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Investing Frequently Asked QuestionsOptionsXpress, Ameritrade Apex, TradeStation, Harrisdirect, Charles Schwab, E*Trade, CyberTrader and SiebertNet are the best stock research sites. These brokers provide exceptional proprietary and third-party research, quotes and charting services.
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Where do I go for GLOBEX quotes? GLOBEX2, an afterhours electronic trading system, is part of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. GLOBEX trading includes S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, currency and interest rate futures. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures begin trading at 4:45 p.m. ET (Monday through Thursday) and continue to trade until 9:15 a.m. ET the following day. Sunday and holiday schedule is from 6:30 p.m. to 9:15 a.m. ET the following day. A list of products and a trading schedule are available at the CME site.
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Where do I go for afterhours trading and stock quotes? Island ECN offers extended-hours trading from 7:00 to 9:30 a.m. and 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. ET. Island posts real-time bid and ask prices, a full-day activity summary and an afterhours activity summary. Founded in 1969, Instinet (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reuters Group) is the world's largest electronic communications network (ECN) and has long been used by institutional investors and fund managers. It merged with Island in September 2002. Archipelago ECN (ARCA), developed by Townsend Analytics, is used by E*Trade, Charles Schwab and many daytrade brokers, including CyberTrader. Real-time ECN quotes from Archipelago and Island are available at Yahoo! Finance. Trade reporting and share volume are available at the Nasdaq Stock Market site. Afterhours commentary is provided by Bloomberg.com, Briefing.com, CBS MarketWatch, TheStreet.com and Yahoo! Finance.
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Which investor supersites do you like the best? Bloomberg.com, Briefing.com, CBS MarketWatch, MSN Money, SmartMoney.com, TheStreet.com, Wall Street City, WSJ.com and Yahoo! Finance are at the top of everyone's list. My favorite links within each site include Top Financial News at Bloomberg.com, Stock Ticker and Story Stocks at Briefing.com, Market Pulse at CBS MarketWatch, Insight at MSN Money, Map of the Market at SmartMoney.com, Markets at TheStreet.com, Industry Groups at Wall Street City and Financial News at Yahoo! Finance.
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What site has the best market commentary? My favorite sites are listed in Superstar's Top Market Commentary category. Bloomberg.com, Briefing.com, CBS MarketWatch, CNN Money, Reuters (via Yahoo! Finance), TheStreet.com and WSJ.com offer excellent market summaries. Top technical commentaries are provided by Hard Right Edge, Investor's Business Daily and MurphyMorris.com. Bear market commentaries include Comstock Partners, Bill Fleckenstein's Market Rap and Lance Lewis' Daily Market Summary.
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What site has the best stock options information? An option is the right to buy or sell a stock (or other security) at a fixed price on or before a given date. A call option gives its holder the right to purchase shares of the underlying stock; a put option gives its holder the right to sell. Investors use options to protect, or hedge, an existing position. Those who write (or sell) covered options own the underlying stock. By selling the option premium, these investors limit their potential gains but have some protection if the price of the underlying stock moves against them. Speculators use stock and index options to obtain greater leverage when anticipating a market move. Buying put or call options for speculative gain is very risky. An option will increase in value only if the underlying stock or index moves in your direction within a short period of time. If the price of the underlying stock moves against you or remains unchanged on the date of option expiration, a significant loss is likely. The Chicago Board Options Exchange offers many educational resources, including information on basic and advanced concepts, an online version of The Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options, strategy discussions, an options calculator, a symbol directory and a glossary. Stock options information is also available at CoveredCalls.com, NumaWeb, Optionetics.com, The Options Industry Council, SchaeffersResearch.com and the Options Center at Yahoo! Finance. My favorite site for quotes, charts and option chains is Wall Street City.
