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jncraig  
#1 Posted : Monday, August 21, 2006 9:52:49 AM(UTC)
jncraig

Rank: Advanced Member

Posts: 561

Moved from the old forum ...

I'd like to welcome all of you who have agreed to participate in the beta test and development of Stockcentral.com, and describe our thoughts on what we'd like the site to become.

This is a project of ICLUBcentral Inc. For those of you who may not be aware, we are a privately held, profitable, small company that focuses on the development of tools and services for investors and investment clubs. Our "world headquarters" are located in Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA, and you can learn more at http://www.iclubcentral.com. We've arranged to have Joe Craig, whom many of you know, work on the development and administration of this site. Though we have various arrangements with BetterInvesting to provide software, this site has nothing to do with them (though they are aware of our efforts). We are a private company, and in many ways we feel that this creates a higher standard for us to create tools that really respond to the needs of our customers and users. If we don't, then we won't be successful.

Now, on to StockCentral.com. First, we're intentionally giving you all access to the site right now, warts and all, because we want to be more transparent and give you a voice in what you think that we should be doing. We're putting together an advisory board, too, who will be active in determining the direction in which we'll be headed. But we're here, listening, and we want your input.

To start, our goal for StockCentral is to create an online tool that gives investors the data and insight that they need to make successful investing decisions. We already make tools that help you with the analysis part of investment decision making, and we're starting to work on the next generation of our software that will incorporate data gathering, research, analysis and insight.

The impetus behind the creation of the StockCentral site is that community interaction -- the kind that comes from discussing potential investments with members of your own investment club or other like-minded individual investors -- can be an important aid in the process of making the buy, sell or hold decisions about stocks that you're considering or already own. The collective wisdom of a group of investors who share a similar approach to investing can be educational, particularly to new investors, but can also provide significant benefits to advanced investors. While there are a number of forums and lists where long-term investors who use the SSG can share information, we think that taking this premise to the next level can have great benefits for participants. That's where StockCentral comes in. And here's our plan, laid out as we intend to be adding features to the web site.

Stage 1:The creation of an online community focused on ticker-based stock discussions. Since we want to be an aid in the investment process when you're researching and evaluating stocks, we are creating specific forums by company. If you're studying Bed, Bath & Beyond, you can just jump to the BBBY forum where you can read and respond to messages from other investors who own or are considering BBBY stock. There's no need to wade through lots of other messages that are irrelevant to your current needs, allowing you to quickly find relevant information that helps in your own decision-making. In the future, we anticipate adding functionality to our stock analysis tools that will bring more of the community interaction to your desktop software, as well, letting you see what other investors are thinking about a stock that you're studying. (From a business standpoint, this is good for StockCentral since our software tools can help promote the web site, but we do think it's a valuable feature for end users, too.) We will also be working on hosting educational seminars that happen right on the site, with featured presenters who are well-known names to our community.

Stage 2:The launch of a company datafeed for use in our stock analysis software. We are in preliminary testing stages of an SSG datafeed that will provide *.SSG and *.SDF datafiles for all US stocks. The data provider that we're using is Hemscott (formerly Core Data, which was formerly Media General Financial Services). Though you may not be aware of the company, they provide data to Yahoo Finance, Hoover's and MSN Money, and more than 1,000 public corporations use their service to create the performance data in their proxy statements. This data is high quality and the datafiles will provide normalized EPS. In addition to the SSG datafiles that you'll be able to download into Toolkit (you'll see the ICLUBcentral datafiles link is already there), we'll also have an SDF file format with all the data you need for the balance sheet report function.

Stage 3: We'll also provide a web version of the report with complete financial data. This is interesting for us since we can provide some proprietary information on this report that is exclusive to StockCentral and ICLUBcentral. For instance, we can note if a stock is currently on the Complete Roster of Quality Companies, or was recently featured in IAS, or provide the Take Stock Quality Rating, or calculate the Take Stock EPS growth projection for that company, or note if a stock is among the most widely held by our Club Accounting Online clubs. (From a business perspective, this proprietary information is good since it raises awareness of our other products and services, and we will be considering options such as allowing individual back issues sales of the Investor Advisory Service, but we think it provides a bit more insight into a stock which makes it good for members, too.)

