REDMOND, Wash. — May 22, 2007 — Microsoft Corp. and The Motley Fool today announced the extension of a strategic alliance that makes MSN® Money the exclusive portal for The Motley Fools CAPS stock rating service with the introduction of The Motley Fool CAPS on MSN Money http://msncaps.fool.com.
This full-featured service, now in beta, 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. The revolutionary new service pools the intelligence and resources of the MSN Money and Motley Fool communities to help people identify the best stocks at the best times to buy them — and which stocks to avoid.
On Fool.com, links to MSN Money News and company data will be added to all CAPS pages within The Motley Fool.
How CAPS Works
Motley Fool CAPS is the one of the first online services that rates stocks and tracks professional and individual investors from Wall Street to Main Street, so everyone has access to market-beating investment ideas. Powered by a unique process, CAPS is a powerful but easy-to-use research tool that harnesses investor sentiment and recommendations in real time. With over 4,500 rated stocks, generated from nearly 1 million recommendations, CAPS is providing significant breadth of coverage of the stock market.
In addition to collecting the ratings of tens of thousands of individual investors, Motley Fool CAPS also tracks more than 130 professional Wall Street firms, enabling people to see how their recommendations perform against those of professional stockbrokers. Particularly appealing is the ability to track stock picks against veteran Wall Street pundits such as Jim Cramer and MSN Money columnist Jim Jubak. According to a report by Nielson/NetRatings, the popularity of MSN Money columnists is unsurpassed by a ratio of 10 to 1 compared with other online financial columnists on the Internet.
Power to the People
“Bringing the power of The Motley Fool’s vibrant community to MSN Money is a perfect extension of our belief that by our working together anyone can find better stocks and follow some of the top investors in the industry,” said David Gardner, co-founder and co-chair of The Motley Fool. “MSN Money has more than 13 million unique users each month, and we are excited to be a big part of Microsoft’s world-class personal finance service.”
“The Motley Fool has a long history of sharing meaningful insight and voicing public opinion in a clear and compelling way,” said Mark Schnitzer, general manager, MSN News, Analysis & Local Publishing Group. “Motley Fool CAPS on MSN Money is yet another way we are delivering premier tools and resources to investors on the Web.”
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 and Microsoft 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.
Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass on Microsoft’s corporate information pages. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may since have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/contactpr.mspx.