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Where can I find short interest data? Short sellers borrow shares from a broker and assume the risk that they will be able to buy the stock at a lower price than the price at which they sold. NASD-member firms are required to report their short positions as of settlement on the 15th of each month, or the preceding business day if the 15th falls on a holiday or weekend. Short interest data are then published on the 8th business day after the reporting settlement date. The short interest ratio is the number of days it would take to cover the short interest if trading continued at the average daily volume for the month. Nasdaq short interest data are available at The Nasdaq Stock Market, ViWes InvestInfo and Yahoo! Finance (via Multex Investor). Yahoo! Finance also provides short interest for NYSE stocks.
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What is the best site for financial news? Top financial news sites include Bloomberg.com, CBS MarketWatch, CNN Money, Financial Times, Investor's Business Daily, MSN Money/CNBC, Reuters.com, TheStreet.com, WebFN.com, WSJ.com and Yahoo! Finance (offers AP, Dow Jones and Reuters news). The top company news/press release distributors are Business Wire and PR Newswire.
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Where do I go for historical quotes? Historical quotes can be found at BigCharts, Economagic, Silicon Investor, Wall Street City and Yahoo! Finance. Historical charts are available at BigCharts, Decision Point, StockCharts.com, Topline Investment Graphics, Wall Street City and Yahoo! Finance. The Dow Jones Indexes site offers DJIA, DJTA and DJUA prices dating to May 26, 1896. This site also includes historical charts.
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Where can I track dividends and stock splits? Morningstar.com offers a 5-year dividend and splits history for individual stocks. Morningstar analysis also includes stock grades, financials, performance data, valuation ratios, earnings estimates, industry snapshots, ownership information and EDGAR filings. Screening tools for finding stocks with high dividend yields are available at BusinessWeek Online, Hoover's Online, Morningstar, MSN Money, Quicken.com, Stockpoint, Wall Street City, Yahoo! Finance and Zacks.com. Yahoo! Finance provides a complete splits history on its stock charts. A splits calendar (including ex-date and ratio) is available at Briefing.com.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What are the top stock pick sites? Before trading a stock, you should always look at the fundamentals, such as price and valuation, growth trends, financial strength, management effectiveness and cash flow. You should also examine the company's financial statements and EDGAR filings. Superstar's Top Stock Picks category covers 32 sites, including Barron's Online, Briefing.com and MSN Money. Knowing how to interpret moving averages, on balance volume, relative strength, stochastics, MACD, money flow and other technical indicators can help stack the odds in your favor. Online stock evaluators are available at Barchart.com, Buy Sell or Hold, EquityTrader, stockbook.com, StockConsultant.com, TraderBot, TradeTrek.com, ValuEngine.com, VectorVest and Wall Street City.
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What are your favorite screening tools? Stock and fund screening tools are invaluable to investors who do their own research. My favorite stock screens include Hoover's Online, MSN Money, Quicken.com, Silicon Investor, Stockpoint, Wall Street City (also available at BusinessWeek Online) and Yahoo! Finance. Most of these screens focus on sectors and industry groups, fundamental data, growth rates, valuation ratios, revenues and margins. ClearStation, InvesterTech, StockCharts.com, StockConsultant.com and Wall Street City also offer technical analysis criteria. My favorite fund screens include Morningstar.com, Stockpoint and Wall Street City. The top performer lists provided by Bloomberg.com and Yahoo! Finance are also very useful.
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What is the best site for technical analysis? Technical analysis is the study of historical price movements to predict future trends. It relies on price charts and focuses on trendlines, moving averages, support and resistance levels, momentum, money flow and relative strength. Though subject to interpretation, technical analysis can help identify key entry and exit points. Waiting for a breakout above resistance, buying near support levels or selling when support is broken can improve returns. Superstar's Technical Analysis category includes charts, tutorials and software. ClearStation is a great place to start. The site offers quotes and charts, technical analysis tutorials, stock picks, stock screens and message boards. The Tag & Bag technical screens include MACD and stochastic signals, gainers and losers, price action events and best trends. Free, interactive charting tools are available at Ask Research, Barchart.com, BigCharts, eSignal, InvesterTech, Lycos Finance (via Quote.com), PCQuote, Silicon Investor, StockCharts.com and Wall Street City.
