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Yes, as investors & traders we have always found a way to
communicate with each other. We have found a way to discuss ideas we have or
ask about rumors we have heard or charts that we view but now our communication
is evolving rapidly. Now we are living in a new era filled with an information
overload available at our fingertips.
I believe StockTwits was really the first
major platform that brought traders & investors together to discuss their
stocks of interest. Well...StockTwits & Yahoo Finance message boards. Those
were my gateway into social media stock talk. They are both great places to go
in to see sentiment on certain stocks that you are following along with the
occasional know it all that is actually right. You just really have to comb
through the info in there to insure what you read it true.
StockTwits was wonderful when analyzing
any single stock & is still a resource that I use today. In fact,
StockTwits was where I was given an invitation into my first Facebook stock
group this past May. Also, my top mentor will only communicate with me via
StockTwits and email so I will continue using it on a daily basis &
treasure the relationship that I built there with the most knowledgeable market
genius that I know. Yes, D, you are the best & I'm a thankful for your
teaching, insight & data that you produce every day.
My first stock group that I joined on
Facebook fascinated me. I was constantly affixed to the ideas that these Brainiac’s
were coming up with. They were mostly biotech's which was new to me but the
potential was so high in the returns that I was hooked. I would share the name
of this group but it is a "secret group". In my opinion, it's still
one of the better groups on Facebook today.
I became so involved that I took a role as
an admin & did my best to help administer the page while trying to keep the
activity high by creating a presence in the group that engaged the members. I
began going on to StockTwits to recruit other good minds into the group as I
was brought into the group in that manner. I made many friends along the way. I
learned how special the group that I was in with a highly active membership
was. I thank you guys & girls. You know who you are. You were the ones who
got me into more than just blue chips & taught me so much even if sometimes
it cost me.
By mid-June, I tried venturing out joining
many other stock groups looking to find more diversity but discovered that most
of these groups were so lacking of a good admin team that they were diluted
with spam containing only the random post here & there from the hopeful
trader seeking an answer from anyone out there listening.
By mid-summer, more of these Facebook
groups began to form. Some were too specific while others were too broad for
me. There were also the pages where there was too much hostility &
potentially the shady deal happening here & there. Of course there will be
a bad egg here or there but the beauty of it is that you can chose to block
these people. All in all, I believe I still belong to all of these groups but I
really don't frequent them often. I figure that it can't hurt to belong because
they may come in handy one day.
Towards the beginning of August, I came
across the page I was looking for because swing trading was the style of
trading that suited me best. The page was Swing Trade Elite & my
expectations were likely too high based on its name alone. My presumption of
the group was diminished upon entering it. It was completely covered in spam
with a few legit blogs in between. I noticed a nice comment every here & there
from the founder of the page. Through his posting, his voice was so inspired
though his page had lost its way. I decided to contact him only to discover
that he wasn't even the administrator of the page. Out of the spirit of
goodwill, I still contacted the self-proclaimed leader of the group & asked
him what was going on? I had such high hopes for this page.
It turned out that Charles had lost
control of his page because he had accidentally demoted himself. I had to help.
I'm a Facebook nerd & know the in's & out's. I had to help him regain
power of his group so that he could have the integrity he needed behind the
page. We worked things out with another member that he had made an admin. (This
man is another one of the most brilliant traders I have ever encountered. His
level of trading blows my mind, as does his intelligence). Upon contacting him,
he happily made Charles an admin of his page again. He had no idea that it had
happened. Charles & I were both grateful.
Charles made me an admin to help him with
cleaning up some of the garbage in there & together with our third admin
& fellow blogger of Candleglance247, Steve we starting creating something
that we'd like to put our names on. (Shout out to Steve for convincing me to
begin my own blog.... thanks, friend). Together we brought life back to the
page that so many had left or forgotten. This page is still a nice "go
to" for any level of trader from novice to professional. I just wish that
it had more activity with its large membership. Either way, thank you Charles
for befriending me & helping me along the way. Also, for helping me develop
the next tier. I hope our friendship lasts a lifetime & I mean that.
After fixing Swing Trade Elite, someone
gave me the idea to start following Tim Sykes, Superman & other celebrated,
modern day traders. I began using that twitter account I had set up in 2008
that had been collecting dust ever since. I started to find & follow other
traders on there but it didn't have the appeal nor the engagement that the
Facebook groups presented. I do understand the broadcasting aspect that it does
offer along with some valuable resources that I have also become accustomed to
using. That being said, twitter is another great resource for us traders not to
mention all of the stock market chat rooms that you can join via twitter.
For whatever reason, I wanted more. More
social media stock talk though it was turning me into a stock jock rather than
an athlete. I joined profit.ly which is a cool site that I do check & post
to at least once a week. There are a lot of student investors in there that can
really offer some valid insight, as well.
By the autumn, some filtering began in the
Facebook groups which brought the better people from these larger, savage
groups into smaller groups with more active & intelligent people sharing
ideas. Some of these groups are my favorite places to mine for stock ideas
& share my ideas. The filtering continues & literally, we are getting
some of the best groups out there nowadays.
I've only been blogging for a few weeks
now & literally finally discovered yet another platform for traders &
investors to go to when they are doing their research. These are the stock
groups in the Google+ communities.... duh...I should have known that sooner but
it's not the most active place to be yet. Either way, I began distributing my
new blog in there as well.
I suppose that my purpose for this write
up is for a few reasons. The first is the awareness that these things exist,
for anyone out there who is a trader &/or investor who has yet to discover
them. I think it's clear that I favor Facebook groups the most for my day to
day research but the others that I mentioned are also valuable depending on
what you are seeking. Literally, one of my computers will have about 10 to 12
tabs open at a time for social media & data gathering purposes.
Also, I think that this gives a lot of us
more purpose to use social media than we would have in the past. Before it
seemed that I'd only go onto Facebook to post hokey pictures, wish people happy
birthday or keep in touch with distant friends & relatives. Now I find myself
on Facebook daily in this cohesive community of new friends that I've found
with similar interests. I love it! As a trader who works from home, this social
media thing has become a necessity to do my job. Finally, Wall Street has found
its place on social media & it is such a great tool for us all.
The people I have met come from all walks
of life & live all over the world. It's a beautiful thing that we have come
together. I totally feel purpose for social media now & I feel like I have
found my place in it as well. We share a common vision & help each other
out. I believe we are making a little more than we would be on our own because
of it, too. I'm grateful for you all. I can't wait to much further we evolve.
I'm so thankful.
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
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