BullPoo is one of the pioneering websites in the field of social networking for finance and stock enthusiasts. It offers an interactive platform for investors to create investment profiles, share stock blogs, apply investment tools and communicate (in real-time) with other investors within a community of international users. Its virtual trading platform also compliments its social networking features by allowing investors to act on their content, sharing their virtual portfolio, stock picks and stock performance. Investors are also able to join one or more participating networks, such as investment clubs and others.

The present BullPoo services investors and virtual trading of equities listed in the United States, including the New York Stock Exchange, the NASDAQ and the American Stock Exchange.

History

BullPoo was founded by a team of college graduates from Toronto, Ontario, in October 2006, the website's beta launch was released onto the Internet as early as May 2006. In late-2006, the BullPoo team was unofficially approached by Zecco, an online discount brokerage in the United States, with an offer to incorporate the existing website and technology onto the Zecco.com website. The offer was subsequently turned down. Finance 2.0 is rapidly growing in popularity over the past year with similar websites such as Motley Fool CAPS, Jim Cramer's StockPickr, and Silicon Valley's SocialPicks launching their own versions of social networking for finance. More recently, even bigger media players such as Reuters' Interactive have joined the financial community space.

In August 2007, PC Magazine rated the BullPoo web application as one of the Top 100 Undiscovered Websites of 2007, along-side other up and coming websites such as tech blog Mashable.com, office suite Zoho.com and job search engine Indeed.com.

Usage

Investment blogs, forecasts and virtual trading

Profiles contain the standard "About Me" section. From there users are able to write just about anything they like to describe themselves, including disclaimers that many include stating that they recommend no advice on investments. Users are able to upload personal picture, or avatars to represent themselves. Fields in these sections remain blank if members do not fill them in.

Users are each assigned a personal blog with standard fields for content, emotion, and media. The blogging space allows users to share investment knowledge, trading approaches and personal thoughts and opinions on stocks, investment and companies. On top the blogging space, users are able to integrate forecasting features into the blogs - specifying the future price, direction and time frame for a stock price to move towards. Users also enjoys a virtual trading platform that enables trading of equities listed on the New York Stock Exchange, the NASDAQ and the American Stock Exchange. Users are then ranked based on portfolio value, average percentage return on investment (ROI), and a continuous 30-day rolling ROI.

Features

Investment Clubs and Groups

The investment clubs and groups feature allows groups of investors to share a common page and message board relating to specific stocks, investments or ideas. These investment groups can be created by any user, who would then serve as (or assign) the moderator for the club.

Forecasts

Forecasts allow users to commit to a target price and duration for a stock. Each forecast is then subsequently locked and tracked for accuracy and consistency. Based on the level of the forecast, users are rewarded with experience points to build up credibility. Blogs and comments are available to support forecasts and rationales.

Blog Comments

Blogs each have a "comments" section, wherein other investors may leave comments on the blog and content for all viewers to read. Likewise, within each investors profile, other BullPoo users can comment on performance, leave questions and provide feedback. Users have the option disable the commenting feature on their profile and blogs, or to delete any comment and/or require all comments to be approved before posting.