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What are your favorite stock message boards? The most popular message boards are located at Yahoo! Finance, Silicon Investor, Raging Bull, The Motley Fool and ClearStation. Activity on these boards can become frenzied, especially during market-moving events such as the recent Microsoft rulings. The information you obtain from these boards should be thoroughly researched. The Raging Bull and Silicon Investor boards are more sophisticated and better managed than those at Yahoo! Finance. ClearStation boards include quality charts and technical analysis on major market indexes and stocks. Superstar's Message Boards category provides links to 1600 Internet, technology and blue chip stock boards. TheLion.com is a message portal that provides easy access to all the major boards.
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What is the best site for insider trading information? An insider is defined as an officer or director of a public company, or an individual or entity owning 10% or more of any class of a company's shares. When buying or selling shares, insiders are required to file a Form 4 with the SEC. This form must be filed by the 10th day of the month following the trade. Holders who are planning to sell restricted stock are required to file a Form 144. This filing is the earliest indication of insider selling. Institutional holdings information is reported on Form 13-F. These forms are filed within 45 days after the calendar quarter ends. EDGAR Online, ThomsonFN.com and Vickers Stock Research provide data to many of the investor supersites, including MSN Money, Multex Investor, Quicken.com, Wall Street City and Yahoo! Finance. First Call and ThomsonFN.com also provide insider alerts and commentaries. SmartMoney.com offers excellent insider trading charts. Institutional and mutual fund holdings information is available at LionShares.com, iDayo Investor, Nasdaq Stock Market and Yahoo! Finance.
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Where do I go for daytrading information? Day trading is a high-risk strategy based on short-term fluctuations in the market. Day traders use borrowed money and leverage to maximize potential gains. The use of high leverage, combined with commissions and fees, usually results in significant losses. According to the SEC, "most individual investors do not have the wealth, the time, or the temperament to make money and to sustain the devastating losses that day trading can bring." Day traders use Nasdaq Level II to identify short-term support and resistance levels for Nasdaq stocks.
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What are the best IPO resources? When buying an IPO, investors should look for companies with strong fundamentals. Investors should also be wary of buying the opening price of a stock that has been hyped in the media. IPO supersites include Alert-IPO! and Hoover's IPO Central. These sites offer news, commentary, company profiles, filings and pricings, aftermarket performance data, lockup calendars and underwriter directories. Other comprehensive resources include CBS MarketWatch, IPO Express, IPO Monitor, IPOhome.com and Yahoo! Finance.
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Where can I find information on ADRs? American depositary receipts (ADRs) are certificates evidencing ownership in foreign securities that trade on the U.S. stock market. ADRs are created by U.S. banks, with the underlying shares held in a depositary in the issuing company's home country. The best site for ADR information is J.P. Morgan's adr.com. This site offers market commentary, quotes and charts, top stories, company profiles, industry lists, a trading summary and a searchable database. A daily ADR Report (published by Reuters) is also available at Yahoo! Finance. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Where can I get free, real-time quotes? Online brokers offer free, real-time quotes to their clients. Scottrade provides streaming quotes to anyone who registers even if the person doesn't open an account. An increasing number of non-broker sites also offer free quotes. These include CNET Investor, FreeRealTime.com, MSN Money, Silicon Investor, ThomsonFN.com and Wall Street City. Registration is required.
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What is your favorite portfolio tracker? The MSN tracker manages stocks, bonds, mutual funds and options. It also allows you to synthesize accounts at Charles Schwab, CSFBdirect, E*Trade, Fidelity Investments, Morgan Stanley, TD Waterhouse and UBS PaineWebber. Wall Street City offers an excellent portfolio tracker developed by Telescan, Inc. Although quotes are 15-minute delayed, this tracker provides access to charts, company profiles, analyst ratings, price and news alerts, valuation ratios, Vickers insider trading data, option chains, historical quotes, technical analysis and Telescan rankings. It allows you to create seven portfolios, each containing 150 symbols.
