AI-powered stock predictor app Hotstock launches

This mobile app aims to give consumers confidence in betting on the stock market.

If life is a game, then Hotstock wants to be the app that gives consumers more confidence betting on the stock market. Last month the Singaporean start-up launched a new stock predictor app that uses artificial intelligence to try and inject clarity in stock market investing, especially for consumers that want to participate but view it with trepidation.

“The problem Hotstock is trying to solve is mitigating risk when selecting stock,” says Carl Freer, founder of Hotstock. “It uses a convolutional neural network and machine learning to predict the stock market.”

The Hotstock app provides the user with a prediction of the top weekly stock gainers from Monday to Friday based on 204 Nasdaq and NYSE top performing stocks. But the start-up is quick to note that returns are not guaranteed despite its claims of high-accuracy recommendations.

The team with extensive credentials in cutting-edge fields - data scientists and mathematicians abound in the start-up’s roster, some with experience in high frequency and Quant trading as well as in AI and Big Data - there was an understanding on how complexity can scare away the average Singaporean.

This led them to design the app interface to be more user-friendly, as well as to inject a gamification system. Users receive virtual funds to build a portfolio, simulating the excitement of live trading, and compete against others through a public leaderboard system.

The app is available to use on the iPhone and iPad, and supports Apple Watch. Users must be 17 years old to download it.

The app offers a lite version for free that gives 1 stock for 48-hour predictions, with option for in-app purchases to unlock more stock predictions or add more virtual currency to their account.

There are plans to expand Hotstock app in the future as the Watstock PRO app, which Freer is developing in collaboration with IBM Watson, comes online. Watstock will support equities and enable live trades, and is slated to launch this month.