Stock Hub

Inspiration

Most platforms focus on just one piece of the financial puzzle—whether it's investing, education, or security—leaving many users without a complete solution. We set out to build something more holistic and accessible for everyone. Young people often struggle to understand the complexities of investing, while older users face challenges like managing their finances efficiently and identifying potential fraud. Our goal was to bridge this generational gap with a platform that empowers users of all ages. What sets our project apart is its adaptability. Beginners can learn as they go, guided by custom-built AI algorithms that offer educational insights and even automate trades, while experienced users retain full control with manual trading tools. By blending education, automation, and user-friendly design, we've created a platform that makes financial literacy, smart investing, and secure trading accessible to all—no matter where they are on their financial journey.

What it does

Our project is an all-in-one stock market hub designed for users of all ages. It introduces younger generations to the fundamentals of investing through short, engaging lesson plans, simplified vocabulary explanations, and clear guidance on how the stock market works. For older users, the app offers tools for managing bank statements, detecting potential identity fraud, and providing personalized financial advice based on uploaded financial documents — including suggestions for smarter purchases and potential savings. Beyond education and financial support, our platform features AI-assisted stock trading. We’ve integrated parameters into the OpenAI model to interpret real-time market trends and help users make informed decisions. For users who prefer automated trading, we’ve built an AI-powered trading bot that makes decisions based on five customizable parameters: Starting Fund Amount, Risk Tolerance Level, Investment Sector Preference, Asset Type, Trade Frequency, and Stop-Loss/Take-Profit Settings.

How we built it

We built a Stock Hub using a full-stack approach. The frontend was developed with Next.js for a fast and responsive user interface, while the backend was powered by Flask to handle API requests and data processing. We used MongoDB as our database to store user data and trade history. For real-time trading functionality, we connected to the Alpaca API, allowing users to simulate or make live trades. To provide up-to-date financial insights, we integrated FinHub and scraped data from platforms like Reddit, Yahoo Finance, and WallStreetBets. We also used the Quiver API to display live congressional trading activity, adding a unique layer of transparency. Finally, we integrated an OpenAI model to assist users with investment decisions and answer financial questions, making the app more interactive and informative.

Challenges we ran into

Throughout the development process, we encountered several challenges. With multiple team members working on both the frontend and backend, we ran into code merging conflicts that required careful coordination and communication to resolve. Accessing MongoDB proved difficult due to restrictions on our school’s network, which forced us to rely on personal hotspots just to connect and test the database. In addition, some team members initially struggled with GitHub access and needed help setting up their development environments to contribute effectively. While these obstacles slowed us down at times, they also helped us grow as a team—we improved our collaboration, gained valuable troubleshooting experience, and became more adaptable in the face of technical roadblocks.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

One of our biggest accomplishments was successfully integrating all components into a fully functional website, despite the technical challenges we encountered along the way. As this was our first hackathon as a team, we're especially proud of how we collaborated under pressure, adapted quickly, and brought our ideas to life. Our ability to communicate, problem-solve, and stay focused allowed us to create a final product we’re genuinely proud of.

What we learned

During the hackathon, we had the opportunity to learn Flask through one of the workshops, which was a new experience for all of us. We then applied what we learned by using Flask to build the backend of our project. This gave us a deeper understanding of how web frameworks work and allowed us to connect the frontend with server-side logic in a practical, hands-on way.

What's next for Stock Hub

We see Stock Hub as more than just a trading platform—it’s the beginning of a financial journey for users of all experience levels. Moving forward, we plan to expand our educational tools by adding interactive lessons, gamified quizzes, and real-time market simulations. One key feature we're excited to introduce is a mock trading environment that allows users to practice investing with virtual money—giving beginners a risk-free way to build confidence before making real trades.