Toronto, ON (May 19, 2009) – On Monday, May 25^th, at 2 p.m. ET, a live webcast / panel discussion will explore the recent surge in usage of social networking tools for investment and trading advice.

The panel, I Invest Therefore I Tweet, is moderated by Michael Hainsworth, host of Market Call on Business News Network (BNN), and includes panelists FrugalTrader (MillionDollarJourney.com author and blogger), Jonathan Chevreau (blogger, author, and National Post personal finance columnist), and Sam Seiden (pro trader, author and trading instructor).

The panel investigates the ways traders are using social media to take charge of their investments, including the tools that are being used, how they are being used, personal privacy and security issues, and how to filter information for accuracy and reliability.

Edward Kholodenko, President and CEO of Questrade says: “Investors are exhausted by the market downturn. Their portfolios are diminished. They don’t know who to trust for advice any more. While the use of social networking like Facebook, blogs, forums, even Twitter isn’t new for online investors, what is new is how pervasive and influential these tools have become.”

The panel discussion will take place in Online Trading Academy (Canada)’s new high-tech facility in Toronto, and will be webcast live. Registration for the event is free and is available at www.Questrade.com/tweet. Viewers of the live webcast will be able to Twitter their questions to http://twitter.com/Questrade or post questions directly in the webcast window.

Kholodenko continues: “Since our inception 10 years ago, Questrade’s mission has been to give Canadians the information they need to achieve financial independence. I believe our mission is even more relevant now, particularly as we incorporate social media tools into our business model. Investors are leaving their full-service brokers and replacing them with social media to ‘crowd-source’ their financial advice, and we’re committed to supporting their needs.”

I Invest Therefore I Tweet is sponsored by Questrade Inc., Online Trading Academy (Canada) and Business News Network (BNN). The panel discussion is the kick-off event for Online Trading Academy (Canada)’s grand opening.

Background

I invest therefore I tweet
… show me your investment portfolio and I’ll show you mine

So your portfolio dropped in value by 40% and you fired your financial advisor. Now what? Well, apparently you should tweet about it, and then publish your whole investment portfolio online for everyone to see (and talk about).

A growing number of Canadians are sharing intimate details about their investments using social media tools. In return for this candor, they become defacto members of an online community that functions like a personal financial advisory board.

The conversation is lively and the applications seem endless: swap strategies in forums, become Facebook friends with other traders, update your holdings on a portfolio sharing site, follow every buy and sell tweet by an analyst or day-trader, take online trading courses and webinars, and subscribe to RSS feeds from a few increasingly influential bloggers. The ways people are using social media to take charge of their investments is increasingly creative. Is this what financial literacy looks like?

Moderated by Michael Hainsworth, the host of Market Call on Business News Network, I invest therefore I tweet invites some of most trusted (and influential) names in financial social media to talk about the tools they’re using, what works and what doesn’t, what and who to watch out for, and whether it is possible to successfully combine trading and twittering.

Biographies

Moderator
Michael Hainsworth
In addition to hosting some of BNN’s top rated programs, viewers may also recognize Michael Hainsworth for his work distilling the day’s financial news on local CTV newscasts across the country and for CTV Newsnet. Hainsworth made the transition into television after 11 years in radio; six of those were spent as news anchor and business reporter for Canada’s largest radio station, 680 News in Toronto. When not reporting the day’s financial news, Hainsworth can be found devouring the latest technology stories; he is a self confessed “computer geek.” Follow Michael at http://twitter.com/marketcall.

Panelists
Jonathan Chevreau
Jonathan Chevreau joined the Financial Post in 1993 and has been the personal finance columnist since 1996. He has authored or coauthored eight financial books, including Smart Funds Guides, The Wealthy Boomer, and the financial novel Findependence Day. He also writes the Wealthy Boomer column in FP Weekend and blogs at www.wealthyboomer.ca. Prior to the Post, Chevreau was a technology reporter at The Globe and Mail, a freelance writer and a publicist. Follow Jonathan at http://twitter.com/JonChevreau.


Frugal Trader, MillionDollarJourney
One of the most respected personal finance bloggers in Canada, FrugalTrader gets 250-300,000 hits every month on milliondollarjourney.com and has over 5500 subscribers. Readers ask everything from simple RRSP questions to more advanced questions about leveraged investing. Sometimes readers even email their complete financial history for an opinion. “Of course, I always indicate that I'm not a financial advisor.” Follow FrugalTrader on twitter at http://twitter.com/FrugalTrader.

Sam Sieden
Sam brings over 15 years experience of equities, forex, options and futures trading which began when he was on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange where he facilitated institutional orderflow. He has traded equities, futures, interest rate markets, forex, options, and commodities for his personal interests for years and has educated hundreds of traders and investors through seminars and daily advisory services both domestically and internationally. Sam has been involved in the markets since 1991 both on and off the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. He has served as the Director of Technical Research for two trading firms and regularly contributes articles to industry publications. Sam is known for his trading, technical research, and educational guidance. His articles, training videos, and newsletters are available online.