HotCopper
| Company type | Internet forum |
|---|---|
| Industry | Financial services |
| Founded | 1994 |
| Headquarters | Australia |
| Owner | Report Card Pty Ltd |
| Website | hotcopper |
HotCopper is an Australian stock market online chat forum that allows its users to discuss financial topics. As of 2015, HotCopper was in the top 170 websites in Australia and was the 5th most popular financial services site in Australia as reported by Alexa and the largest Australian site dealing with finance.[1][2][3] It is the oldest of such sites, having started as a bulletin board in 1994 and then moving to the web in 1995.
HotCopper obtained an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) in March 2010.[4][5]
HotCopper is often quoted by other information services, in books and in numerous market related economic and social studies.[6][7][8] For example in trading books such as Investors Web Guide.[9]
History
HotCopper started as a bulletin board in 1994 and then went to the web in 1995. The first recorded listing in The Web Archive is 1998.[10]
HotCopper is named after "hot" 1c and 2c shares which derive their name from the 1c and 2c coins in Australia which were made of copper (no longer in circulation) i.e. "Hot" "Copper". The original HotCopper Logo was an image of a 1c and 2c coin.
The website first came to prominence in 1997 when an oil discovery in Manila was reported in a post on HotCopper generating 45,000 hits.[11] The post on HotCopper caused the stock to run. The company reported to the ASX, after a price query, that the price movement was due to the HotCopper post.
By December 1999, all posts were vetted by a moderator who was a trained investment adviser to ensure the site did not give investment advice. HotCopper was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in December 1999[12] by Tony Cunningham of stockbroker D J Carmichael, who bought stake in the company from founder Ron Gully.[13][14] In January 2000, HotCopper became a division of Bourse Data after it was acquired by the company for $11 million.[12] The acquisition made HotCopper a division of Bourse Data. In 2001, Bourse Data merged with St.George Bank, which reprivatized and sold HotCopper to private interests.[15][16] The Financial Arena then sold HotCopper to Perth-based company Report Card Pty Ltd through a deal brokered by Tony Cunningham in 2004.[13][17]
By September 2012, the company had 170,000 members and received 6,000 posts a day.[18] HotCopper reported having 170,000 active users by 2016.[3]
At that time, the managing director was Greg D'Arcy and Steven James, Tony Cunningham of CPS Capital, and Alec Pismiris of Capital Investment Partners serving as directors.[13][14]
References
- ^ "hotcopper.com.au Site Overview".
- ^ "Alexa - Top Sites by Category: Regional/Oceania/Australia/Business and Economy/Financial Services".
- ^ a b West, Michael (8 September 2012). "It's a 'dog eat blog' world out there". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
- ^ "HotCopper draws four IPOs on commission lure for investors, says Greg D'Arcy". News.com. March 1, 2010. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
- ^ Michael Bennet (May 6, 2010). "CMC Markets ties with online stocks forum HotCopper". The Australian. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
- ^ The Impact of Manipulation in Internet Stock Message Boards by Jean-Yves Delort, Bavani Arunasalam, Maria Milosavljevic, Henry Leung :: SSRN
- ^ http://www.aclweb.org/old_anthology/U/U09/U09-1.pdf#page=96
- ^ http://www.ijiet.org/papers/204-K20020.pdf
- ^ Douglas Gerlach (January 1, 1997). Investor's Web Guide.
- ^ "Internet Archive Wayback Machine".
{{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help) - ^ "SOME ISSUES FOR CORPORATIONS AND SECURITIES MARKETS".
- ^ a b "News Store".
- ^ a b c Nick Evans (April 1, 2014). "HotCopper hops offshore". The West Australian.
- ^ a b Sarah Thompson; Anthony Macdonald; Joyce Moullakis. "HotCopper prospectus slated for April". Financial Review. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
- ^ "Gone full circle".
- ^ Sarah Thompson; Anthony Macdonald; Joyce Moullakis (January 18, 2016). "HotCopper forum has ASX-listing plans of its own". Financial Review. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
- ^ "Correction to the article entitled "Hot copper: how day traders fueled a $1bn frenzy".(Correction notice)".
- ^ "It's a 'dog eat blog' world out there". The Sydney Morning Herald.