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What sites specialize in risk management and asset allocation? Preservation of capital should always be an investor's top priority. Those who speculate on high-growth technology stocks without considering the risk involved are destined to suffer significant losses when the market turns against them. Spreading your investments over several asset classes will minimize market risk for a given rate of return and create a balanced portfolio. Sites specializing in risk management and asset allocation include Barra, FinPortfolio.com, PortfolioScience.com, RiskGrades and ValuEngine.
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What are Nasdaq Level II quotes? The Level II quote screen allows you to see how the bid and ask are comprised. It identifies market makers and the number of shares they are willing to buy or sell at a particular price. Day traders use this information to identify short-term support and resistance levels for Nasdaq stocks. Unfortunately, these price levels can be easily misinterpreted. Market makers do not always display their entire trading strategy on the screen; orders are often entered in small increments to get the best price. In addition to the market maker screen, time and sales information and real-time charts are provided in most daytrading software packages. The most popular Level II trading system is RealTick, developed by Townsend Analytics. Most brokers charge $250-$350 per month for the RealTick data feed or equivalent service. If you trade frequently, these charges are often reduced. A.B. Watley offers free Nasdaq Level II quotes with a $10,000 minimum opening balance.
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Where do I go for earnings estimates and whisper numbers? Earnings estimates are provided by Zacks.com and First Call/Thomson. Whisper numbers are provided by EarningsWhispers.com and WhisperNumber.com. Whisper numbers rely on data obtained from various sources, including analysts, company insiders and individual investors. A Bloomberg study of earnings reports for 101 technology companies showed that whisper numbers were off by 21%, while analyst estimates missed by 44%. Although whisper numbers are gaining credibility as an accurate predictor of company earnings, they are also subject to manipulation and should not be entirely trusted.
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What is the best site for technology stock news? Top sources include CNN Money, MSNBC, News.com, Reuters Technology News and SiliconValley.com (published by the San Jose Mercury News). Top market commentaries are provided by CBS MarketWatch, TheStreet.com and WSJ.com. Semiconductor business news is available at SiliconStrategies.com.
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What are the best mutual fund sites? Morningstar.com offers feature articles and columns, quotes and charts, Quicktake reports, fund news and commentary, performance data, portfolio tracking, a mutual fund screener, an education center and message boards. The Quicktake reports cover more than 10,000 funds and include Morningstar risk and return ratings. Other top sites include Bloomberg.com, FundAlarm and the mutual fund centers at CBS MarketWatch, Quicken.com, SmartMoney.com and Yahoo! Finance. LionShares is an excellent source for institutional ownership data filed with the SEC.
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Where can I find the top 10 holdings for individual funds? Information on top 10 holdings and sector allocation is available at CBS MarketWatch, Morningstar.com, Quicken.com and Yahoo! Finance. Quicken.com and Yahoo! Finance use Morningstar data for individual fund profiles, whereas CBS MarketWatch uses data provided by Lipper, Inc. The information is usually 3-4 months old. iDayo Investor offers a fee-based Fund4YOU tool that will match your favorite stocks with a particular fund.
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What are closed-end funds? Closed-end funds authorize and issue stock at their inception. The company's shares represent ownership of its assets and are bought and sold like individual stocks on the open market. Depending on supply and demand, shares may sell at a premium or discount to net asset value (NAV). More than 500 closed-end funds are traded on U.S. exchanges. These include corporate bond, country, diversified equity, global equity, growth & income, municipal bond, sector and U.S. bond funds. The Closed-End Fund Center offers feature articles, quotes and charts, performance updates, an education center and a custom fund search.
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What are exchange-traded funds? Introduced in the early 1990s, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are similar to closed-end funds. Shares can be bought or sold at any time during the trading day. Most ETFs trade on the American Stock Exchange. The most popular include Nasdaq 100 Trust (QQQ), SPDRs (SPY), Diamonds Trust (DIA), iShares S&P 500 (IVV) and Semiconductor HOLDRs (SMH). ETF news and educational resources are available at ETF Connect, IndexFunds.com, Morningstar.com and Yahoo! Finance. The Nasdaq Stock Market provides a list of 120 broad-based index, sector and international ETFs. The Nasdaq site also includes an ETF Heatmap and performance data.
