In the old days, only the wizards of Wall Street had enough information at their fingertips to evaluate stocks and other investments. A tickertape told them the value of each stock. Expensive newspapers, magazines, and newsletters told them about trends, investments worth buying, and investments worth shunning. Nowadays, however, anyone with a PC can plug into the Internet and find all kinds of information about investing. Finding out the current value of a stock has become as easy as typing its ticker symbol in a text box. All across the Internet are Web sites that offer investment advice and information. If you are careful and know where to look, you can get your hands on the same information that experts use to play the market. You can read company prospectuses, financial newsletters, and magazines. You can visit a Web site tailor-made to provide a certain kind of information to investors. And the best part is that most of this stuff is free for the taking. This article looks into how the Internet can help you start investing and become a better investor. It demonstrates how to research a company, points the way to financial news services on the Internet, and spells out how to research stocks and mutual funds.

Getting Lessons on How to Invest

Looking before you leap is always the best policy, so before you take the leap and start investing, go on the Internet and discover what investing is all about. Many brokers and banks are eager for you to start investing. For that reason, the Internet is filled with tutorials, online classes, and courses that you can take to learn the ropes. Can’t decide how much of your savings to devote to investments? Don’t know what a market index is? Check out these Web sites, which offer online tutorials in investing:

-  The Investment FAQ: Search for investor information by category, or conduct a keyword search. This site, also offers tours for beginning investors (click the For Beginners hyperlink). Address: invest-faq.com

-  MoneyCentral: This Microsoft Web site offers general information about planning an investment strategy, as well as late-breaking financial news. Address: www.moneycentral.com

-  Vanguard Group: Attend classes at “Vanguard University,” and discover the basics of investing and retirement planning. (Click the Personal Investors link.) Address: www.vanguard.com

Researching a Company Online

It goes without saying that before you invest in a company, you owe it to yourself to research it. Has the company undergone a financial setback? Has management experienced a shakeup? What were the company’s profits or losses in the last quarter? To research a company, start by finding the company’s Web site on the Internet. You can often make an educated guess as to the company’s Web site address by typing www.companyname.com (where companyname is the name of the company) in the Address text box of your browser, pressing the Enter key, and hoping for the best. If that strategy doesn’t work, try searching for the company’s Web site by using a search engine such as Google. Next, visit one of these Web sites to track down a company’s profile:

-  Company News On-Call: Search by company name in the PR Newswire database for articles published in the past year. Beware, however, because only news about large companies is available here. Address: www.prnewswire.com/cnoc.html

-  Hoover’s Online: This site provides profiles, revenue reports, balance sheets, and charts on some 8,500 companies. Address: www.hoovers.com

-  OneSource CorpTech: The focus here is high-tech companies. The site offers company profiles, links to news articles about companies, and stock charts. CorpTech is very good at listing the names of company executives. Give one a call, and see what happens. Address: www. corptech.com

-  Public Register’s Annual Report Service: This site presents free annual reports from over 3,600 companies. Mind you, the companies themselves provide these reports, so give them a shrewd reading. Address: www.prars.com

-  U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: Publicly traded companies are required to file financial data with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). From the SEC Web site, you can download details about a company’s operations, including financial statements, executive pay, and other information. (Click the EDGAR Filers hyperlink.) Address: www.sec.gov Besides visiting the Web sites listed here, try running a conventional Internet search for information about a company. You might find news articles and opinions about the company that way.

Reading the Financial News

It almost goes without saying, but savvy investors stay on top of latebreaking financial news. And keeping abreast of changes in the economy and the political climate isn’t a bad idea either. A smart investor gets there first, before the fools rush in. The Internet offers a daunting number of newspapers, magazines, newsletters, and news organizations that are devoted to financial news and opinions. Visit a few Web sites. Soon you will find a favorite site that focuses on news that matters to the kind of investing you want to do.

Major news services

First, a few mammoth corporate Web sites. Most of these sites such as ABCNews.com and MSNBC.com are sponsored by news services that predate the Internet. You won’t find eccentric opinions here, but the news stories are trustworthy and the financial advice is as solid (if as plain) as granite:

-  ABCNews.com: This site presents news about financial markets, commentary by experts, and a special section about mutual funds. This is an all-purpose news source. You can also get daily news and news about science and technology here. Address: www.abcnews.com

-  Bloomberg.com: Advice for money management, news about financial markets, and columnists can be found here. Address: www.Bloomberg.com

-  CBS MarketWatch: This all-purpose site does more than offer financial news. You can get market data, stock quotes, company portfolios, advice for managing your personal finances, and performance charts. Address: cbs.marketwatch.com

-  MSNBC: Click the Business link to go to a Web page with business news, stock market news, and news about e-commerce. Address: www.msnbc.com

-  TheStreet.com: This site offers financial news but, better yet, it includes a nice selection of columnists. This is the place to go when you want to gather others’ financial opinions. Address: www.thestreet.com

Financial newspapers and magazines

Perhaps financial newspapers and magazines are more to your taste. The online editions of these popular newspapers and magazines are not as comprehensive as the ones you can buy at the newsstand. However, they can still be very valuable:

-  Business Week Online: This site offers news from the financial world, as well as technology and small business news. Address: www.businessweek.com

-  The Economist: The Economist, an English financial magazine, is simply the best magazine of its kind in the world. Its cosmopolitan outlook puts to shame some of the narrow-minded, homegrown magazines on the news rack. Read the current issue of this magazine for its world view of economics and business. Address: www.economist.com

-  FT.com: The online version of the Financial Times offers market data, news, and analysis. Address: www.ft.com

-  Kiplinger Online: More than a magazine, the online edition of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine offers shopping services, advice for buying insurance, and other valuable stuff. Of course, you also get business and market news. Address: www.kiplinger.com

-  Money: The online edition of Money magazine provides many news articles and expert opinions. You can also get stock quotes and company profiles here. Address: www.money.cnn.com

-  Wall Street Journal: The online edition of the famous newspaper also presents news summaries and insider information about American businesses. You can also get company reports and stock quotes. Address: www.wsj.com

Online newsletters

The Internet has made it possible for every Tom, Dick, and Harry to post a Web page and call it an investor newsletter. Far be it from me to decide which newsletters are worthy. Instead, you be the judge. Go to the Newsletter Access Web site (www.newsletteraccess.com), and search for a newsletter that whets your appetite. To conduct the search, enter a keyword or browse the different categories.