This new app wants to help you pick stocks based on Twitter data
When Donald Trump tweets, the stock moves.
Twitter's influence on the stock market isn't breaking news (traders used Twitter data to predict Brexit, the 2016 election and other societal moves), but a new app is trying to put that knowledge into the hands of more people — not just bankers and professional stocker traders.
LikeFolio, released this week, uses Twitter data and mobile notifications to keep people on top of how the market could be moving.
For example, a user can choose to sign-up for a section of the app called "Sharks," which includes big-name investors. Users will then receive a notification if one of the listed investors tweets about a public company:
Just because O'Leary tweeted about Snapchat ($SNAP on the New York Stock Exchange) doesn't mean the stock is going to move one way or another. But it can have an effect.
Twitter itself actually does a good job of keeping track when they believe a tweet directly impacts the market. The company started a blog series this month called "Finance Tweets of the Month."
The blog's first post, written by Mark Dimont, a product manager for Bloomberg Terminal news applications (with an introduction by Twitter's Head of Global Financial Data Jared Podnos), points to Elon Musk's tweet, "Stormy weather in Shortyville," from April.
Musk is "informal, blunt and not afraid to talk stocks," Dimont wrote.
"We have seen the way Donald Trump tweets and Elon Musk tweets have moved the market," said Andy Swan, the founder of LikeFolio. "One of the purposes [of the app] is to bring investing to people who are kind of interested but not ready to go yet. For us it's about making that connection to real life. You have more insight than you think."
Swan has been running LikeFolio for almost four years, where he specializes in connecting social data and consumer behavior with stocks. His company provides research for companies and a unique API that is used by hedge funds and other financial firms.
The new app has some Wall Street credentials through a sponsorship by the brokerage firm TD Ameritrade. Clients can access "premium channels," such as accounts of certain fund managers and even some influencers like Oprah.
“Social media is where many consumer conversations are happening. We want to help decipher the chatter to provide a source of insight, helping investors make more informed decisions," John Hart, managing director, trading and product development at TD Ameritrade, said in an emailed statement.
"The LikeFolio Influencer Alerts app is a natural and novel extension to our suite of social tools," he continued.
This partnership is the first time TD Ameritrade has been involved in an app like this one that provides social alerts. The brokerage firm already had an existing relationship with Swan and LikeFolio from other social data work.
LikeFolio is not making any money off of investors' decisions. Instead, TD Ameritrade is holistically sponsoring the effort. LikeFolio and TD Ameritrade are not providing any financial advice for individuals within the app.
"We don’t want a conversation of whether you should pay down your student loans or invest in stocks," Swan said, "but once you’re ready this is a cool way to introduce yourselves to the market. It's not just Wall Street life."
Swan said this is only the first iteration of the app. He plans to add more channels, such as topical ones based on what is in the day's news.
Topics X/Twitter
Kerry Flynn is a business reporter for Mashable covering the tech industry. She previously reported on social media companies, mobile apps and startups for International Business Times. She has also written for The Huffington Post, Forbes and Money magazine. Kerry studied environmental science and economics at Harvard College, where she led The Harvard Crimson's metro news and design teams and played mellophone in the Band. When not listening to startup pitches, she runs half-marathons, plays with puppies and pretends to like craft beer.