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Where can I find information on hedge funds? A hedge fund is an investment partnership that functions like a mutual fund. Most of these funds are strictly for individuals with high net worth. Hedge fund managers are expected to perform well in up or down markets. Aggressive strategies such as short selling, futures and options trading, and leverage up to 10 times the amount of capital are used. The fund manager usually charges a fee of 1 or 2% of net assets, plus 20% of the annual return. Hedge Fund Center and HedgeWorld provide feature articles, educational resources and performance data. Yahoo! News offers updated Reuters news and press releases from Business Wire and PR Newswire.
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What are your favorite stock research sites? Barchart.com, First Call, Multex Investor, Telescan, Thomson and Zacks.com (via Quicken.com). Other top research sites are Hoover's Online, Morningstar.com, Standard & Poor's and Value Line. A comprehensive list of links to company-specific information is available at DailyStocks, InvestorGuide and TheLion.com.
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What is the best site for world market updates? International indexes are available at Bloomberg.com, CBS MarketWatch and Yahoo! Finance. Superstar's International Indexes category offers intraday quotes and charts (via Yahoo! Finance) for 32 stock markets. My favorite commentaries are Bloomberg.com, CBS MarketWatch, CNN Money, FT.com (Financial Times), WSJ.com and Reuters International News at Yahoo! Finance.
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Where do I go for information on EDGAR filings? The SEC's Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (EDGAR) system collects and validates corporate filings submitted to the SEC beginning in January 1994. Filings are posted at least 24 hours after the date of submission. Most of the supersites (including BigCharts, Morningstar.com, The Motley Fool, MSN Money, Quicken.com and Yahoo! Finance) offer links to EDGAR filings. EDGAR Online and 10-K Wizard are two of the best sites for real-time filings.
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What is the best site for tracking analyst ratings? Investors should understand the potential conflicts of interest that analysts face. The business of Wall Street is to sell stock. Analyst ratings are often influenced by the large fees gained from underwriting an IPO. Companies want to be represented by an investment bank whose analyst can convince investors to buy its shares. Future fees are often based on continued support. Buy, strong buy, attractive, market outperform, accumulate, neutral and hold ratings are common. Sell ratings are rare. On December 20, 2002, New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, the SEC and other regulators announced a settlement and agreement on how investment banks should conduct their research. Citigroup (Salomon Smith Barney), Credit Suisse First Boston, Merrill Lynch and 7 other firms agreed to pay $1.4 billion to settle claims they misled investors with stock recommendations to win investment banking contracts. The SEC states that investors should do their own research and not rely on analyst recommendations. Briefing.com is the best source for daily upgrades and downgrades. Track records for specific analysts and investment banks can be found at Fortune.com, Investars.com, Marketperform.com and SmartMoney.com. A history of analyst ratings for individual stocks is available at Yahoo! Finance.
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Who rates the performance of investment newsletters? The Hulbert Financial Digest, a monthly publication, provides ratings and profiles for more than 160 newsletters and the 500 portfolios they recommend. According to editor Mark Hulbert, only 20% of the newsletters outperform the S&P 500 index over time. Top-performing newsletters since 1990 include Jim Collins' OTC Insight, Al Frank's The Prudent Speculator, Louis Navellier's MPT Review, Dan Sullivan's The Chartist and The Chartist Mutual Fund Letter, Jack Bowers' Fidelity Monitor, Timer Digest, The Oberweis Report and The Value Line Investment Survey.
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Where do I go for sector analysis? Barchart.com, CBS MarketWatch, InvesterTech, Multex Investor and Wall Street City provide sector and industry performance rankings. SmartMoney.com offers Sector Maps. Sites that specialize in sector analysis include Briefing.com, BusinessWeek Online (via S&P) and Wall Street City. Wall Street City presents charts and analyst ratings for more than 200 industry groups. Sector and industry charts can also be found at StockCharts.com and BigCharts. Top industry news sources include CNN Money, MSNBC and Yahoo! Finance.
