Nvstr Viewpoint Contributor Posting Guidelines

Nvstr.com is a digital investing platform that’s dedicated to helping people invest better by engaging them with content and community. We do not make investment recommendations, and we do not produce research.

To help support our primary goal of investor education, we have a blog for long-form topics, and we have a content feed that includes short-form posts that are created by our community and contributors.

The short-form posts are up to 250 characters and represent ‘Pros’ and ‘Cons’ for a stock or ETF. They are designed to expand users’ understanding and ability to make their own evaluations. A post can highlight a short- or long-term dynamic and should be written and understood as merely one datapoint in a much larger mosaic; they are not recommendations and should expressly not include language to ‘buy,’ ‘sell’ or ‘hold’ (or similar language) or establish / endorse a price target.

As a Viewpoint Contributor, you will be creating Pro and Con posts concerning a particular stock or ETF.

While Nvstr will not endorse any posts made by the Viewpoint Contributor (you or your firm), these posts are given certain prominence to Nvstr users. Therefore, as a Viewpoint Contributor, we expect you to adhere to the following guidelines, which may be updated from time to time at Nvstr’s sole discretion:

• We do not publish Research. For our purposes, Research is defined as:

  Any written communication that includes an analysis of equity securities of individual companies or industries and that provides information reasonably sufficient upon which to base an investment decision.

  Opinions on specific aspects of a company such as an overall strategy, a marketing campaign, and discussions about publicly available information are allowed. Ratings (buy, sell, hold), estimates of stock price appreciation or earnings or some other significant determining factor of stock price, may be considered Research. However, discussing consensus estimates without providing your own estimate will most likely be allowed and sources should be documented either to us or in the post.

  Allowed:
  “Management’s strategy of vertical integration rather than horizontal integration sets it apart from its competitors and should prove beneficial.”
  Not Allowed:
  “Management's strategy of vertical integration rather than horizontal integration will produce an increase of 20% over consensus earnings in the next fiscal year.”
  Why Not Allowed:
  The word “will” is promissory; “could” or “may” may be more appropriate. Even with “could” or “may,” since 20% is an exact number, this statement could be inadvertently construed as a specific prediction of a future stock price.

• We do not allow Advice/Recommendations. This is for your protection as well as Nvstr. Offering Advice/Recommendations could be construed as a regulated activity. Factual statements are generally fine, as long as they can be substantiated if called upon to do so.

  Allowed:
  “MSFT beat analyst revenue forecasts in 2Q and guided higher for full year 20XX.”
  “Executives at AAPL released a 10-year product roadmap.”
  Not Allowed:
  “I recommend MSFT based on their recent strong financial results.”
  “AAPL is great for buy-and-hold investors because of its strong long-term roadmap.”

• Content should be balanced where appropriate. There are multiple cross currents that influence equities in a broader mosaic, and Nvstr wants to ensure that, over time, Viewpoint Contributors are providing users with posts that highlight potential positives as well as negatives. While a single issue or data point may fall into only one category, Viewpoint Contributors should, over time, include a balance of both pros and cons for stocks that are the subject of posts.

• Conclusions should be supported. Viewpoint contributors should avoid conclusory statements that are unsupported. Phrases such as “I think” or the “the Company says” or “as noted by X in Y” are generally okay.

  Allowed:
  “AMD said in its 3q20 earnings call that data center demand is improving.”
  “I think data center demand may be improving, as suggested by X in Y.”
  Not Allowed:
  “Data center demand is improving”
  Why Not Allowed:
  Lacks time period and support for conclusion “is.”

• Content standards. Content should reflect standards summarized below:

  • Be based on principles of fair dealing and good faith.
  • No false, exaggerated, unwarranted, promissory, or misleading statement or claim.
  • Consider the nature of the audience to which the communication will be directed.
  • May not predict or project performance, imply that past performance will recur, or make any exaggerated or unwarranted claim, opinion, or forecast.

• Please refrain from using "Bullish" or "Bearish" or similar terms as net conclusions for a stock / sector. Saying that a single piece of news, trend, or data point may be bullish or bearish is permissible.

  Allowed:
  “If interest rates go up, it could be bullish for J.P. Morgan / banks.”
  “If oil prices fall, it could be bearish for XOM / integrated oil stocks.”
  Not Allowed:
  “We're bullish / bearish on Wells Fargo / banks.”
  “We're bearish on Intel.”

• Linking to sites. It is permissible to link to sources and to include a general site in a profile.

  Viewpoint contributors should not link to a report with a buy/sell or hold recommendations or which otherwise might meet the definition of Research.

  General writeups / thought pieces, sector pieces, news articles on reputable sites, etc that are factual and not exaggerated are allowed.

• Do not use Nvstr for any purpose that could be deemed as fraudulent. This includes pump and dump schemes, promoting currently held positions, or purposely publishing content intended to assist the position of another party.

• Do not assess suitability. Suitability is a complex concept in securities regulation - in general it can’t be adequately addressed in a public forum.

  Allowed:
  “SPY is a low-fee ETF that provides broad market exposure.”
  “GILD has recently gone through a period of high volatility.”
  Not Allowed:
  “SPY is a low-fee ETF that is suitable for most investors.”
  “GILD is a risky biotech stock that is only suitable for investors with aggressive risk profiles.”

• Disclosure policy. Please send us a copy of your company’s conflicts / disclosure policy, if you have a formal one, for our files.