Patent ID: 7882006

Claim:
A method for determining a proficiency of a first predictor, wherein the first predictor is a member of a contest having a plurality of additional predictors, comprising: (a) receiving a plurality of predictions from the first predictor, at a computing device, wherein a prediction is associated with a financial asset; (b) for each prediction, calculating a prediction score, at the computing device, wherein the prediction score is a measure of the prediction against an objective baseline for the prediction; (c) calculating a proficiency score for the first predictor, at the computing device, based on a set of prediction scores calculated in step (b), wherein step (c) includes: (i) calculating a total score component for the first predictor, at the computing device, wherein the total score component is a summation of the set of prediction scores calculated in step (b), (ii) calculating an accuracy component for the first predictor, at the computing device, wherein the accuracy component is based at least in part on a number of predictions the first predictor determined correctly and a total number of predictions made by the first predictor, and (iii) generating the proficiency score for the first predictor, at the computing device, wherein the proficiency score is a sum of the total score component and the accuracy component; and (d) upon occurrence of a predetermined event in the contest, automatically providing an informational message to the first predictor, at the computing device, wherein step (d) includes: (i) initiating a generation of the informational message, at the computing device, (ii) identifying a business segment associated with a set of prior predictions made by the first predictor, at the computing device, (iii) customizing a content of the informational message based on the identified business segment, at the computing device, wherein the content of the informational message includes investment advice related to one or more financial assets in the business segment and wherein the investment advice is generated independently of predictions made by the first predictor and by the plurality of additional predictors, and (iv) providing the informational message, at the computing device, to the first predictor via a display.