One-Millionth Stock Pick Kicks Off MSN Money Contest

Stock trading community site from Motley Fool and MSN Money helps consumers gain insight into the stock market without financial risk.

The Motley Fool and Microsoft Corp. today announced the one-millionth stock pick by Krishna Yalamanchi via The Motley Fool CAPS on MSN, a stock rating service and community site that allows users to trade stocks without using real money. In response to the increasing popularity of the CAPS stock rating services, MSN Money and The Motley Fool have also launched the MSN Money Stock Picks Contest, an online skill contest in which contestants are asked to create their own “fantasy” stock portfolios. The winners will be the three entrants who have achieved the greatest increase in their portfolio values as measured from Nov. 12, 2007, through Jan. 31, 2008. The grand prize winner will receive $2,500 cash; second prize winner will take home an Xbox 360 Elite system console; and third prize winner will get a Zune 80GB digital media player. More information about the contest is available at http://msncaps.fool.com/Contests.aspx.

CAPS member Krishna Yalamanchi, who uses the screen name “krishnay,” successfully picked IMAX Corp., an entertainment technology company, and predicted it would outperform the market. As of market close on Dec. 5, 2007, IMAX Corp. was outperforming the market. Yalamanchi will receive an X-Box 360 for the effort.

“I’ve been using the Motley Fool for over three years now,” Yalamanchi said. “It takes a lot of discipline to understand the philosophy of buying and selling stocks, but thanks to Motley Fool CAPS on MSN, I was able to recognize, hold and profit using the service.”

Motley Fool CAPS on MSN is one of the most popular services that rates stocks and tracks professional and individual investors to help provide market-beating investment ideas. Powered by a unique process, CAPS is a powerful yet easy-to-use research tool that harnesses investor sentiment and recommendations in real time, with more than 5,000 rated stocks generated from more than 1 million recommendations.

In May 2007 Microsoft and The Motley Fool joined forces to offer Motley Fool CAPS through MSN Money, combining the intelligence and resources of the MSN Money and Motley Fool communities to help people make more educated decisions in the stock market. The strategic alliance enables MSN Money and Microsoft Money users to get insights from the stock trading community and see how their picks perform compared with those of professional Wall Street analysts.

“We are very excited about the tremendous success of the CAPS stock rating service,” said John Keeling, senior vice president of Fool.com. “Through our collaboration with MSN Money we are providing investors and consumers with the tools and content they need to make smart financial decisions.”

“MSN Money is proud to provide its users with one of the first and best online stock rating services,” said Chris Jolley, group manager of the Financial Product Group at Microsoft. “We are confident that the CAPS community will continue to grow and become more and more successful with its stock picks.”

“We look forward to continuing the development of community-generated stock ratings with MSN,” Keeling said. “In the year since the launch, we are pleased to see that CAPS four-star and five-star stocks are significantly outperforming the S&P 500, while one-star and two-star stocks are underperforming the market. MSN and The Motley Fool are committed to helping investors find better stocks.”

About The Motley Fool

A worldwide investment and financial advisory services company, The Motley Fool has helped millions of people grow their wealth and achieve financial independence across a wide variety of online and offline media channels including: its award-winning website at www.fool.com; eight best-selling Simon & Schuster and self-published books; a nationally syndicated weekly newspaper column carried by more than 200 publications; a nationally syndicated PBS television special; and the company’s award-winning UK subsidiary, Fool UK (www.fool.co.uk).

About MSN Money

MSN Money is a premier online financial resource, providing great original editorial content plus the tools and community to empower investors and engage spenders and savers. Taxpayers can find helpful tax tips, checklists, a tax estimator and the Deduction Finder to help them make informed decisions about filing. MSN Money also helps users stay informed with in-depth and up-to-the-minute data, investment recommendations, valuable tracking tools and opportunities to connect with other active investors to make smart financial decisions. MSN Money is located on the Web at http://www.money.msn.com.


About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.