New Investment Website Offers Novel Strategy for ‘Occupying’ Wall Street: Share Trends and Take Back Investment Decision Power

In recent months, anti-bank sentiment has been on the upswing across the country. Not only are protesters camping out in city parks in protest of big banks (among other issues) as part of the Occupy Wall Street movement, but consumers are moving their deposits from banks to local credit unions in record numbers.

As New England Post recently reported, approximately 20,000 Massachusetts residents joined credit unions between September 29 and October 29, 2011.

Now, a new online business headquartered in Somerville, Mass. is also taking aim at banks. The business’s goal: bring the investment information advantage back to the private investor.

Shared Sense promises to “make cents out of trends” by combining common sense with the sharing of worldwide retail observations. The website does not focus on forecasts or stock price predictions, but instead focuses on the popularity of brands.

Shared Sense is based on the theory of investor Peter Lynch, who proposes that consumers should invest in what they know. The site – which pools the knowledge of consumers around the globe – takes Lynch’s theory one step further by suggesting that private investors should invest in what everyone knows.

“As Peter Lynch said, if you’re buying the product it might be worthwhile buying the stock. We’re saying if you know we’re all buying the product it’s definitely worthwhile buying the stock,” said Shared Sense founder, Ned Goodwin.

When members of the online Shared Sense community spot retail trends in their areas, such as line-ups for products or products continuously selling out, they can share their observations on the Shared Sense website. They do this by adding brief comments and adjusting a popularity slider.

The website then configures these observations — which come from around the world — and calculates the overall current trend for a brand.

Members of Shared Sense can view the trends for specific brands at any time and use these trends to help with investment decisions. In addition, Shared Sense editors review the site’s data, along with other important factors including margins and financials, so they can provide members with investment tips.

“Why can’t stock picking and investment be based on a co-operative system where people help each other by sharing information on buying trends?” asked Goodwin. “This is a practical way of occupying Wall Street — taking the power of investment decision back to the people. People helping themselves to get an investment edge.”

Related posts:

1. Bay Staters Abandoning Big Banks, Switching to Local Credit Unions in Record Numbers
2. New Poll Shows U.S. Public Has Unfavorable Opinion of Both Wall Street and Occupy Wall Street Movement
3. Wall Street Protests Present Political Dilemma
4. Occupy Wall Street releases “Declaration of the Occupation of New York City”
5. RI-Based Toy Company, Hasbro Inc., Sees 10% Growth in Profit; Still Falls Short of Wall Street Expectations

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Posted by erik devaney on Nov 11 2011. Filed under Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry