"Newbies"

Humor

Themes & Topics

Glossary

Lecture Notes

Trivia & Factoids

Themes & Topics
Personal Investment & Planning

Historical Performance

• Equity: Total Return, Sales, Earnings Growth, Earnings Decline, Net Margin, & Return on Equity (BusinessWeek, 3/30/98)

News Stories

• Advice & Opinions
• Borrowing
• Choosing Your Broker
• Credit Cards
• Investment Newsletters
• P/E Ratios
• Software
• Taxes
• Other Resources (+Value)

Resources Online

• Business Traveler Briefing (CNNfn)
• Company web sites finder (CNNfn)
• Consumer Credit Information (CNNfn)
• Car Financing vs. Leasing
• Credit
• Databases
• Education Planning
• Financial Calculators
• Financial Planning & Personalized Investment Advice
• Games
• Home Buying
• Insurance
• Leasing
• Lending Rates (CNNfn)
• Online Magazines & FAQ
• Online Trading
• Portfolio Tracking
• Price Quotes (with 20 minute delays)
• Retirement Planning
• Tax Information (CNNfn)

News Stories

Advice & Opinions [back to top]

• The great annuity rip-off (Forbes, February 9, 1998)

• Online Investors Consult Astrology To Chart Their Financial Courses (WSJ, October 26, 1998)

• Using Bonds As A Safety Net They provide haven for people spooked by market gyrations (SF Chronicle, September 14, 1998)

• Dangers of a contrary view (CNNfn, March 25)

• Wall Street's Tricks Can Mean Less Treats
  Any dollar lost to investment costs is one less dollar in your pocket. Yet investors happily pony up for some costs, while balking at others. (WSJ, 1/12/99)

• Benefits of Dollar-Cost Averaging (SF Chronicle, December 8, 1998)
  
• How valuable is free financial planning advice? (SF Chronicle, March 30, 1998)

• The five-minute guide to investing (USNews, February 2, 1998)

• New Unit Investment Trust Hopes To Tame Tech-Sector Gyrations (WSJ, October 2, 1998; subscription required)

• Internet

  • Publicly traded startups are often valued on measures like Website visitors. In a volatile market, such proxies are suspect. (Fortune, September 7, 1998)

  • Investors Beware In Internet Chat Rooms (SF Chronicle, June 22, 1998)

• IRA
  • How Should You Invest Your IRA Dollars? (Prudential Securities)

• Investing in the Net: The Angels (Newsweek, January 1998)

• Why most economists' predictions are wrong. By Paul Krugman (Red Herring)

• How to protect your assets (CNNfn, February 27, 1 998)

• Redeeming Savings Bonds (SF Chronicle, January 12, 1999)
  

• If your significant other's business fails, don't get stuck paying the damage (CNNfn, March 27, 1998)

• The wallflower strategy: Small Cap & P/E ratios (Forbes, February 9, 1998)

• How to Sell Least-Taxed Shares (SF Chronicle, November 24, 1998)
  

Borrowing

• Know the rules before you borrow (SF Chronicle, February 7, 1998)

Choosing Your Broker [back to top]

•  
• Ho w to select good advisors and brokers (sfgate, February 8, 1998)
• Online Brokers Offer Little to Stuck Investors (S. F. Chronicle, October 31, 1997)
• Schwab enters IPO realm: Discount broker will help 3 firms underwrite initial public offerings (CNNfn, September 9, 1997)
• Surveys Rate Discount, Online Brokerages (San Francisco Chronicle, June 30, 1997)
• Who's really on top in on-line brokerage? (webfinance, registration required)
• All Online Brokers Are Not Equal (San Francisco Chronicle, May 20, 1997)
• Getting to Know Your Broker Background checks can save money (San Francisco Chronicle)
• How to choose a broker (CNNfn)

Credit Cards

• For Better Rates Credit Card users turn special offers into money savers (SF Chronicle, February 9, 1998)

• Perks (CNNfn)

Education Planning

• Phony firms scam students (CNNfn, May 22, 1998)

• College Planning (CollegePlan)

• College Planning (SmartMoney)

• Financial Aid (Purdue U.)

Home Buying

• Review of sites (PC Magazine)

Investment Newsletters [back to top]

• The Forbes/Hubert Investment Letter Survey (Forbes, January 26, 1998)

• Are newsletters old news? (CNNfn, January 19, 1998)

P/E Ratios [back to top]

• The wallflower strategy: Small Cap & P/E ratios (Forbes, February 9, 1998)

Software

• Visual Basic for Applications
• Money 98 vs. Quicken 98 (PC Magazine)
• Tax preparation (Inc.)

Taxes [back to top]

• Roth IRA (Forbes, March 8, 1998)
• How to Cut Your Taxes (kiplinger, February 1998)
• How to Decide on a Roth IRA (sfgate, January 19, 1998)
• Roth IRAs Make Sense - Most of the Time (Barron's Online, January, 14, 1998)
• Tax Preparation: Review of Sites (PC Magazine)
• Tax Preparation Software (Inc.)

Other Resources (+Value) [back to top]

• International Markets & Diversification
• Investment On the Net
• Learning About Risk & Return
• Learning About Options & Futures
• Mutual Funds

Resources On-line

Car Financing vs. Leasing

• What is leasing?

• Who should lease a car? (Detroit News)

• Should I finance or pay cash? (SmartCalc)

• How much will my monthly payments be? (SmartCalc)

Credit

• Obtaining a copy of your credit report

  • With ConsumerInfo.Com, Inc. you can get a FREE copy of your Experian (formerly TRW) credit report along with 30 FREE days of the CreditCheck Monitoring Service.

  • QSpace allows you to access your credit report securely, quickly, and on-line.

• Selecting a Credit Card (financecenter.com)

• What does your credit report say?

• How To Dispute Credit Report Errors (FTC Report)

• Should I consolidate debts? (SmartCalc)

• What will it take to pay off my line of credit? (SmartCalc)

• Rebuilding your credit (CNNfn)

• News Stories on Credit Cards

Databases [back to top]

• EDGAR

• Global Securities' SEC Software (Background info from WashingtonPost)

• Hoover's Company Information

Financial Calculators [back to top]

• Flow Growth Calculator (Forbes)

• Financial Ratios

• Bonds, Car Buying, Credit, Currency Converters, Financial Aid, Insurance, Investing, Loans, Mortgages, Options, Retirement (Investor Guide)

• Online IRA Calculators Assess Roth Benefits (sfgate, January 19, 1998)

• Mortgage (Quicken)

• Should You Refinance Now? (Quicken)

• P/E Calculator (Financial Times - registration required)

Games

• Compete for prizes in CNNfn's Final Bell stock market simulation

Insurance

• Compare rates of insurers on-line. State's Web site is free, has links to 29 companies (SF Examiner, September 18, 1998)

• FAQ (InsWeb)

• Web Site Review (PC Magazine)

Leasing

• A User's Guide (GMAC)

Online Magazines & FAQ [back to top]

• Kiplinger

• The Investment FAQ (invest-faq.com)

Online Trading

• Bond Investing Online (Forbes)

• Web site Review (PC Magazine)

Financial Planning & Personalized Investment Advice [back to top]

• Merrill Lynch OnLine Events Area!

• ISNet ($149 a year)

• Standard & Poor's ($9.95 a month, or $119.40 a year)

• Review of Investment Tools and Advice (PC Magazine)

Portfolio Tracking [back to top]

• CNNfn Investment Tracker (Currently Free)

• Microsoft Investor

Price Quotes (with 20 minute delays) [back to top]

• PCQuote
• Yahoo Quote

Retirement Planning [back to top]

• Retirement Accounts Still Beat Taxables (WSJ, October 27, 1998)

• How Much Do You Need to Save? (Kiplinger Calculator online)
  
• Your money doesn't retire: You've saved for years. Now you're faced with the somewhat enjoyable dilemma of how to start spending those retirement investments. (CNNfn, Special Report)

• Worthy Web Sites On Retirement (SF Chronicle, March 16, 1998)
• Deciding on When to Draw From Social Security (SF Chronicle, March 16, 1998)
• A Roth IRA or a 401(k)? (SF Chronicle, March 16, 1998)
• 401k Forum
• Social Security Administration Retirement Benefits (U.S. Government)
• Review of Internet Sites (PC Magazine)