ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 90 / C&RL News ■ February 1998 Investments and personal finance These sites can help you make informed decisions Janice S. Lewis and June Chressanthis T he World W ide Web has made it much easier for investors to track the perfor­ m ance o f their investm ent portfolios and for prospective investors to obtain inform ation ab o u t co m p a n ie s and th eir sto ck s. Sites aim ed at helping consum ers m ake informed decisions about mortgages, credit, retirement, and other financial issues also abound. As with much o f the Internet, however, the vast quantities o f inform ation and the num ber o f sites with similar, overlapping inform ation can m ake the task seem overwhelm ing. This colum n contains a selective list o f som e o f the sites that offer unique, objective data and are most useful to investors, students, re­ searchers, and individuals interested in per­ sonal financial issues. Com prehensive sites Users can take their pick from a num ber o f sites that offer stock quotes, price/volume charts, company profiles, and financial news. Som e sites require free registration; others provide basic information for free, but charge for real-time quotes or in-depth analysis. Sites included here all provide a substantial amount o f data at no charge. • DBC Online. Free inform ation at this site includes delayed stock and bond quotes, charts, mutual fund data, m arket updates, a n a ly s ts ’ c h a n g e s , and n ew s fro m CBS Market Watch. DBC is a leading provider o f quote inform ation and supplies quotes to several other sites listed here. Access: http:// w w w .d b c .com/. • FinancialW eb. In addition to stock quotes and charts from DBC, this site offers a num ber o f tradem arked services. Rapid R esearch contains detailed historical funda­ mental perform ance data on over 8,000 listed U .S . s t o c k s . W all S t r e e t G u ru s c a n s to p i n v e s t ­ ment publica­ tions for buy, hold, and sell recom m enda­ tions and pro­ vides a sum ­ mary o f each so u rce’s stock picks and pans. Small Cap In v esto r provides inform ation about often overlooked small and m icro­ ca p ita liz a tio n p u b lic co m p a n ie s . A c c e s s : http://www.financialweb.com/. •v H o o v e rs. Hoovers o ffers a mixture or fr e e and s u b s c r ip tio n s e r v ic e s . Start at H oover’s Pow er Searching for free com pany capsules, w hich contain a description o f the com pany, key executives, sales and incom e figures, and em ploym ent size. Each capsule provides links to the co m p an y’s Web site (if available), stock quotes and charts, last quar­ ter earnings, Z ack’s earnings estim ates, an­ nual reports, SEC filings, and current news stories. Use H oover’s Stock Screen er Search Janice S. Lewis is business librarian a t Virginia Com m onw ealthhe abthorAuout t University; e-mail: jlewis@ saturn.vcu.edu; June Chressanthis is associate professor and coordinator o f cataloging a t Mississippi State University; e-mail: jchressanthis@library.msstate.edu http://www.financialweb.com/ mailto:jlewis@saturn.vcu.edu C&RL News ■ February 1998 / 9 1 to screen for stocks using up to 20 perfor­ mance criteria. A ccess: http://www.hoovers, com/. • In v est-o-ram a. Several features make this site stand out. Type in a ticker symbol at Research a Stock Online, and get links to over 30 Web sites that provide quotes, charts, news, and other data about the company. The Investor’s Web Directory includes over 6,223 sites in 70 categories, each with a brief description, while Corporations Online pro­ vides links to Web sites for over 4,000 pub­ lic companies. Access: http://www.investorama. com/. • M arket Guide In v e stm e n t C en ter. This site provides free com pany reports, quotes, news from Reuters and Business Wire, price charts, stock screening tools, and industry, sector, and company rankings on over 10,000 equities. Nice charting function makes it easy to produce price and volume charts for 3-, 6-, 12-, 24-, and 36-month pe­ riods. A ccess: http://marketguide.com/. • Q u ick en .co m In v estm en ts. This site provides convenient access to a wealth o f com pany inform ation, including delayed stock quotes; price and volume charts, with data going back five years; news; a com ­ pany snapshot from Disclosure Inc.; broker recommendations from I/B/E/S; a list o f com ­ petitors with links to their profiles; and links to SEC filings. Also offers stock screening tools, mutual-fund profiles, and directories. A c c e s s : http :/ / w w w .q u ick en .com / investments/. • StockGuide. The site for OTC/Bulle- tin Board investors, StockGuide specializes in small-capitalization stocks. The Pink Sheet co m p an y d atab ase co n tain s inform ation about thousands o f com panies’ OTC stocks and can be searched by company, symbol, sta te , or ind ustry. A ccess: http://w w w . stockguide.com . • Z a c k ’s I n v e s t m e n t R e s e a r c h . E n ­ ter a tic k e r sy m b o l in Z a c k ’s fre e R e­ s e a rc h C en ter and get s to c k q u o te s and ch a rts, a co m p a n y p ro file , a ctu a l e a r n ­ ings and e a rn in g s e s tim