Source Material on Investing
http://www.fundadvice.com/ - Paul Merriman’s site has many articles on basics of investing, diversification, Market Timing, how to invest in your company’s 401K, etc.
The Radical Guide To Investing - This website really gelled my thinking on diversification, rebalancing, cost avoidance, and wealth building/management without benefit of a paid advisor. It was also my primary introduction to Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)
http://www.morningstar.com/ - One of the best known portals for independent investing advice. Stronger in Mutual Funds than ETFs, I still turn to them for ‘basic research’ on a given fund. They have an irritating way of constantly ‘teasing’ you with little tidbits of research that are only available if you’re a paid subscriber. Everybody has to make money somehow, they just don’t have to get mine. One quirk that I have discovered: sometimes you get more information than is on the free website by printing out the report on the fund. Once the new window has spawned, select ‘full report’ within it.
http://etfconnect.com/ - The folks at Radical Guide turned me on to this basic research tool for Exchange Traded Funds. The interface is a little kludgy, but it’s another source of information.
http://www.schwab.com/ - Charles Schwab. I don’t know what research tools are available there if you’re not a client, but as a client, their tools are very valuable. As I come up with novel or different funds, it’s always helpful to return to Schwab and see if I can buy it cheaply there, whether they can suggest a lower-cost alternative, etc.
http://finance.yahoo.com/ - Yahoo Finance is a good ‘all arounder’ for digesting news on the markets, showing articles related to my fund holdings, and providing technical data. One area they seem to be weak on is *explaining* the technical data they’re presenting, which leads me to:
http://www.investorwords.com/ - I’ve just discovered this site, but it seems to do a good job of explaining the basics on technical terms used at Yahoo Finance (e.g. What the heck is a ‘Bollinger Band’?)
http://www.investorguide.com/ - This one is related to ‘Investor Words’. They have an interesting ‘University’ section where they dig down a little deeper into investor education. Note that they are not kind on the subject of ‘Market Timing’.
Jim Rogers book, Hot
Commodities : How Anyone Can Invest Profitably in the
World's Best Market – an interesting perspective on this very different
marketplace.
Annuity Glossary – I’ve never bothered looking into annuities, as they don’t really fit any of my needs. If you’re interested, these are the basic terms defined.
Send e-mail to: Todd <todd@thepeaches.com>