Stage 4:The creation of a consensus analysis/judgment tool. Here's where things start to get interesting. Once we have a critical mass of users who are uploading their SSG files to StockCentral, we'll have a wealth of user-contributed information about particular stocks. Members will be able to see all of the contributed analyses for a company and download them directly into their Toolkit or other programs. We'll also be able to create a "consensus SSG" that embodies all the contributed stock studies for a company, using some smart algorithms that eliminate widely outrageous projections or that, over time, weight more highly the judgment of investors whose past analyses have been more accurate. This is where our objective of bringing together investors will have a really tangible impact. In the future, I can see how we might integrate the SSG-sharing function with ICLUBcentral desktop SSG software even more, to make it really easy to share your SSG files with the site right from your SSG software. Note that in order for this to work, we need SSG file sharing to begin right away, so please start uploading your SSGs now!

Other opportunities: Simultaneously while working on all of the above, we are going to be working with third-party software vendors (web sites, newsletters and other investment information providers) to find ways that work to our mutual benefit as well as to the benefit of StockCentral members. Inasmuch as these third-parties can bring knowledge and insight that will be of great benefit to our members, we're happy to provide a marketing platform for them (just as StockCentral will be an opportunity to increase awareness of ICLUBcentral software and tools). We're not ruling any partner out -- even potential competitors -- as long as they can bring something to the table that will be of interest to our community. This isn't about advertising. (We'll be announcing our first partner quite soon, and you'll see just how high of a quality standard that we've set.)

Much further down the road: Some of our ideas for the future include adding online stock analysis or Take Stock to the site, as well as screening tools. Perhaps integrating with myiclub.com clubs to give their members more insight into the stocks that they're researching. Adding community functionality in some fashion to our stock analysis tools (such as alerting you if there are new messags for stocks that you're studying when you open the software). There are lots of possibilities!

So, how much will all this cost? We've targeted $33/year (11/16/06: With the launch of StockCentral, the actual price is to be $39/year) as the subscription price for the site. The datafeed itself is worth many times that; but we hope the community functionality is what keeps people involved and engaged. The Complete Roster will be included, as will support for all of your ICLUBcentral software (we'll eventually be eliminating the ICLUB Investing Software Maintenance subscription). Members will get discounts on the products available through our partners, too. But we're going to be offering free one-year subscriptions to StockCentral to the first 10,000 members who sign up before 12/31/06, to help us build momentum and really kick off the site as a place where investors can go to get high quality community interaction.

If you have questions, suggestions, comments or complaints, please let us know!

Doug


President, ICLUBcentral Inc.

Posting from ICLUBcentral World Headquarters in
Harvard Square's historic College House, Cambridge, Mass.
Joe

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Gary Simms  
#2 Posted : Wednesday, September 6, 2006 9:09:30 AM(UTC)
Gary Simms

Rank: Newbie

Posts: 7

OK Doug/Joe,

Other than subscribing and sending some SSG's what can I do to help?

I'd sugest establishing an online school documenting stock evaluation and porfolio management similar to the BIWiki or the university in the mutual fund section at the BI website.

One area of deficiency I see in the current offerings is the analysis of industries. Overviews of the players, their stong and weak points, direction of the industry and who growing with evolving ideas has been lacking in every site I've seen with the exception of shareowner.com. They do a very basic screening on an industry, but no real analysis.
jncraig  
#3 Posted : Tuesday, September 12, 2006 5:24:14 PM(UTC)
jncraig

Rank: Advanced Member

Posts: 561

We're interested in feedback, suggestions, commments, etc.

