Stockfuse 9 – The Biggest Update Ever

We’re super excited to announce Stockfuse 9 for iOS – the biggest update to Stockfuse since we launched a year ago. Virtually every aspect of the app has been updated based on the feedback we’ve heard from you – our users!

Here are some of the biggest changes:

• Points: We are launching a new Points system and everyone gets 1000 points to start with (in addition to points you’ve already earned). There are many ways to earn points, including upvotes on trades and messages, and you can use points to leave games and reset portfolios (Yes, you can leave games now!)
• Design: Stockfuse 9 features a brand new user interface, focusing on clarity and ease of use. The new tab-based navigation allows you to access the most important screens with a single tap. Furthermore, many buttons are now clearly labeled (e.g., “Place Order”), allowing new users to get started right away.
• Dividends: Stockfuse has always paid out dividends in real time, but before, dividend history could only be viewed on the web. No longer! Dividends are now accessible from the app. Just tap on “View Account History” from a portfolio.
• Posts: Many users want to share news articles without having to submit a trade. This feature has finally arrived! Just tap on “Make Post” on the Main Feed.
• Speaking of the Main Feed, we’re customizing its content for each user, presenting the most relevant trades and posts based on your holdings, watchlist, and followers.
• Messages: We now support votes in our real-time chats, providing you with a new way to earn Stockfuse points.
• Trading: Game rules sometimes prevent some trades from being executed and our rejection message used to be somewhat esoteric. We’ve redesigned all the trade notifications to address this issue. Now when a trade is rejected, we provide detailed information on the reason behind the rejection and how you can remedy the situation.

And there’s so much more! Be sure to upgrade to Stockfuse 9 today and start exploring all the great new features. As usual, if you have any feedback or suggestions, we’d love to hear them. And don’t forget to leave us a rating in the App Store!

Stockfuse Weekly Challenge – Week 2

We’re pleased to announce the winner of the second Stockfuse Weekly Challenge: @eseiden and @Sigss.

@eseiden returned 7.42% in a single week, substantially outperforming the 1.2% delivered by the S&P 500 Index. @eseiden’s best trades include $TWTR, $NFLX, and $BOX.

@Sigss delivered an equally impressive 6.3% return, driven by a successful bet in $AMD.

Please join us in congratulating both winners on their accomplishment.

For everyone else, there are more opportunities to win. The third Stockfuse Weekly Challenge is now open for registration. Simply tap on “Games” in the main menu and enroll in “Stockfuse Weekly Challenge (3/14-3/18)”. Best of luck to everyone!

Stockfuse Weekly Challenge – Week 1

We’re pleased to announce the winner of the inaugural Stockfuse Weekly Challenge: @rwschwartz and @shulty.

@rwschwartz returned 3.91% over the past five days, handily outperforming the 2.7% delivered by the S&P 500 Index. It’s particularly impressive that @rwschwartz achieved the top-ranking performance without the use of leverage. His best trades include $AAPL, $AMZN, and $GS.

@shulty was not far behind, delivering a return of 3.86%. @shulty’s best positions include $AAPL, $JPM, and $GS.

Please join us in congratulating both winners on their accomplishment.

For everyone else, there are more opportunities to win. The second Stockfuse Weekly Challenge is now open for registration. Simply tap on “Games” in the main menu and enroll in “Stockfuse Weekly Challenge (3/7-3/11)”. Best of luck to everyone!

Introducing Stockfuse Chats

Many of you have told us that you want better ways to communicate with each other. So we’re super excited to introduce real-time chats to both our apps and our website. Not only can you have private conversations with your buddies, there are also dedicate chatrooms for every game and every stock. This new feature should help foster the very best conversations and even more idea sharing amongst all of you.

We’re really excited to hear what everyone has to say. If you have any feedback or suggestions, just send us a message!

Announcing the Winners of the Barclays Markets Insight Game – Round 3

We’re excited to present the winners for the final round of the Barclays Markets Insight Game.

The top performers are Timothy Lo and Ed Cave in EMEA, Andy Lau and Chul Ho Yang in APAC, and Van Spina and A. J. Cabrera in the US.

• Timothy returned 28% during the period, even as the UK equity market as a whole slumped. He fully capitalized on the volatilities of AAL and GLEN, trading in and out of these positions deftly.

• Andy was up 16% during the period. Short positions are always risky and require high convictions. Andy’s well-timed RIO shorts played out splendidly during the period, pushing him to the top of the APAC leaderboard.

• Finally, Van delivered a whopping 56% return in the final period. The winning trade includes GMCR, which rose 72% on one day after being acquired by JAB. But luck alone does not explain Van’s outstanding performance. Every single one of Van’s trades have been supported by extensive analyses and thorough write-ups, even completely DCF valuation worksheets.

In addition to the three players who have delivered extraordinary returns, Barclays continues to reward participants who have scored well on “thoughtfulness.” Ed, Chul Ho, and A. J. are the three winners in this category, standing out amongst participants from 70 countries and 800 universities. Not only did they support their trades with Street-quality analyses, they also demonstrated remarkable engagement, and community influence during the period.

