Have you heard of FinTwit? It’s Twitter’s version of StockTwits. It’s a place you go to see what others are watching and trading. However, it doesn’t seem to have the manipulation StockTwits has become known for. At least not yet, anyway.
FinTwit may sound like an insult or a piece of fishing equipment when you first hear it. It is one of the most useful tools in an investor’s arsenal. FinTwit stands for Financial Twitter. Twitter changed its name to X after Elon Musk purchased the company, but most people still call it Twitter. Fintwit is a very active and helpful community of generally amateur investors who post their ideas, due diligence, and research on Twitter for all to see.
Some FinTweeters post their investing ideas. Some tweet their research into specific companies. And some even tweet their trades. It may seem like another sub-community of tweeters.
However, some have enough of a following to influence the market positively or negatively (more on this later).
Like other instant social media platforms like Reddit, Twitter has become a center for information in this new digital world. One can find information about nearly everything on Twitter.
As a result, it should come as no surprise that something as time-sensitive as financial information would also be available at your fingertips.
Do you feel shy about posting your investing thoughts on FinTwit? No problem at all. A small group of FinTweeters leads the ongoing conversation, and most people who listen are purely observers.
No matter where you get your investing information, seeing how much investing has evolved since looking up ticker symbols in the newspapers is incredible.
You can even check us out on Twitter.
This is a picture of how to search for people on Fintwit, now X. In the search field type in “fintwit” or “financial twitter” to get a list of the top people in the Fintwit community.
Who Are FinTweeters?
This is an important part of this whole equation. If you’re going to trust the information of random strangers on Twitter, you should at least hope that they are reliable.
Can we say FinTweeters are completely trustworthy and honest about everything they say? Of course not. A free social media platform should never be the end-all-be-all of your research into any subject. Let alone one that involves your hard-earned money.
But many people who post on FinTwit are legitimate. They’re either involved in the investing industry in some capacity or have made a living working for a popular investing site.
They may even host their site or blog where they can provide more in-depth coverage than Twitter allows. If they have a nice following and openly communicate with other FinTweeters, they can be considered slightly more trustworthy than your average Joe.
How Do I Find FinTwit?
It’s easier than you may think to tap into this community. It would be best if you searched for the right keywords or hashtags. Normally, you can follow a topic on Twitter by searching for hashtags using the #-symbol. You’ll know when you are on FinTwit because the ticker symbols will have a $-symbol instead. So if you’re searching for information on Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) or Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), you would type into your Twitter search $FB or $TSLA.
From here, it’s fairly easy to follow the breadcrumbs. You can even create your customized list of FinTweeters. Then, you get instant notifications whenever they post a tweet.
Then, you have your unique Twitter feed, bringing you all the information you want in real time. That saves you from combing through hours of tweets.
Or you are paying a subscription for investment advice from a company like Bloomberg or the Motley Fool.
You can also set alerts for when your favorite FinTweeters post something. And just like that, your mobile phone becomes your most important tool as an investor.
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Fintwit Competitors
I am glad you asked. FinTwit may be the most easily accessible community for amateur investors. However, it isn’t the only place to get valuable information.
You can use multiple other sites that are just as easy to access. And they won’t cost you an arm and a leg for an annual subscription for investing advice. Here is a look at some top sites similar to FinTwit.
1. StockTwits
A similar idea to FinTwit, StockTwits is a site created by Howard Lindzon. He’s a hedge fund manager who realized Twitter could be used as an investing community before FinTwit was born.
StockTwits came up with the idea of putting a $ in front of a ticker symbol. It’s often referred to as hashtags rather than hashtags.
Then, Twitter incorporated the idea in 2012. As of April 16, 2024, StockTwits has over 8 million active users and is a premier investing dedicated site.
2. Reddit
Few sites on the internet have as many levels of information as Reddit does. Investing is on a different level. Like any free platform, you need to be wary of whose advice you choose to follow.
But at the very least, Reddit does have some verification of users by how often they post. Should you listen to everything as gospel? Absolutely not.
