StockTwits: Real Investors. Real Ideas. Real Time.

How refreshing it is to know that there is a social networking site out there carrying useful information rather than invites to friend’s events or photographs of their new kitten!

StockTwits is a great micro-blogging service that allows users to see how traders and investors are doing in the world’s financial markets, share in the successes and also contribute their own investment ideas for others to see.

Access to the site is free and you can either enter your Twitter details or download the StockTwits Desktop.  Once a member you can enjoy open conversations in real time with passionate and savvy market experts.

For people new to the site or those with no specific investment strategy, StockTwits advice is to look in the “suggested stream” section first which contains ideas and experiences from a handpicked selection of trusted and knowledgeable users.  If you have a market strategy then you can narrow your search down and follow the appropriate conversations which will automatically show up in your Home Stream in real time. By creating your own filters you can customize exactly what you want to see.

Another bonus is that you won’t be bombarded with pages and pages of trader jargon for one idea. With messages limited to 140 characters it’s easy to absorb several ideas and suggestions in a short space of time rather than have to concentrate on one long wordy essay. Messages can also include links and charts. The ability to see the full history of a contributor’s posts also gives a good insight into their success (or failure) rate over a decent length of time.

The site covers all aspects of financial markets including Futures, Options and Forex as well as Stocks.  It also spreads the net a little further with ideas and comment on the market and general economic situation. All in all, no matter what type of investor you are, you won’t find many places where such a wealth of concise but useful information is available in one place.

Conclusion
Free advice is not something usually connected to the financial services industry as there’s usually a catch. In the case of StockTwits however, users can see just how successful investment ideas turn out and share in that success from the comfort of their arm chair. Case closed I think!