A social as well as a financial phenomenon, the surging '90s stock market has become one gigantic bull session: In the first four months of 1998, nearly 5,000 new investment clubs were formed. With a new software package called InterClubs, the party's going to get even more crowded.
InterClubs enables investors to form investment-club Web sites that are highly customizable and, crucially, fully private. The idea came about when Roddy Scheer, a prospering principal at the New York Web-design firm Reflector Group, wanted to talk stocks with college friends around the country. He started up an email list, but the frustration of being unable to combine the listserv's discussions with the Web's wealth of stock data gave Scheer, 28, the urge to merge them. The resulting virtual club, called Mucho Dinero, made some good picks, including WorldCom and a pre-Viagra Pfizer. Scheer saw he was onto something.
Using InterClubs, an investor interested in semiconductors can set up a group with chip-biz pals in Phoenix and Seoul - before long, participants are plotting tactics in the discussion rooms and tracing the market's movements with the built-in portfolio tools. And, unlike conventional bulletin boards, the rooms are secure and members-only - essential for discussing sensitive portfolio matters online.
InterClubs is still a work in progress. Its portfolio tracking screens, for example, list only rudimentary quote info. But pending deals with Excite and other Web heavyweights will enrich the data InterClubs gets to play with. A Quicken arrangement could even bring tax-filing software into the package - handy when it comes time to figure your club's capital gains.
NEW MONEY
King of Clubs