But at its core, Reddit is a bunch of people trying to help each other solve problems. If you have a question about investing, the odds are that others like you have already posted it on Reddit. And lots of Redditors are willing to help.
Follow the Bullish Bears on StockTwits.
Is FinTwit Influential?
You’d be surprised at how quickly people believe what others have to say when it comes to an opportunity to make quick, easy money. And herein lies the malicious side of Twitter. And any other platform that people may use to seek financial advice. As many contributors and FinTweeters as there are that want to help people, there’s another sinister side of Twitter that wants to capitalize on the platform they have.
Beware of the Pump and Dump
Pump and dump schemes are notorious on Twitter. They are dangerous to novice investors who think they follow a good lead. These pump accounts often cite false or redundant data points to boost a stock price. Then, they can capitalize on the rise and sell their shares at a profit.
This leaves the new investors with a stock that keeps dropping in price. These are most commonly done through low-volume penny stocks, appealing to investors at their cheap stock price and easy to manipulate due to low trading volumes.
But it’s not all negative. The FinTwit energy community made headlines earlier this year after collectively shorting some U.S. shale companies to zero, predicting their bankruptcy before it happened.
These FinTweeters are energy industry workers, or former workers turned into investment experts with in-depth knowledge and experience.
One prominent energy tweeter revealed he had made over $4 million shorting the shale industry in just one week. The information and advice is real. You need to filter out the noise and do your research to complement what you find on Twitter.
Do Your Due Diligence
At the same time, as an investor, you must do your due diligence and research to supplement the advice and information you extract from FinTwit.
For as many posters with good hearts, just as many with malicious intentions want to steer you wrong to capitalize off of your mistakes.
It’s your hard-earned money that you’re trying to invest, so you need to make sure you put the time into knowing which trades are right for you. Don’t forget to read more than just Twitter; good old-fashioned books like these options trading books.
Peak Craze 2020-2021
The Fintwit craze peaked during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 up until the GameStop and AMC craze in February 2021. Twitter was hot then, with many traders discussing the latest pump-and-dump penny stock daily. At the time, Atlas Trading and Mr. Zack Morris were the leading voices in the Financial Twitter community. They had one of the largest Discords with over 100,000 members.
One could argue that they created the FinTwit craze. Discords were popping up everywhere, with traders capitalizing on the FinTwit craze and riding the Atlas coattails.
During the height of their popularity, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Atlas Trading and its owners for allegedly scamming investors out of 100 million dollars. They call this type of scheme pumping and dumping, which is explained above.
Once the lawsuit happened, the FinTwit craze stopped due to Atlas’s popularity. On 3/20/24, the case was ultimately dismissed. They seem to be trying to recover the excitement again. However, the FinTwit excitement seems to be over.
Final Thoughts: Fintwit
In this day and age, investors, retail traders, and even hedge funds are looking for every advantage and every small piece of news that could help them decide on buying or selling a stock.
Information is 24/7 now and is always available in the palm of your hand. FinTwit may be one of the most powerful yet underutilized tools in an investor’s toolbox.
The accounts supporting this community are legitimate; if you find a good one to follow, it is well worth the information you can get.
So, is FinTwit worth looking into? Absolutely. It is many investors’ first stop for market news and even real-time data and trades. Like StockTwits and Reddit, the people who post their opinions and ideas are real and, for the most part, are doing their best to help others like them.
If you’re new to investing or a seasoned trader who wants to listen to what others in the space are saying, head over to FinTwit and open your eyes to how much free information is available at your fingertips.
Frequently Asked Questions
Fintwit is on Twitter's platform. It's a community where traders talk about stocks and other financial instruments.
Twitter used to be a publicly traded company under the symbol TWTR. Elon Musk made the company private and change the name to X.
Twitter used to trade under the ticker symbol $TWTR until it became a private company called X.
Fintwit is X's version of StockTwits.
FinTwit is not an app. It's a term called Financial Twitter, with is a community of traders on X. Users can download X on the Apple Store and Google Play.
