Appleton Group Wealth Management LLC: Launches clearTREND

First Wisconsin-based financial app published in Microsoft’s new Windows 8 App Store

APPLETON, WI (USA) — Appleton Group Wealth Management LLC, an innovative investment advisory and asset management firm, has launched clearTREND™, a cutting-edge global web app available in 37 countries. The firm is partnering with Xignite, Inc., the leading market data cloud solutions provider, Skyline Technologies, and Microsoft (MSFT) Windows Azure/Windows 8 to develop clearTREND, a new mobile investment research app that helps manage investment portfolios. clearTREND is the first investment trend calculator publicly available. It solves a fundamental problem in investing by accurately calculating past price trends for any security, then generating real-time buy and sell recommendations when those trends have turned.

clearTREND is an investment research application (app) designed to help keep an investor’s portfolio on the right side of the market. Available for both desktop computing and Windows 8 tablets, clearTREND analyzes price movements for approximately 60,000 different investment securities including exchange-traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds, individual stocks and market indexes. clearTREND calculates which time periods are best to consider when making investment decisions, and recommends timely adjustments to an investor’s portfolio when those trends have turned. Additionally, it is the first Wisconsin-based financial app to be published in Microsoft’s new Windows 8 App Store, which will launch globally in late 2012.

“clearTREND represents a significant leap forward in the field of investment and economic research,” said Mark C. Scheffler, founder and senior portfolio manager for Appleton Group Wealth Management LLC. “Our app uses cutting-edge technology to measure price trends for a nearly endless number of securities and indexes and uses that analysis to generate buy and sell recommendations when those trends have turned.”

Scheffler continued, “This app is a ‘must-have’ for any individual investor or professional advisor, but it’s especially useful for 401(k) participants working to make their retirement plans more profitable, less risky and more predictable.”

clearTREND is cloud-based application available today for use on any desktop computer, including all Microsoft Windows and Apple-based desktops and laptops.The base functionality of the app is free, advanced features are offered as a subscription service through Microsoft’s Windows Azure Marketplace.

With 10 patents pending, clearTREND is an innovation in its field because it uses crowdsourcing to analyze changing price trends, as well as generate real‐time buy and sell recommendations at optimal points in time. clearTREND is powered by XigniteGlobalHistorical and XigniteIndicesservices. It also uses Microsoft’s cloud-based computing service Windows Azure. With an analytical technique called ‘Simple Moving Average Crossover,’ the app measures historic price trends and leverages optimization technology to continuously hunt for new price trends that may be more advantageous for the user to follow.

“Xignite is a leader in delivering market data to fast-running apps by harnessing the power of the cloud,” said Stephane Dubois, CEO and founder of Xignite. “We are proud to be in the company of industry leaders such as Microsoft, Skyline Technologies, and Appleton Group Wealth Management.”

“clearTREND was built from the ground up based on Microsoft’s Windows Azure cloud platform, giving it the power and flexibility to run the billions of calculations needed to perform the patent pending clearTREND analysis that helps you determine which side of the market to be on,” said Michael Lauer, managing consultant, Skyline Technologies, Inc. “The intuitive and fluid interface provides a great user experience with at a glance visuals and the ability to drill down for more detail if needed,” Lauer added.

The application was featured in a recent Microsoft-sponsored technology symposium for professional programmers. According to Pete Brown, Microsoft Employee and Windows 8 Evangelist, “clearTREND is a beautifully designed and fluid app that showcases the power of Windows 8 and touch.”

clearTREND was developed in partnership with Skyline Technologies, located in Green Bay, Appleton, and Pewaukee Wisconsin.

ABOUT APPLETON GROUP:

Appleton Group Wealth Management is an independent, fee-only registered investment advisor located in Appleton, Wisconsin. With assets under management of more than $141 million, Appleton Group offers expert investment management, corporate 401(k) advisory and investment research services. Appleton Group is a past recipient of the Fox Valley Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business of the Year Award (2010), inaugural Innovation Award (2012), and Rising Star (2006).

ABOUT XIGNITE:

The Xignite Market Data Cloud fulfills more than 5 billion requests per month and offers more than 50 financial web services APIs providing real-time, historical, and reference data across all asset classes. Xignite APIs power mobile financial applications, websites, and front-, middle- and back-office functions for more than 1000 clients worldwide, including Wells Fargo, GE, Computershare, BNY Mellon, Natixis, Forbes.com, SeekingAlpha, ExxonMobil, Starbucks, and Barrick Gold. The company’s award-winning XigniteOnDemand market data cloud platform also powers data distribution solutions for exchanges and data vendors, as well as Enterprise Data Distribution (EDD) solutions for financial institutions. Companies using XigniteOnDemand for market data distribution include the CME Group, NASDAQ OMX, NYSE Euronext and Direct Edge.

LINKS: clearTREND™ Homepage: http://www.cleartrendresearch.com

Windows Azure Marketplace: https://datamarket.azure.com/

Appleton Group Homepage: http://www.appletongrouponline.com

Skyline Technologies Homepage: http://www.skylinetechnologies.com/