What's in a Name?
Stockpickr.com, which calls itself the “popular online stock idea network’, has announced the launch of NameFolio. It’s an application designed to run on the Social Networking site Facebook.
Adding the application to one’s Facebook profile generates a mock portfolio (the aforementioned NameFolio) – which, in turn contains 1000 shares of each company whose ticker symbol is found within the name of the account holder. What’s the point of that? Well, the folks who have developed this “tool’ say that it allows users to “compete’ against their friends by determining the…wait for it…valuation of their names.
So – the application – which randomly picks stocks whose tickers match the letters of your name – in random, and changing groupings, shows you what the total value of 1,000 shares of each of the companies in the random and changing grouping is worth. And what your “friends’ name portfolios are worth – and, as it turns out, what the American Idol finalists are worth – – – and the Presidential candidates.
It changes every day of course – but at the market’s close yesterday, the Clinton portfolio was worth $172,000, just ahead of Obama’s $166,040 – and both well ahead of John McCain’s $100,500 – as follows:
Hillary Clinton is worth $172,000 (as of May 7)
| Ticker | My Stocks | Last |
|---|---|---|
| HILL | DOT HILL SYS CORP | 2.65 |
| A | AGILENT TECH INC | 31.75 |
| RY | ROYAL BANK OF CAN | 47.97 |
| CLI | MACK-CALI REALTY | 38.10 |
| NT | NORTEL NTWKS CP H | 8.31 |
| O | REALTY INCOME CP | 24.64 |
| N | NETSUITE INC | 18.58 |
Barack Obama is worth $166,040
| Ticker | My Stocks | Last |
|---|---|---|
| BA | BOEING CO | 84.98 |
| RACK | RACKABLE SYSTEMS | 12.02 |
| OB | ONEBEACON INS GRP | 18.54 |
| AM | AMER GREETINGS CL | 18.75 |
| A | AGILENT TECH INC | 31.75 |
John McCain is worth $100,050
| Ticker | My Stocks | Last |
|---|---|---|
| J | JJ SNACK FOODS | 28.15 |
| O | REALTY INCOME CP | 24.64 |
| H | HOOPER HOLMES INC | 0.80 |
| NM | NAVIOS MARITIME | 13.49 |
| CCA | MFS CALIFORNIA IN | 11.71 |
| IN | INTERMEC INC | 21.26 |
As for Nevin Adams….well, my name-based portfolio was ahead of them all – $187,610, based on a holding of:
| Ticker | My Stocks | Last | Change % | Open | Day’s Range | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NE | NOBLE CORP | 61.79 | -0.47 | 63.24 | 61.59 – 63.79 | 5,695,175 |
| V | VISA INC. | 88.50 | +0.97 | 88.83 | 87.66 – 89.84 | 25,104,956 |
| IN | INTERMEC INC | 21.26 | -0.55 | 21.88 | 21.12 – 21.97 | 746,169 |
| ADAM | ADAM INC | 6.90 | -0.14 | 6.97 | 6.87 – 7.06 | 16,625 |
| S | SPRINT NXTEL CP | 9.16 | -0.03 | 9.66 | 8.97 – 9.73 | 71,281,040 |