a te s, b ro k e r a g e re co m m e n d a tio n s, b a la n ce sh eet, in co m e sta te m en t, and a co m p a ct fin a n cia l s n a p ­ sh o t. Site a lso in clu d e s list o f p rofit and E P S s u r p r is e s . A c c e s s : h ttp :/ / w w w . zacks.com/. Exchanges Nearly every domestic and foreign exchange now has a presence on the Web. For links to commodities, regional, futures, and foreign exchanges, try the extensive list at Y ah o o : Business and E conom y: Finance & Invest­ m e n t : E x c h a n g e s . A c c e s s : http:// w w w .yahoo.com /Business_and_Econom y/ Finance_and_Investment/Exchanges/. • A m erican Stock E x ch a n g e . Tune in to Amex opening/closing bell live market reports and then watch a live video stream from the trading floor. The Data Site includes profiles o f Amex-listed com panies, with de­ layed stock quotes, stock price charts, and links to com pany news and EDGAR filings. The Web site also includes excerpts from the 1997 Amex Fact Book and an online glos­ s a ry an d d ic t io n a r y . A c c e s s : http:// w ww.am ex. com/. • NASDAQ Web Site. This Web site of­ fers a wealth o f information on all NASDAQ com panies, including quotes, intraday and historical daily close and volume charts go­ ing back 72 months, news, and company facts. The latter section includes a stock re­ port from Disclosure, Inc. in Adobe Acrobat format. Also includes summary o f market ac­ tivity and information about the performance o f m a r k e t in d ic e s . A c c e s s : http:// w w w .nasdaq.com . • New Y o rk Stock E x ch a n g e . Features a daily market summary, links to listed com ­ panies’ w eb pages, and summary statistical information o f NYSE trading activity, includ­ ing daily reported volume starting in 1888 and daily closing values for NYSE indices s ta rtin g in 1 9 6 6 . A c c e s s : http :/ / w w w . nyse.com . Securities and Exchange Com m ission filings Publicly traded companies are required to file annual and quarterly financial reports and other documents with the Securities and Ex­ change Commission. The SEC began the tran­ sition to electronic filing in 1994 and required http://www.hoovers http://www.investorama http://marketguide.com/ http://www.quicken.com/ http://www http://www http://www.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/ http://www.nasdaq.com http://www 92 / C&RL News ■ February 1998 electronic filing o f most documents by 1996. These reports form the basis for many in­ vestment analysts’ predictions and investment decisions. The documents are available at the SEC’s W eb site and from a number o f other free and fee-based services. ED GA R Database o f corporate information • U.S. Securities and E xchange Com m is­ sion. Filings are accessed through the EDGAR (Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Re­ trieval) system. Each filing is one large text file. The EDGAR site posts documents 24 to 36 hours after they are received at the SEC. The SEC site also contains information about the Commission, publications aimed at help­ ing individuals invest wisely, investor alerts, the SEC News Digest, and a directory o f state securities regulators. EDGAR is also available through anonymous ftp (ftp.sec.gov) and go­ p h e r ( g o p h e r .s e c .g o v ) . A c c e s s : http:// www.sec.gov. • F re e EDGAR. This Web site improves upon the governm ent’s Web site in several ways. The current day’s SEC filings are avail­ able; data can be displayed and downloaded in Excel format; and filings are divided into segm ents, with a table o f contents, so you can load just the portion you want. Search Free EDGAR by com pany nam e, ticker sym­ b o l, or SIC c o d e . A c c e ss: h ttp://www. freedgar.com. • W ho W h ere? EDGAR Filings. Search by com pany name or ticker symbol and re­ ceive a list o f the filings the com pany has made with the SEC, along with a com pany profile with links to 20-minute delayed stock quotes and news. Download the entire fil­ ing or display portions o f it. Also allows searching by filing type, industry, and date. A ccess: http://www.whowhere.com/Edgar/ index, html/. Mutual funds • IBC Fin an cial Data. Information concern­ ing money market mutual funds can be found here. Basic information regarding how to select a money market fund and which funds have the highest yields make this site unique. A ccess: http://w w w .ibcdata.co m . • M orn in gstar.N et. This site merits a look by the name alone. Based on one o f the most valuable print investm ent tools, Morningstar. Net offers facts on 6,500 mutual funds and 8,000 stocks in the Q uicktake Re­ ports sectio n . This site offers investm ent news and useful market data and research tools. A portfolio tracker is a big asset to the investor. Access: http://www.morningstar. net. • M utual F u n d s In te r a c tiv e . This site b ills its e lf as “th e m utu al fu n d s h o m e p a g e .” Interview s with various fund m an­ agers, a Q&A sectio n , new s and co m m en ­ ta rie s a lo n g w ith q u o te s and p o rtfo lio tracking represent the broad range o f valu­ ab le inform ation provided. A ccess: http:// w w w .b rill.co m . Financial new s There are innumerable journals, newspapers, newsletters, and newsgroups available to the individual investor. All o f the sites listed here are free, but may require registration to ac­ cess the entire contents o f each issue. • B lo o m b erg News. This site offers a daily digest o f the top business news and feature stories from Bloom berg editors in New York, London, and Hong Kong; head­ lines and lead paragraphs o f the top ten breaking financial stories; and fulltext o f Bloom berg colum ns and newswire stories. A ccess: http:/ / w w w .bloom berg.com / bn/ index.html. • B u sin ess W ire. Brow se headlines o f stories from the past seven days, then link to the fulltext. Stories can be searched by concep t, keyword, or state. Photo wires can be searched back to January 1, 1997. Access: w w w .businessw ire.com . • C en ts F in a n c ia l J o u r n a l . Updated daily, this site presents a com pendium o f objective financial comm entary, written by econom ists and analysts from com p anies such as Banc O ne and M oody’s. Topics in­ clude fixed incom e, com m odities, real e s­ tate, and econom ics. Access: http://www.lp- llc.com/cents. • CNNfn. F ollo w the d ay ’s fin an cial events as they happen. Hot Stories includes the d ay’s m ost im portant new s. M arkets serves as the entry point to CNNfn’s exten ­ ftp://ftp.sec.gov http://www.sec.gov http://www.whowhere.com/Edgar/ http://www http://www.morningstar http://www.brill.com http://www.bloomberg.com/bn/ http://www.businesswire.com http://www.lp- C&RL News ■ February 1998 / 93 sive coverage o f international and domestic financial markets, currencies, interest rates, and com m odities. Fn to go, a JavaScript application, invokes a small browser to let you keep track o f headlines while you surf to o th e r d e s t in a t io n s . A c c e s s : http:// cnn.fn.com . • E u ro m o n ey . The entire editorial co n ­ tent o f the magazine, along with research and surveys, discussion forums, and virtual roundtable discussions. The content is di­ vided in two ways: geographically so that visitors can browse via the world map, se­ lect a region or country, and read articles listed on those pages; and market sector, for exam p le, direct investm ent, governm ent bonds, foreign exchange, etc. Archive goes b ack to D e ce m b e r 1995. A c cess: http:// www.euromoney.com /. • m isc.invest. This newsgroup covers many topics in the investment and personal finance world. Subgroups such as financial­ plan, real-estate, mutual-funds, and stocks cover these particular areas in greater depth. A ccess to n ew sg ro u p s is av ailab le free through the Internet or through other plat­ forms such as unix using programs like tin or netnews. • M oney Talks. Written by respected nancial journalists, this site is rated as one o f the top ten business magazines on the Internet. It is a daily magazine for the seri­ ous investor interested in mutual funds, per­ sonal finance, equities, and the econom y. A ccess: http://www.talks.com. • Persfi n Digest. A newsletter presented in an interactive style. Any subscriber can submit a question or respond to one posed by other readers. A broad range o f subjects is covered with input from certified finan­ cial planners and lay people interested in personal finance. All submissions are col­ lated by the editor. To subscribe, send e- mail to m a jo rd o m o @ sh o re .n e t with the following text: su b scrib e persfin-digest. See Persfin Digest Archives to search the backfiles. A ccess: http://www .am eristock. com/pda/persfin_home.htm. • R eu ters M oneyN et. Reuters offers market snapshots, business headlines, cur­ rency rates, an econom ic calendar, and news organized by category (equity, financial, in­ te r n a tio n a l, e t c .) . A ccess: http://w w w . m oneynet.com . fi­ Bonds • M oody’s In vestors Services. Free data includes details about Moody’s most recent ten bond rating actions, highlights o f recent credit research, and a summary o f ratings ac­ tions for the last three days. Access: http:// www.moodys .com . • B o n d s O n lin e. This site covers the U.S. municipal and fixed incom e markets. Features include the ability to search for mu­ n icip al b o n d issu e s and s e c u ritie s firm s by state. Access to the most recent issue of Capital Markets Commentary is free; many other services are by subscription only. A c­ cess: http://www.bonds-online.com. Retirement Planning for retirement is an important part o f personal finance. Planning and investing now, no matter the investor’s age, can only help ease the transition into retirement. • AARP W ebplace: F in an ce. Sponsored by the AARP, this site addresses the finan­ cial concerns o f the growing population of retired people in a number o f areas, includ­ ing retirement and estate planning. Access: http://www.aarp.org/finance/home.htm. • F in an cial P lan n in g fo r R etirem en t. Similar in content to the AARP site, this page features information on calculating retire­ ment incom e, pensions, women and retire­ ment, commentaries from syndicated colum ­ nists, and links to other financial planning sites. Access: http://www.hec.ohio-state.edu/ cts/osue/retplan.htm. • Social Security A dm inistration. Us­ ers can submit the personal data required for the Personal Earnings and Benefit Estimate Statement online and receive the results by mail from the SSA. Other features include in­ formation about social security, disability and Medicare benefits, and how to apply for them. Access: http://www.ssa.gov. Tax information • 1 0 4 0 .co m . This site tries to provide “tax information for ordinary people.” Here, the browser can read up on tax preparation tech- http://www.euromoney.com/ http://www.talks.com mailto:majordomo@shore.net http://www.ameristock http://www http://www.bonds-online.com http://www.aarp.org/finance/home.htm http://www.hec.ohio-state.edu/ http://www.ssa.gov 94 / C&RL News ■ February 1998 niques, learn about allowable deductions, and find resources to assist in tax planning. A c­ cess: http://www. 1040.com. • IRS Web Digital Daily. W hen it is time to com plete tax forms, taxpayers can visit this site, m aintained by the IRS, to find dow nloadable federal tax forms (Access: h t t p : / / w w w . i r s . u s t r e a s . g o v / p r o d / forms_pubs/index.html), tax publications, and new s from the IRS. A c c e s s : http:// www.irs.ustreas.gov/ prod/cover, html. Credit • C o n s u m e r W o rld . Rated in the top 5 percent o f all Web sites, this public service site has gathered over 1,700 o f the most use­ ful consumer resources on the Internet and categorized them for easy access. Being knowledgeable and informed is certainly an important aspect o f personal finance. This site helps by providing buying advice, prod­ uct reviews, news o f the latest scams, con­ sumer rights booklets, and the ability to file complaints with the Better Business Bureau. Access: http://www.consumerworld.org. • E q u ifax. Equifax is the only one o f the Big T h ree credit reporting a g en cies which allows individuals to request a credit report online. Access: http://www.equifax. com. Financial calculators Financial calculators are a great resource. They help answer many types o f financial planning questions such as whether to refi­ nance a mortgage or buy or lease a new car. • FinanC enter. This free site has over 100 calculators covering mortgages, retire­ ment, credit lines, mutual funds, autos, and savings. The calculators are listed on the site in the form o f questions. To find the calcu­ lator required, the investor simply looks through the list for the question being asked. Access: http://www.financenter.com . • M oney Advisor. A “financial help di­ rectory for aid in resolving questions related to m oney.” The goal o f the site is to provide tools for consumers to make decisions about their finances. Free calculators are provided, as are links to online government agencies and financial institutions. Links to a free amortization schedule and new and used car prices are a nice feature. A ccess: http:// www.mo neyadvisor.co m . Associations • A m erican A ssociation o f Individual In­ vestors. This educational W eb site for the individual investor includes FAQs, glossaries and information about various types of in­ vestments, as well as articles from associa­ tion publications. The quarterly Mutual Fund Update offers comparative analysis o f funds. Access: http://www.aaii.org. • NAIC O nline. Sponsored by the Na­ tional Association o f Investors Corp., this site’s primary focus is investment education for individuals and investment clubs. Access: http://www.better-investing.org. • N ational A ssociation o f Securities D ealers. The NASD is the largest securi- ties-industry, self-regulatory organization in the United States. Its Web page includes market statistics, speeches, policy papers, news, a glossary, educational materials, and a c a le n d a r o f e v e n ts . A c c e s s : http:// ww w .nasd.com . • Securities In d ustry A ssociation. SIA members control 90 percent o f funds in the investment industry. Its Web site exam ines technology and industry issues through brief­ ing papers, reports, articles, surveys, and proposed rule changes. It also includes pro­ gram information, a member directory, and a directory o f exchanges and industry enti­ ties. Access: http://www.sia.com. M iscellaneous sites • EduStock. This educational site includes tutorials on the stock market and how to pick good stocks. A free stock market simulation is a highlight o f the site. Access: http:// library.advanced.org/3088/. • Netstock D irect. Investors who want to buy stock directly from com panies will find this site to be invaluable, as it includes a list o f companies with direct stock plans. A c­ cess: http://netstockdirect.com. • O nline In vestm en t Services. Com­ prehensive guide to discount stock brokers and discount commodity brokers. Access: http://www.sonic.net/~donaldj. http://www http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/prod/ http://www.consumerworld.org http://www.equifax http://www.fi http://www.better-investing.org http://www.nasd.com http://www.sia.com http://netstockdirect.com http://www.sonic.net/~donaldj C&RL News ■ February 1998 / 95 96 / C&RL News ■ February 1998