FinovateStartup: Stock Market Resources

FINOVATESTARTUP 2009 opens next week in California and we’re still researching all of the amazing participant companies.

Here are quick profiles of several applications that might be of interest to prospective stock market investors.

First up is WeSeed.com:
WeSeed’s basic principle is that everyone should be able to use the stock market. It uses a gaming-type platform to match your interests with stocks you might like to follow, and then gives you a virtual investment to create a virtual portfolio. While the money and the trades are imagined, the data is all real, allowing users to get their feet in the sandbox without the risk of loosing their hard-earned-savings. It also opens stock trading fun up to those of us who don’t have spare change to sink into the market.

Next is KaChing, previously the Facebook app FSX) KaChing allows you to follow 1500 users who generated positive returns in 2008 (perhaps the only investors who generated positive returns in 08?). It proves free open-source access to previously unavailable financial data for those who are serious about breaking down the stock market. KaChing allows users to track real or virtual portfolio and build, test and populate investing algorithms. This isn’t the sandbox folks, this is the nitty-gritty.



Kapitall.com is next. They’ve recently registered with the SEC as an investment advisor. They allow for real or virtual portfolios. The novelty here is that all trades are completely transparent and public to all users. Pretty interesting stuff!

Finally, PortfolioMonkey.com is an application which shows potential diversification options for your portfolio. It’s free to use and again can be used with your real or your virtual portfolio.

Within this list there’s something for everyone at every level of stock-market-knowledge. Good luck and happy trading!

Jessica Ward is a personal finance blogger and freelance writer based in Seattle. She also blogs at www.pennywisefamily.blogspot.com

Market in turmoil

You have seen the news...

Today: Feds rescue AIG with $85 billion bailout

And from the past few days:

"Stocks suffered their worst losses in seven years as the failure of investment firm Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and the sudden sale of Merrill Lynch & Co. stoked investor fears of even deeper problems in the nation's financial system." Boston Globe

Greenspan calls this a 'once-in-a-century' crisis. So should you steer clear of stocks right now? The 'experts' seem to think so. This is from an exchange on Larry King Live:

King: Is this a good time to get into the market?

Orman: No. It's not a good time to get in with brand-new money. I would let these markets kind of wash themselves out....Are you kidding? These are the markets that you just sit on the sidelines and wait on the sidelines and stay away from them until everything works out.

Well, I disagree. I think the best time to get in the market is when everyone else is getting out. No one can time the market but I think if you have the right long term investment strategy this is as good a time as any to get in the stock market. Market emotions tend to cause people to make poor investment decisions as illustrated by the following two graphs.



What do you think? Also, does this make peer to peer lending more or less attractive?