share price moving over time; a dotted line marks your entry | | Stock value | what tearing the paper pays right now, with the change since you bought | | Shares x price | how many shares you hold and the current price per share | | Staked | how much you have put in, with the gain in percent | | +1 SHARE | buy one more share at the current price | | TEAR IT NOW | cash out the whole paper | Companies seen so far include Bitcorn and Grandma’s Tulip Fund (named on the store page), Mooncream Inc., Sideways Elevator Co., a seller of bottled farts and others. Each has its own price curve. confirmed ## When to cash out What the Buck stocks The rule is in the node text itself: buy shares while the chart is low, tear while it is high. confirmed A few practical points from release-day play: - **Time seems to stop while the stock screen is open.** The release-day 100% player noticed the chart only moved after he started the market, so you can read the chart without losing table time. reported - **Buy in bulk at a dip.** That player used an auto clicker to buy dozens of shares at a low point, then waited for a spike above his entry line. confirmed - **Early papers are not worth much waiting.** Before his upgrades, one trade returned about 4 quintillion and he judged the waiting not worth it. reported - **Late papers are huge.** With share-value nodes bought, single trades returned 283 quintillion, and doubling his money through stocks a few times took him over the $1 sextillion goal. confirmed ## Upgrades for Investment Papers The $100 branch continues past Paper Trail with share value, shares on every withdrawn paper, the chance for a bundle to be a paper, paper payout and a “controlling stake” node (+22% share value seen on release day). A pre-release key also showed a node that makes papers arrive a grade higher. confirmed Buy share value and shares per paper first. Paper chance matters less, since the tray fills up anyway late in a shift. ## How Investment Papers fit the endgame By the time you have Paper Trail, your panels are close to max and the shift price is in the quadrillions. Papers are the only income that scales with patience instead of upgrades, which is why the release-day 100% run spent its final minutes trading stocks. See the [ending and 100% guide](https://whatthebuck.wiki/guides/ending-and-100-percent/) for that last stretch. ## Investment Paper checklist - Unlock Paper Trail once the $100 income nodes are bought. - Open papers when you have spare money to stake. - Buy shares only below your entry line. - Tear on a spike above the line; do not wait for a perfect top. - Use papers to double money near the goal, not as your main income mid-game. ## Sources Last checked: 10 November 2026. Marks: confirmed = official notes, the store page, the game itself or a recording of it; reported = two or more players; unverified = one source. - [Steam store page](https://store.steampowered.com/app/4832970/What_the_Buck/) - [Release-day 100% run](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtjuwrgHzQU&t=4561s) · at 76:01, 92:00, 93:45, 86:01, 85:40 - [Pre-release key run](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL1DyJptysQ&t=6273s) · at 104:33 - [Release-day run (Blitz)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dklE9_1pEw&t=2800s) · at 46:40 - [Steam achievements](https://steamcommunity.com/stats/4832970/achievements/) ## More in Bills - [Bill values Every bill from $1 to $100, coins and bundles: where each one comes from and how to make bills worth more.](https://whatthebuck.wiki/bills/bill-types/) - [Special bills Gold, Electric, Explosive and Collector Bills: what each effect does, how they chain and how gold mixes with the others.](https://whatthebuck.wiki/bills/special-bills/) - [Flamethrower and fuel How to unlock the flamethrower, what Fuel Bills do, and how burning bills spread fire across the table.](https://whatthebuck.wiki/bills/flamethrower-and-fuel-bills/) - [Diamonds How Diamonds are unlocked, what happens when one shatters, and how to get the Diamond Hands achievement.](https://whatthebuck.wiki/bills/diamonds/) - [Combo and Frenzy How the combo meter fills, what each Frenzy stage multiplies, and how to keep a Frenzy going.](https://whatthebuck.wiki/bills/combo-and-frenzy/)