Bullpoo’s investment simulator currently only works for the Wall Street. However, it won’t be long before they add other stock markets into their portfolio, with the China market being on top of the list.
Bullpoo is an investment advisory site with a unique feature: it allows its users to make risk-free simulated investments in an RPG (role-playing game) setting. Each investor is awarded one million dollars to invest in the NYSE, NASDAQ or AMEX exchanges. Not only can you test out your theories and predictions of your real brokerage portfolios, but also you can experiment with some investment tools that are not available in the real world. For example, you can set inter-related conditions among several stocks in the same category for executing a buy or a sell. Investors can also blog about stocks and make forecasts. Bullpoo tracks the performance of your portfolio and forecasts, and gives you XP (experience points) for every successful trade or forecast. Those with enough XP move to the next Level. All these add up to your credibility in the community. The hands-on aspect really sets Bullpoo apart from the likes CAPS (backed by Motley Fool), DigStock, FeelingBullish who are also community-driven, but focus mostly on forecasts.
Bullpoo’s co-founder, Simon Lee, told me the story behind the intriguing name. Besides the obvious reference to the bull-market, the idea also comes from a Zen saying: when you speculate something from afar, it looks like gold; but when you understand it thoroughly, it’s like cow dung. The name entails Bullpoo’s mission: to educate the investors until financial knowledge is no longer mysterious.
Bullpoo is exploring partnerships with financial research firms and brokerages who want to build a brand name, loyalty and presence through the site. They can achieve this by having personal blogs by their analysts, maintaining model portfolios to illustrate good investment technique (while showing their services) and etc.
China is currently enjoying the most bullish market in the past decade. Many people rush in with their life savings or even equities on their houses, but very few of them are equipped with sound investment knowledge, including risk management. I hope Bullpoo can provide the education they desperately need before, as Simon puts it, the “Poo” market hits.
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