Ahl's Best Investment Sites |
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Stocks, Mutual Funds, Markets, the Economy, Personal Finance
Investopedia site has some great basic information on how to get started in the stock investing, the essentials, portfolio management, fundamental analysis, technical analysis, stock screening, mergers, what top investors are doing, and much more. A great place to start.
American Association of Individual Investors site provides investment education in the areas of investing basics, financial planning, retirement, comparing mutual funds, stock market investing, and improving your investment portfolio. The majority of the information on the web site is free. Especially valuable are the stock screens that employ a wide variety of criteria. Each one includes a screen overview, historical performance chart, and list of passing companies, which is available in printing or downloadable spreadsheet format.
Market Watch site has market news and commentary, personal finance tools (portfolio tracker, mutual fund finder, newsletter directory, etc.), newsletter summaries, Hulbert's ratings of newsletters, interactive charting, advisor recommendation summaries, timely news of new IPOs, intraday screener, analyst upgrades and downgrades, much more. Very comprehensive, easy to use and navigate, charts load fast.
Fidelity Investments site provides lots of excellent research on stocks and mutual funds (you don't have to be a customer to use it). Has clearly-written articles on basic investing, retirement planning, estate planning, college expenses, taxes, how to build a bond ladder portfolio, much more. Very good stock research and analysis tools. Also has excellent tools for selecting, evaluating, and comparing mutual funds. You can also get some Morningstar metrics free, which will cost you money on the Morningstar site.
U.S. News & World Report Has a section on its web site with investing advice, market news, portfolio management, strategiers, and rankings and tools for stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds. Very comprehensive although the site is loaded with ads and you have to be careful that you're clicking on a U.S. News page and not an ad.Mutual Funds
For information on open-end (standard) mutual funds, Morningstar.com is clearly the best place to start. The web site is loaded with information, although it does assume a knowledge of the basics. A lot of the information is available free, but unless you know what you're looking for, it's sometimes hard to ferret it out. And many times when you click on something that sounds right, you're told, "This feature is a benefit of premium membership" which you actually can get free on Fidelity (see above). However, if you sign up for a free standard membership and persist, you can get a tremendous amount of excellent information. Look especially at the lists of "Standout Mutual Funds" in various categories. Oh, yes, be sure to have your pop-up blocker on when you use this site.Exchange Traded Funds and Closed-End Funds
Morningstar.com is the best for ETFs and Closed End Funds (see above).
ETF.com has an excellent collection of articles and tools including a huge database and directories to get you going in the world of ETF investing. Has an excellent education center, pages of breaking news, perspective, and investing strategies on ETFs. This site will keep you busy for quite a while.
Wikipedia actually has one of the best in-depth explanations of both index and closed-end exchange traded funds. Has excellent basic info on ETFs: buying and selling, risks, performance, dividends, and tax issues. Also weird things like inverse and leveraged ETFs (avoid them!) and thematic ETFs (coming on strong).
Investopedia (ETF) web site explains standard index ETFs. Also has articles on Beginner ETF Strategies, Building an All-ETF Portfolio, How To Pick The Best ETF, Advantages/Disadvantages of ETFs, and more. It's pretty good for the basics, but when you want to get into screening and evaluating ETFs, I'd advise you the head for the Morningstar or Fidelity web sites,
Investopedia (CEF) has a simple, excrellent, one-page explanation of what a closed-end fund is and how they work. (Unfortunately, most web sites on closed-end funds are trying to sell you something and bury the useful data so deep that they are all but useless. The best basic pricing and financial data on closed-ends is on Morningstar.com)Closed-End Fund Center provides lots of information, news, and tools for investing in closed-end funds.Bonds
InvestingInBonds.com, a web site sponsored by the Bond Market Association, has by far and away the best information on all types of bonds: treasuries, municipals, corporates, and agencies. (But no info on foreign sovereign debt or Brady bonds.) Has basic info on bond investing, zero-coupon bonds, CMOs, CDs, much more. Plus the only comprehensive list of bond prices based on recent trades.Preferred Stocks, Income and Debt Securities
QuantumOnline.com is by far the best and most comprehensive web site on preferred stocks, exchange-traded income and debt securities, and convertible securities. Has outstanding easy-to-understand information on all types of income securities plus a huge database of every income stock and security traded on any U.S. exchange along with income tables, and dividend payment schedules. A truly outstanding web site.
Preferred Stock Online has a humongous database of all preferred stocks with name, symbol, current stock price, dividend payment and yield, payment schedule. Has a screener too. Use this in conjunction with the Quantum site when you're in the market for preferred stock. Has 25 or more new articles every time you visit the site.ADRs (Shares of foreign companies traded on U.S. exchanges)
The Depository Receipt web site sponsored by the Bank of New York has good background and educational information on American Depository Receipts (ADR) and American Depository Shares (ADS), as well as info on the most active issues, performance, and a very nice interactive charting tool. You can list ADRs by industry, country, or region and the lists show the issue, symbol, exchange (including NASDAQ bulletin board), industry, etc.
Like the above site, ADR.com has news, market overview, and research as well as research and lists of the best and worst performers in total and by country. This web site, sponsored by JP Morgan, has some research not found on the Bank of NY site, although its lists do not show the trading exchange, a serious drawback.Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT)
Nat'l Ass'n of REITs provides good basic information on REITs, how to invest in a REIT, how to find a suitable REIT, diversification benefits, dividends, REIT closed-end funds and mutual funds, and a database of both publicly-traded and private REITs. Site provides current share price and financial information through Yahoo Finance.Click here for a page of 16 basic principles of investing.