The educational stuff will come, and I expect that we'll open up some forums specifically for that as soon as we "really" get going. For now, you can use "The Classroom" if you'd like to start a workshop, a focussed educational discussion, etc.

If you'd like to start a stock study, use the ticker forums. If your company doesn't yet have a forum, just ask.

And, just use the site ...
Joe
etana.finkler01@comcast.net  
#4 Posted : Monday, October 16, 2006 8:32:46 AM(UTC)
etana.finkler01@comcast.net

Rank: Member

Posts: 11

Joe Craig et al,

I want to congratulate you ALL, and thank you for all this work that you have been doing for the individual investor.

I will be recommending tonight at my investment club meeting, that we do NOT renew our membership to NAIC/BI that is coming due this month, and that they all register for the free year subscription to stockcentral.

With what I have already seen of the database of SSGs you are providing, I can see no advantage to being a member of NAIC/BI; the situation there has degenerated for 5 years now; with every action they do, I see only declining fundamentals there.

ONE QUESTION: can you estimate the fee for this site in years to come? Do you think it will remain around $33 per year? I just fear it would increase beyond what the club members would be willing to pay. NAIC membership is about $40 per year for club members with OPS.

thanks again,
Etana Finkler
Stockettes, Silver Spring, MD
p.s. I didn't know what board to write this on.

p.p.s. Suggestion: what about a name that includes something about the Individual Investor? That is what made the original mission of NAIC so unique, and what they have lost.

jncraig  
#5 Posted : Monday, October 16, 2006 8:58:18 AM(UTC)
jncraig

Rank: Advanced Member

Posts: 561

I want to congratulate you ALL, and thank you for all this work that you have been doing for the individual investor.
Thanks!  This is really an ICLUBcentral project, so the thanks go there.



ONE QUESTION: can you estimate the fee for this site in years to come? Do you think it will remain around $33 per year? I just fear it would increase beyond what the club members would be willing to pay. NAIC membership is about $40 per year for club members with OPS
I really can't comment on this, but maybe Doug will.  But ... my thought is that we want this to be available at an attractive and competitive price ... subject to the laws of economics.  Perhaps that's a way of saying I don't know, but I wouldn't expect dramatic price increases.  And, the more successful this service is, the easier it is to keep the price low ...

Suggestion: what about a name that includes something about the Individual Investor? That is what made the original mission of NAIC so unique, and what they have lost.

I don't think that we'll be renaming the site.  But, we have changed the tag line slightly:  Community, Data, and Insight for Investors.
Joe
elrekce  
#6 Posted : Wednesday, November 15, 2006 5:43:01 PM(UTC)
elrekce

Rank: Advanced Member

Posts: 34

What safeguards are in place to monitor ssg uploads that might intentionally upset your consensus ssg's? I know you have an great large group of honest and sincere contributers. But, is it possible someone that could benifit from a sudden upward movement in stock price create an ssg that could upset the averages? I am sorry if this seems like a far-fetched thought, but is is crossing my mind and maybe others as well.
jncraig  
#7 Posted : Wednesday, November 15, 2006 6:08:35 PM(UTC)
jncraig

Rank: Advanced Member

Posts: 561

That will be included in the analysis. Besides the consensus SSG file, we'll be providing some statistics, outlier analysis, etc. And, we'll be inviting our subscribers to comment on the process as we develop it.

We'll try to keep our eyes and ears open!
Joe
dabraham  
#8 Posted : Thursday, November 16, 2006 4:56:33 AM(UTC)
dabraham

Rank: Advanced Member

Posts: 43

For all technical support and customer service questions, here's how to contact us:

For frequently asked questions or to email a support request, go to
www.iclub.com/support

To contact us immediately, give us a call!

(p) 617-661-2582
Monday - Friday
9:30 AM to 6:00 PM Eastern Time

bf801  
#9 Posted : Thursday, November 16, 2006 6:25:26 AM(UTC)
bf801

Rank: Newbie

Posts: 1

I tried to register and I got a response telling me that I was already a member and I'm not elgible for the one year free trial. As a result, when will my $33 dollars be due?