Please join us in congratulating all the winners!

The Danger of Shorting

Over the past two days, a small number of Stockfusers saw their account values turn wildly negative, with intraday returns as low as -600%! This seems impossible, but it’s not a system error. In fact, it’s happening to some traders in the real life: “Devastated” Trader Crushed By Soaring Biotech, Starts Online Begging Campaign To Fund $106,000 Margin Call.”

Just like the trader referenced in the article above, some Stockfusers went into Thursday holding short positions in $KBIO, which went up an astonishing 502% on Thursday and then another 75% on Friday. These price actions resulted in a substantial short squeeze – for each $1 committed to maintaining the $KBIO short, a trader would’ve lost $5 in a single day. Combined with leverage, the losses have literally resulted in “Game Over” scenarios.

We’d like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that shorting stock is no easy thing and the potential losses can be hard to fathom. Indeed, when you are long a stock, the maximum you can lose is 100% (in the absence of leverage), but when you’re short a stock, the maximum loss is literally unlimited.

For those users who have lost more than 100% of their virtual money, we have been forced to close the portfolios in questions. In real life, this could lead to much more substantial damages, as is highlighted in the article above.

Meet the Stockfuse Team

The Stockfuse team is doing an AMA (ask me anything) chat room over at chatstep.com/#Stockfuse between 10am and 3pm (EST) today. Come by, chat with other members of the community and, well, ask us anything!

The Stockfuse app went live exactly one year ago and thanks to our great users, we’ve grown to become one of the largest social investing platforms. We can’t wait to tell you about all the updates that are coming and we’d love hear your feedback and requests!

Announcing the Winners of the Barclays Markets Insight Game – Round 2

We’re excited to announce the winners for the second round of the Barclays Markets Insight Game.

The top performers are Yanfei Chen and James Caven in EMEA, Wenjuan Gu and Jonathan Lee in APAC, and Alikhan Mukhamedi and Will Walant in the US.

• Yanfei was up an impressive 23% during the period. Yanfei placed bets in a variety of stocks across industries and sectors. Many of these trades ended up in the money, while the unsuccessful bets barely detracted from the overall performance. This asymmetric P&L profile highlights Yanfei’s stock picking capability.

• Wenjuan delivered an astonishing 45% return during the second period on the heel of highly successful bets on GLEN and AAL. Both stocks have been exhibited high levels of volatilities as of late and timing the swings is no small feat!

• Last but not least, Alikhan was up an unbelievable 54% in the past month. Some perfect market timing combined with astute security selection allowed Alikhan to fully capitalize on the volatility in the market, jumping to the top of the leaderboard.

Just like the first round, Barclays is also rewarding participants who have scored particularly high on “thoughtfulness.” James, Jonathan, and Will are the three winners in this category, standing out amongst participants from 70 countries and 800 universities. Not only did they support their trades with thoughtful analyses, they also demonstrated remarkable discipline, engagement, and community influence during the second period.

Please join us in congratulating all the winners, who will meet with Barclays professionals in the coming days. In the meantime, Round 3 of the Barclays Markets Insight Game is under way and there are still ample opportunities to win!

Announcing the Winners of the Barclays Markets Insight Game – Round 1

We’re excited to announce the winners of the Barclays Markets Insight Game – Round 1.

The top winners are Nikita Fadeev and Louise Ellis in EMEA, Gordon Goh and Jun Hong in APAC, and Evandro Nadal and Brandon Wood in the US.

• Nikita (@nikking) delivered a whopping 49.0% return during this period, driven by highly profitable bets in GLEN and AAL. Glencore has experienced dramatic volatility recently, as its trading operations and enormous debt load came under heavy scrutiny. Nikita skillfully navigated the turmoil, placing bets on both the long and short sides, ultimately leaping to the top of the EMEA leaderboard.

• Gordon (@gohyongtsang) was up an equally impressive 48.6%, with gains from a range of positions such as GLEN, AAL, RIO, IAG, and SAB. Gordon is a well-rounded trader: not only did he capitalize on volatilities in the market to deliver an outstanding return, he is also a prolific writer, having contributed some of the best investment write-ups we’ve read.

• Evandro (@Enadal123) was up 29%, driven by highly profitable bets on VXX and CMHT. Selling volatility is a popular carry strategy. Evandro executed the trade at a time of heightened market volatility and waited patiently to harvest the premium.

However, investment performance is not everything. Across capital markets positions, thought-leadership, discipline, and engagement have become far more important in today’s financial markets. Accordingly, Barclays has also awarded three winners based on “thoughtfulness.” Jun, Brandon, and Louise supported their trades with well-crafted commentaries, blending thoughtful analyses on fundamentals, technicals, valuation, as well as macro factors. Furthermore, they have demonstrated a range of positive behavioral attributes throughout the game.

