Web Site Provides Value Investors With Forum To Trade Ideas
FINalternatives
A Financial Investment News Publication
Deirdre Brennan, dbrennan@fin-news.com
April 14, 2006

Dennis Mykytyn, who runs New York based hedge fund firm Modern Capital Management, thought it would be useful to have a platform where value investors could share advice and search for answers, but he didn’t want to create one himself.

Adam Menzel, who created TickerTech.com in 1998 with his childhood friend when he was still in college, and later launched BankInvestor.com and BDCInvestor.com, said that Mykytyn called him up in 2002 and recommended spinning off a new site targeted specifically at value investors. Armed with the idea and five years of entrepreneurial experience under his belt, Menzel and his partners got down to business and launched ValueForum.com in 2003.

The site, which now has 1,300 members, charges for ‘passes’ that allow members to post and read messages on their investment ideas and observations. But unlike many message boards that get bogged down with useless ramblings and adverts from spammers, the users of the site have the ability to rate the usefulness of each post, including giving a thumbs down. Also, if someone is posting something that is not in the spirit of the discussion, the site administrators reserve the right to boot him or her off the island.

Mykytyn visits the site daily. “When you own a lot of stocks it’s hard to keep up on all of the news and events that affect them,” he said. “Since a fair number of the stocks that I own are actively discussed on ValueForum, usually when something happens involving them I get a number of people jumping in to discuss the impact. It helps me react more quickly.”

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