It doesn’t have to get all hot and heavy and technical here on InvestorGeeks all the time! If you tell me an investor with good temperament needs a serious attitude every second, I’ll counter that by saying sometimes you really need to let loose and have fun! Even Warren Buffett gets crazy once in a while; even if his idea of crazy fun may be playing a ukelele, playing bridge or eating Dairy Queen ice-cream.

Investing should be an enjoyable experience, perhaps even fun for you! This is NOT the first time that InvestorGeeks have reviewed sites that try to bring to fun into stock picking with social websites. But I don’t believe my fellow InvestorGeeks have reviewed Motley Fools CAPS; which I believe is on the right track to injecting some fun into a mundane task.

If you’re an investing newbie, you might remember those days when you were not sure if you wanted to get started investing with real money. You only wanted to dip your toe in the lake and test the temperature. Stock pick sites are a perfect way for the amateur investor to test their analytical skills without really committing their hard-earned money. But be warned! Nothing can truly prepare you for the emotional rollercoaster that you’ll go through when something is really put on the line, and you’re exposed to real losses.

Why Motley Fool?
I’ve always compared InvestorGeeks as being the next Motley Fool community. Even if some people feel that value investing is passé, it’s still my preferred investing style. I’m able to find a lot more like-minded, analytical people who are drawn to the Fool community. I like the idea that these guys don’t easily commit to opening a position until they have come up with a good battle plan. Indeed, throughout the stock bubble and the stock crash, the Fool community has stayed very strong in its reputation.

And why not feed your narcissistic nature while you’re at it? Motley Fool CAPS is striving to be very Web 2.0 with their approach to social stock picking. There are a lot of AJAX interfaces that load without you leaving the page. The AJAX components work well, load fast, and are well designed in their layouts. But what really impresseed me is the concept of making it into a competition oriented site.

Social stock pick sites like SocialPicks, StockTickr don’t focus so much on helping you interact with other users. On those sites, if you want to add someone as a friend, great! If you don’t, you’ve merely signed up for another Web 2.0 account. Motley Fool CAPS succeeds in keeping you coming back because you want to find out how your picks rate against the market, and other investors — especially those reputable Motley Fool insiders!

My Experience (or How Did I Do?)
As of this writing, I’ve only been trying CAPS for 11 days and find myself visiting the site once a day after market close to see how I’ve fared against other investors. I’ve picked 8 stocks during this period. Some of which I’ve personally invested money, some of which were only selections from my watch list. Here’s how I’ve fared so far (as of this writing):

CAPS Ranking: 731 out of 10819
CAPS Rating: 93.25 out of 100.00
Accuracy: 100% (100% of my picks are beating the S&P 500)
Best Stock Pick’s Performance: AAV (22.08% vs S&P’s 1.29% same period)
Worst Stock Pick’s Performance: UTSI (2.26% vs S&P’s 0.33% same period)

I realize very well that I’m just been lucky. I’ve been able to enter into some good bottoms on my picks so far. I’m hoping I can climb higher in the rankings, but the competition gets really tough the closer we get to the top. Would you like to join me and have some fun as well?