Cash is king in San Andreas, and nowhere is the chaotic crush for capital more obvious than in the game’s volatile stock market, where you can buy and sell shares to make money fast in the game’s campaign mode. In this guide, we’re going to show you how to do this most effectively and make the maximum return on investment from your hard-earned cash. Here’s how to game the stock market in Grand Theft Auto 5.
Use Assassination Missions

The easiest way to make a lot of money very quickly is to use Lester’s Assassination Missions to disrupt the stock market and swing the pendulum in your favour. Keep playing through the narrative until you reach a mission called The Hotel Assassination, which is given to Franklin by Lester Crest, the dorky heist master. Complete that mission to unlock a string of assassinations where you’ll be tapped to take out CEOs and other high-profile VIPs.
You can use these missions to game the stock market by investing and pulling your money out of rival stocks to make tons of cash. However, keep in mind that the longer you wait in-game to conduct these optional missions, the more money you can invest in the stock market. At the end of GTA V you’ll be a lot more well off than you are when these missions first become available, so consider waiting until you’ve got millions in the bank to spend on investments.
How To Use The BAWSAQ And LCN

First off you want to head to your phone and pull up the stock market. Before the events of each mission, you should follow the below tips to invest in a stock that will afford you a high return once you finish and pull your cash out. You should invest all of your money from all three characters into the one stock listed for the maximum payout. You can also advance time by making any of the protagonists sleep and checking your portfolio on your phone – this should inform you when the best time to cash out is. It’s also beneficial to invest on a Monday, but not essential.
The Hotel Assassination
- Pre-mission: Invest in Beta Pharmaceuticals
- Post-mission: Sell Beta Pharmaceuticals for profit, then invest in Bilkinton Research, wait three days and sell at a high return
The Multi Target Assassination
- Pre-mission: Invest in Debonaire stocks
- Post-mission: Sell Debonair for a profit, then invest all cash into Redwood Cigarettes. Wait two to four days by sleeping in the game and sell stocks at a massive return.
The Vice Assassination
- Pre-mission: Invest in Fruit Computers
- Post-mission: Sell Fruit Computers for a profit, then invest all cash into Facade. Wait two days by sleeping in the game and sell stocks at a massive return before they drop.
The Bus Assassination
- Post-mission: Invest in Vapid stocks and wait two in-game days then sell the stocks for a high return.
The Construction Assassination
- Pre-mission: Invest in Gold Coast stocks
- Post-mission: Sell Gold Coast stocks for a high return. You should now be rich beyond your wildest dreams.
Beyond the above, there’s also this handy website which provides stock data for every item on the BAWSAQ, which you can use to make informed decisions on investments and make money outside of the assassination missions.