Bill Finney
jncraig  
#10 Posted : Thursday, November 16, 2006 6:37:20 AM(UTC)
jncraig

Rank: Advanced Member

Posts: 561

Bill,

You received that message because you've already signed up for the free first year! We won't be hounding you for money until the free offer is about to expire ... in a year.
Joe
nickssweetiepie  
#11 Posted : Friday, November 17, 2006 1:33:29 PM(UTC)
nickssweetiepie

Rank: Newbie

Posts: 1

Wow! I am certainly impressed with everything that this site will be offering. Congratulations and a very special thank you for all of the work that each of you have done to bring what appears to be a wealth of resources and information to those of us who are perpetual learners.
I can't wait to see the entire project come to fruition, and I can't wait to try everything out. Thanks again!
Noel Rodman, Volunteer, K62
tmarion  
#12 Posted : Saturday, November 18, 2006 8:19:43 AM(UTC)
tmarion

Rank: Newbie

Posts: 7

Have you ever considered expanding (or changing) your support hours? Surely someone (at least Doug) understands that most users of your software aren't using it Monday - Friday 9:30 - 6:00. I would say that the number who do that is VERY small and that your hours where you do offer service are extremely inconvenient for the bulk of your customers. Most of them are at work during your support hours with no access to their home computers where the software is installed.
gerlach  
#13 Posted : Sunday, November 19, 2006 7:39:54 AM(UTC)
gerlach

Rank: Administration

Posts: 437

Thanks: 7 times
Was thanked: 14 time(s) in 10 post(s)
Posted By Thomas Marion on 11/18/2006 1:19 PM
Have you ever considered expanding (or changing) your support hours? Surely someone (at least Doug) understands that most users of your software aren't using it Monday - Friday 9:30 - 6:00. I would say that the number who do that is VERY small and that your hours where you do offer service are extremely inconvenient for the bulk of your customers. Most of them are at work during your support hours with no access to their home computers where the software is installed.

Users can submit support requests via our web site 24 hours a day, and that is our preferred method of supporting customers since it provides the most efficient mechanism for gatherig required information and providing solutions. Quite a large number of our customers do have access to phones during the hours that our Technical Support department is staffed, as evidenced by the hundreds of calls that we receive in a typical day. As you're probably aware, technical support departments operate on razor-thin margins, so for us to expand the hours we'd need to see some fairly significant increases in customers. Of course, I'd be quite happy to have that problem!

Doug


ngstephanz  
#14 Posted : Monday, November 20, 2006 2:07:49 PM(UTC)
ngstephanz

Rank: Newbie

Posts: 1

I need a stock analysis software program that will work on Macintosh computers with OS 10, 4 (Tiger) or 10.5 (leopard) when it is released. I do not have the type that can run Windows programs. Suggestions?
N. Stephanz
jncraig  
#15 Posted : Monday, November 20, 2006 4:47:24 PM(UTC)
jncraig

Rank: Advanced Member

Posts: 561

Take a look at the products by Churr (churr.com) and Intuitec (intuitec.com).

I know that there are some users of the Churr product here.  Perhaps they and others will chime in and tell you how they like the products.
Joe
EdC0511  
#16 Posted : Tuesday, November 21, 2006 12:47:39 AM(UTC)
EdC0511

Rank: Member

Posts: 13

How long will it take to add Take $tock to the mix? Bless you guys for jumping into a situation that really needs you. Ed Chiampi
jncraig  
#17 Posted : Tuesday, November 21, 2006 7:40:42 PM(UTC)
jncraig

Rank: Advanced Member

Posts: 561

And a hearty welcome to you, too, Ed!  I hope that you find StockCentral to be a worthy product, and that you'll visit us often!
Joe
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