Frequently Asked Questions

What is People and Picks? 

People And Picks is an online community for individual investors. It’s free to sign up, and easy to start rating stocks. You can use People And Picks to measure your own stock picking prowess, or to see what the community is saying about the stocks you’re following. Everyone is rated according to the accuracy and performance of their picks, so you can see at a glance which users have the best record. 

Why don’t I have a score? 

To get a People And Picks score, you must have at least 5 open picks. Just select 5 or more stocks to rate a “buy” or “sell.” Once they are added to your portfolio as open picks, People And Picks will start measuring your effectiveness.

How do you calculate the score? 

Your score is based upon the performance of your picks, and your accuracy at making correct picks.

Your picks’ performance is measured against the S&P 500, so your buy picks must beat the S&P and your sell picks must underperform the index. The S&P 500’s return over the period that your position is held open will be subtracted from “buy” picks and added to “sell” picks to yield your total points.

Your accuracy is simply the percentage of total picks (active and closed) that you selected correctly, relative to the S&P.

Two thirds of your score comes from the points earned by your picks, and the other third comes from your accuracy. Your P&P score is expressed as a percentile, so a P&P score of 99 means you are in the top 1% of all users on the site.

Why is the pick I just made “Pending?” 

When you add a pick to your portfolio, it will be held “pending” until the close of the current trading day. Your stock will be added at the day’s closing price, and appear as an “Open” pick on the next trading day.

Why can’t I end my pick? 

Once a pick is added as “active” to your account, you must hold it for at least two days.

What if I don’t like the way the site works?

This is a beta website! That means all the rules are up for review. We’ve tried to create the best environment we can to track your stock picks, measure your stock-picking prowess, and learn from your fellow users. But we appreciate your feedback. If you have suggestions that would make the site more useful or more fun, please visit the PandPFeedback blog at http://peopleandpicks.com/index.php?page=blog&user_id=294982 to leave your comments.