Chickslayingnesteggs.com

Hey, as a red-blooded American male, I like this website. As I'm checking it out, I'm looking at a photo of the woman -- in her pajamas -- who got the whole thing started. She is surrounded by a number of other women, also in pajamas, who advocated investing in Pfizer and have made money doing so. If you hadn't seen the name of the website at the top of the column, would you ever have guessed that I was talking about ChicksLayingNestEggs.com?

The home page for Chickslayingnesteggs.com quickly presents the fun and informative nature of the site.

The concept, the investment club, the website, and now the book have all grown from the response -- or more accurately, the lack of response -- to a question that website founder and head chick Karin Housley posed to her family's financial advisor. Housley, wife of National Hockey League star Phil Housley, had asked the financial expert to explain his strategy for managing the family's investments. The financial expert's answer? A dismissive "You wouldn't understand."

It was the wrong answer to give Housley. Her immediate response? "Grrr!" But her second response was to turn herself into someone who did understand -- in spades. Now, as the nucleus of ChicksLayingNestEggs.com and author of the book ChickLayingNestEggs.com: How 10 Skirts Beat the Pants Off Wall Street ... And How You Can, Too! the head chick helps others to understand as well.

The first thing I looked at on the site -- after the chicks in their pajamas, of course -- was the Weekly Wrap for May 18, 2001. Immediately, I was struck by the wonderfully refreshing, politically incorrect environment in which Karin Housley freely scratches out her view of the week that was. Whether or not you enjoy her sense of humor, and personally I did, it cannot be denied that referring to a group of attractive women -- in this day and age -- as "chicks" and "skirts" takes anatomy more often associated with roosters. These chicks are definitely not chicken!

There are six main nesting areas in this chickhouse, and a couple of smaller nests as well. First, almost everyone wants to know who the chicks are, what they look like, and how they got together. The Meet the Chicks area has a number of pictures, both group and individual, along with one-page profiles of each current chick.

In the area called Chick's Eye View, you will find the Daily Focus (not always updated daily) and a Weekly Wrap. There are archives for the View and the Wrap so you can research past postings.

Almost every page has an e-mail link on it somewhere, giving you the option of asking the chicks a question. If you want to visit their chatroom, discuss what is posted in Chick's Eye View, or visit one of the many affiliated chick-style investment clubs, just peck on the Meeting Place.

Information on setting up an investment club can be found here.

Club Central is where you can find the information on putting together, and maintaining, a viable investment club. The rules, procedures, and best ways to organize it all are the kind of eggs in this nest. There is also a glossary that contains the investment lingo and what it all means.

Probably the single most helpful nest on the site is called Research a Company. Here, the chicks offer their website as a Yellow Brick Road in the financial Land of Oz. If you know a ticker symbol, the chances are good that you can find the majority of what you need to know about that company for purposes of investing.

The last of the main areas is The General Store, where you can get information on the designer PJs that the chicks wear in the photos, their first-ever Chick Fest in Minneapolis (at which chicks from all over the country get together to talk about life and investing), and the book by Karin Housley that tells the story of how "Chicks Laying Nest Eggs" got started.

The site is straightforward, fun, well-organized, and full of insight and information. So if you're hatching a plan for your nest egg or just breaking out of your shell, this is an excellent site for learning how to manage your scratch. Here, chick, chick, chick.

Bruce Faber is a Staff Writer for Working-Money.com.

Current and past articles from Working Money, The Investors' Magazine, can be found at Working-Money.com.

Copyright © 2001 Technical Analysis, Inc. All rights reserved.