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What are the most widely followed market sentiment indicators? Sentiment indicators are used to measure bullish or bearish sentiment among traders, investors and market newsletter writers. High bullish readings (generally, those at 65% or above) usually indicate market tops; high bearish readings indicate market bottoms. The most widely followed indicators are those measured by the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII), Consensus Inc., Investors Intelligence and Market Vane. The AAII polls its 170,000 members daily. Investors Intelligence conducts a weekly survey of 130 newsletter writers. Sentiment readings are published in Barron's and Investor's Business Daily. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), the Nasdaq Volatility Index (VXN) and the CBOE put/call ratio are also used to identify overbought and oversold market conditions. A put/call ratio of .90 or higher is considered bullish; a reading of .50 or lower is bearish.
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Where do I go for bond market information and interest rate data? Investing in Bonds (sponsored by The Bond Market Association), Bondtalk.com and Yahoo! Finance offer feature articles, yield curve and price information, calendars, calculators and tutorials. Top market commentaries are provided by Bloomberg.com, Briefing.com, PIMCO, Prudential Securities and SmartMoney.com. The Federal Reserve Board offers daily updates for selected interest rates. Comprehensive historical data are also available. Daily and long-term charts for 3-month Treasury bill, 10-year Treasury note and 30-year Treasury bond yields are included in Superstar's Technical Trends category. The Dismal Scientist (part of the Economy.com network) is an excellent source for economic data and analysis.
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What is the best site for currency rates and commentary? Bloomberg.com offers updated currency rates, market commentary and a currency calculator. Key cross currencies are also listed. Currency futures are traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. These include Australian dollar, Brazilian real, British pound, Canadian dollar, euro cross rates, Japanese yen, Mexican peso, New Zealand dollar, Russian ruble and Swiss franc. Superstar's Currencies category offers interactive charts via BigCharts and INO.com. Quotes, charts and buy/sell opinion are also available at Barchart.com.
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Where do I go for information on the Federal Reserve Board? Founded by Congress in 1913, the Federal Reserve is the central bank of the United States. The seven members of the Board of Governors are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. A full term is 14 years (with the chairman and vice chairman serving a 4-year term). The Board of Governors represents the 12 Federal Reserve districts and is responsible for the formulation of monetary policy. The seven board members constitute a majority of the 12-member Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the group that makes key decisions affecting the cost and availability of money and credit in the economy. The Federal Reserve site includes general information, the semi-annual Monetary Policy Report (Humphrey-Hawkins testimony), The Beige Book and historical data.
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Where can I find investment-related tax information? The IRS site offers forms and publications, electronic services and FAQs. Tax information can also be found at the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), The Motley Fool, Quicken.com and Yahoo! Finance. Quicken categories include Get the Basics, Prepare Your Return, File Your Return and Tax-Saving Strategies. The CBOE publication (written by Ernst & Young) covers capital gains and losses, offsetting positions, option strategies, the wash sale rule, bonds and other debt instruments, conversion transactions and investment income. The Tax Center at Yahoo! Finance presents information on stock and options compensation, capital gains and losses, mutual funds and tax rules for traders and investors. Active traders will find useful resources and portfolio software at TradersAccounting.com.
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Where can I file a complaint against my broker? Broker complaints can be filed with NASD Regulation, Inc. and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. NASD Regulation, Inc. is an independent subsidiary of the National Association of Securities Dealers. It is charged with regulating the securities industry and the Nasdaq Stock Market. The NASD Regulation Web site includes a Public Disclosure Program, a complaint center, enforcement actions and district office locations. The SEC was established by Congress in 1934. The Division of Enforcement investigates possible violations of securities laws and can file a case in federal court or internally before an administrative law judge. Common violations that may lead to SEC investigations include insider trading, misrepresentation or omission of important securities information, market price manipulation, stealing customer funds or securities, violating broker-dealer responsibility to treat customers fairly and sale of securities without proper registration. The SEC Web site provides investor education information and an online complaint form.
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