Make this but target it towards value investors (because they read a tremendous amount-- multidisciplinary stuff, newspapers, SEC filings, etc) and you will probably be able to attract a pretty good core following. Then you can gradually expand and widen the audience.
Feel free to contact me (see my profile) if you'd like some more input if you decide to move in that direction.
Do you know of any resources that differentiate the different type of investment styles? I see you mentioned value investors and know there are other types.
Finance is one of those worlds that's so big, it's kind of hard to find a place to start digging in.
New Mogul was the first I've seen of this and was the best. I think New Mogul's success was also partly due to the intensity of the financial crisis and people's interest in understanding how it all works. Nickb vanished, unfortunately, and New Mogul eventually fell.
No site has been able to replicate the New Mogul community and I don't believe it's the UI's fault entirely, though New Mogul actually did a good job sprucing up the default look. I believe the intense interest along with communal enthusiasm just doesn't exist in that industry under normal circumstances. And certainly not enough for a shared information / aggregation system to prosper.
Consider the nature of the industry. Knowledge is power. If you're not all in a sinking ship together, why would you give up your competitive edge?
Re: nature of the industry -- i think there is more sharing that goes on. People send each other emails all the time. On a macro level, this stuff is already out there and so you expect the FIRM to be executing on it. The bigger question is for an individual trader or analyst (or associate) are you up-to-date. So b-school classmates and friends from college help each other stay abreast of things, if nothing else as a safety net since it's always good to have friends at another building on the street.
understand (and agree with) you're point re: secrecy and trading mentality, but doesn't that also underscore the need for a no-nonsense, reliable yet dynamic source of good information and perspectives? also, many people in finance are information gatherers, but can't act (for personal benefit) on that data.
innate habit of "consumption" rather than "contribution" may be difficult at first, but perhaps self-reinforcing if it gained a dedicated readership?
I chuckled at this because of the recent "Wall St Traders = Hackers" post by Mark Cuban. Will be fun to watch how the format caters to the two if they really are so similar!
"The best analogy for traders ? They are hackers. Just as hackers search for and exploit operating system and application shortcomings, traders do the same thing. A hacker wants to jump in front of your shopping cart and grab your credit card and then sell it. A high frequency trader wants to jump in front of your trade and then sell that stock to you."
Hackers care about reputation where Traders care about anonymity. The algorithms behind digg/reddit/HN is what makes them the best for finding good stuff. But maybe Traders are more like the douches that read TFLN and why anonymous voting might be a better idea than requiring log in
I liked newmogul, submissions were of good quality. Comments were of quality too, but had not yet reached the critical mass where a longer discussion can develop.
Problem with finance aggregrators is filtering the high quality articles, so much of finance writing is subpar.
Something that could get me to participate is if I saw more technical articles and resources, rather than the same financial news I can find anywhere. That will limit your audience, but could help develop a community.
what exactly do you mean by more technical? technical as in finance-technical (mathematic, algorithmic trading, etc.)? or technical as in more related to the breed of content on YC?
imho, The value of a community is in its members, not in the software. Sure, UI can have an effect on the ability to build a community, but only upon the edge cases.
What made HN successful isn't the presentation, but the character of its members and its association with Ycombinator.
Whether wallstbeat succeeds is more a function of its ability to attract valuable commentary and users willing to share analysis in a public forum. Failing this, it's vulnerable to the same pump-n-dump trash you see on Yahoo! finance and other sites.
I think you're right that the members of a community give it its value, but I think you underestimate the influence of the software. Consider it like the decor of a bar - once the regular clientele are established it becomes less important, but initially people are drawn there because they feel an affinity with the look and feel. IMHO of course.
exactly - the last thing needed here is another intellectually poor info source that spews stock rec's and trading ideas. [sidebar: imho this is why i think twitter is -- in practice, not theory -- anathema too actual investing]
question: are the real smart investors (individual and other) out there willing to be part of a public forum? people have mentioned the need-to-keep-my-trading-edge-with-secrecy point, but the ego-value of being recognized in a community might also be powerful for this constituency.
This site is for a crowd that spends a good amount of time watching stock tickers. If anyone other than hackers would appreciate a no nonsense interface, it would be the finance crowd.
[+] [-] jacquesm|16 years ago|reply
http://www.markenomics.com/
[+] [-] agentq|16 years ago|reply
http://www.newsley.com
[+] [-] siruva07|16 years ago|reply
and add a way to search industry/geography.
[+] [-] jakarta|16 years ago|reply
Feel free to contact me (see my profile) if you'd like some more input if you decide to move in that direction.
[+] [-] gxs|16 years ago|reply
Finance is one of those worlds that's so big, it's kind of hard to find a place to start digging in.
[+] [-] j2d2|16 years ago|reply
No site has been able to replicate the New Mogul community and I don't believe it's the UI's fault entirely, though New Mogul actually did a good job sprucing up the default look. I believe the intense interest along with communal enthusiasm just doesn't exist in that industry under normal circumstances. And certainly not enough for a shared information / aggregation system to prosper.
Consider the nature of the industry. Knowledge is power. If you're not all in a sinking ship together, why would you give up your competitive edge?
[+] [-] newgarth|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hereandthere|16 years ago|reply
innate habit of "consumption" rather than "contribution" may be difficult at first, but perhaps self-reinforcing if it gained a dedicated readership?
[+] [-] bdickason|16 years ago|reply
"The best analogy for traders ? They are hackers. Just as hackers search for and exploit operating system and application shortcomings, traders do the same thing. A hacker wants to jump in front of your shopping cart and grab your credit card and then sell it. A high frequency trader wants to jump in front of your trade and then sell that stock to you."
http://blogmaverick.com/2010/05/09/what-business-is-wall-str...
[+] [-] siruva07|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sireat|16 years ago|reply
Problem with finance aggregrators is filtering the high quality articles, so much of finance writing is subpar.
[+] [-] secret|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hereandthere|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nroach|16 years ago|reply
What made HN successful isn't the presentation, but the character of its members and its association with Ycombinator.
Whether wallstbeat succeeds is more a function of its ability to attract valuable commentary and users willing to share analysis in a public forum. Failing this, it's vulnerable to the same pump-n-dump trash you see on Yahoo! finance and other sites.
[+] [-] seanl|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hereandthere|16 years ago|reply
question: are the real smart investors (individual and other) out there willing to be part of a public forum? people have mentioned the need-to-keep-my-trading-edge-with-secrecy point, but the ego-value of being recognized in a community might also be powerful for this constituency.
[+] [-] rianjs|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] newgarth|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Kilimanjaro|16 years ago|reply
Hackers like plain boring lists (like HN and reddit) We do a quick scan and determine what is interesting or not in a second.
Non-hackers don't like plain boring lists, they like visuals, pics of the day, planes crashing, latest hairdos, etc.
So unless you put a couple of graphs and stats about the dow plunging, S&P in blood red, etc that site is just, booooring.
[+] [-] marilyn|16 years ago|reply