Please join us in congratulating all the winners. The first round of the Barclays Markets Insight Game had participants from 70 countries and 800 universities, and claiming the top spots is no small feat! All the winners will meet with Barclays professionals in the coming days. In the meantime, Round 2 of the Barclays Markets Insight Game is under way and there are still ample opportunities to win!

Stockfuse launches Markets Insight Game with Barclays

Bank leverages gamification and machine learning techniques to tap into a diverse talent pool, whilst also providing students with the opportunity to gain knowledge of financial markets

NEW YORK/LONDON, September 14th, 2015 – Following its time on the Barclays Accelerator programme, Stockfuse, a revolutionary candidate evaluation and talent development platform, today announced that Barclays has selected it to power the first ever Barclays Markets Insight Game as part of its graduate recruitment campaign. By taking part in the game, a total of 18 individuals will have an opportunity to meet with Barclays executives from around the world and be mentored about career opportunities at the bank. Barclays is taking an innovative approach to its global graduate recruitment, expanding the talent pool, improving efficiency, and introducing a “fun factor” to help students increase their commercial awareness and help inform their career choices.

The Stockfuse platform is the first to seamlessly integrate gaming, psychology and machine learning techniques into trading games that provide the most realistic and social trading experience. Stockfuse’s multi-dimensional profiling framework allows candidates to showcase different skillsets for different roles, moving beyond trading skills to encompass cognitive capabilities, risk appetite, engagement, and a multitude of soft metrics.

The Barclays Markets Insight Game is open to all university students in the United States, Asia-Pacific and EMEA. To enter the game, students must register at stockfuse.com to participate in specific games over a set time period. Two winners will be selected from each region during each game period and have the opportunity to meet with Barclays professionals to discuss potential career choices and the different graduate programmes available at the bank. Winners will be determined based on their investment returns, overall thought processes and behaviours. The comprehensive profiles, generated by Stockfuse’s innovative machine learning-based algorithm, are continuously refined as participants make investment decisions or interact with others in the game.

“Stockfuse was created to level the playing field for students and give anyone with the right skillset the chance to shine with leading financial institutions, regardless of their backgrounds,” said Sean McCormack, CEO and co-founder of Stockfuse. “We’re thrilled that companies like Barclays have recognized the promise this type of platform represents – helping them expand their reach in a cost- and time-efficient way while enhancing the diversity and quality of their talent pool.”

Derek White, Barclays Chief Design and Digital Officer said: “At Barclays we recognise that to drive innovation in the financial services sector, there is a need to look outside of the organisation and embrace the innovative start-up ecosystem. Our Barclays Accelerator plays a key role in this. Today we’re celebrating a success from the programme as we partner with and look forward to an exciting future with Stockfuse. We’re delighted that Stockfuse is working with us to utilise fintech to help shape and co-create an innovative new recruitment tool in banking.”

“Digital technology plays a role in nearly every aspect of our lives and business sectors,” said Sharon Gillam, Barclays Global Head of Resourcing & Graduates. “Barclays has a responsibility to support both our existing workforce and new talent in this ever-changing environment. Partnering with leading innovators such as Stockfuse will allow us to tap into a more diverse global talent pool and help cultivate students’ future careers.”

The Barclays Markets Insight Game powered by Stockfuse will enable Barclays to reach out to students studying in any campus in the world and engage with students in a more interactive and innovative manner. Students can access the game at stockfuse.com/barclays from September 14th, 2015.

Stockfuse was one of the ten companies on the latest Barclays Accelerator London programme, chosen from over 500 start-ups in over 60 countries worldwide. Powered by Techstars, the Barclays Accelerator is a 13-week intensive startup programme designed to support new businesses to deliver breakthrough innovations in financial technology.

About Stockfuse

Stockfuse provides a revolutionary candidate evaluation and talent development platform, employing gamification technology to bring skill-based recruitment to the financial services industry. The platform seamlessly integrates trading, psychology, and machine learning techniques to build trading games that automatically generate multi-dimensional profiles for our users, providing unparalleled insights into their investing style, thought processes, engagement levels, and behavioral biases. With a fully automated workflow and a data-driven approach, Stockfuse allows firms to quickly filter through the profiles of a more diverse pool of candidates, improving talent acquisition and retention. Partnering with the world’s largest financial institutions, Stockfuse seeks to bring an equitable and meritocratic approach to recruitment. To learn more, please visit https://stockfuse.com/ or follow up on Twitter @stockfuse.

About Barclays

Barclays is an international financial services provider engaged in personal, corporate and investment banking, credit cards and wealth management with an extensive presence in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. Barclays’ purpose is to help people achieve their ambitions - in the right way. With 325 years of history and expertise in banking, Barclays operates in over 50 countries and employs over 130,000 people. Barclays moves, lends, invests and protects money for customers and clients worldwide. For further information about Barclays, please visit our website www.home.barclays.

Media Contact

Emily Pan
Articulate Communications
[email protected]
+1 212 594-5506

Archana Achuthan
Barclays Media Relations
[email protected]
+44 (0) 20 3555 7623