 |
| Taxes |
Top of Page |
| IRS |
A
great site for tax information. |
| Tax
Software |
Order
tax software at Amazon |
| Yahoo's
Tax section |
Yahoo
has a well organized section for taxes. |
| Bloomberg
|
Bloomberg
has a good tax resource section. |
| Nolo |
Nolo
is a resource for Law in general that includes a tax law section. |
| Fairmark
Press |
Fairmark
Press is an outstanding resource of reference guides, current
events, and more. |
|
| Business
News |
Top of Page |
|
Certainly there are several different vehicles for keeping up with business
news whether by newspaper, radio, the internet, television or other
means. Not surprising many great newspapers and radio hosts also
have quality content on their web sites. As a result several
organizations are listed in more than one category.
We have some suggestions for getting business in
the following groups: newspapers, radio, and internet.
|
|
| Newspapers |
Top of Page |
| Even
in the internet age newspapers are still a great place to get business news. |
| Barron's
|
Barron's
comes out weekly and is available
on Saturday's wrapping up the past weeks activities. One nice thing about a weekly publication is
that they bring together the most important stories saving a lot of
time if you had to do it yourself.
The publication has four sections. The magazine is
the main portion; it includes editorials, numerous featured columns,
and many in depth stories with analysis too detailed for a daily
paper. The other sections are superb too, they include a
Market Review, Mutual Funds, and Technology.
|
| Wall
Street Journal
|
This
daily newspaper publishes the latest in news from the business and
finance world. Additionally, it strives to connect current domestic
and international news events to business fluctuations and market
changes. |
|
New York Times
|
The
New York Times does a superb job with world events, major national
news, in addition to having an outstanding business section. |
|
| Radio |
Top of Page |
| Money
Talk |
The
starship Money Talk has been on the air since the late 1980's preaching solid
investment principles. It airs live each Saturday and Sunday from
4:00 to 7:00 eastern time. Check their web-site for program
listings. The number to call into to the program is (800) 934-2221. |
|
| Newsletters |
Top of Page |
| Newsletters can be a source of obtaining specific investment
recommendations. Most other means provide general information. We do not plan to analyze newsletter writers, Hulbert Digest does
that quite well, but we have a few comments about a few that we are
familiar with.
Most newsletters will send you a sample of their
work that you can request and analyze prior to subscribing.
|
| Hulbert
Digest |
This
newsletter rates the performance of newsletter writers. Before
subscribing to any newsletter it may be worth your while to
check Hulbert's Digest analysis of it. This is part of the CBS Market Watch web site.
It includes contact information for the letters that they
analyze, in case you want to request a sample or get further
information. |
| Bob
Brinker's Marketimer |
Bob
Brinker's Marketimer has four easy to implement
portfolios including the active/passive approach. Their
recommendations do not require much activity from their subscribers. Their main
objective is to stay out of major bear markets and participate in
major bull markets.
Bob Brinker called an end to the bull
market in their January 2000 newsletter and recommended significant
cash holdings at that time, 60%. In mid-March 2003 they went back into
the market. Two truly outstanding calls! In-between there was a incorrect call made on
a trade in the QQQ with a portion of the cash
reserves.
Overall, Bob Brinker has done superb work projecting
market directions.
|
|
California
Technology Stock Letter
|
Michael
Murphy's CTSL newsletter IMO is for aggressive active investors. It focuses on
the technology and biotech sectors as well as the overall economy. They do provide very
insightful analysis into industry trends. Even if you do not follow
their security recommendations the industry background and analysis they
provide is superb. |
|
| Mutual
Funds |
Top of Page |
| Mutual
Funds are effective way to invest. The sites below can provide
information on analyzing specific funds, constructing intelligent
portfolios, presenting educational pieces, and more. |
| Mutual
Fund Education Alliance |
The
Mutual Fund Education Alliance™ is the not-for-profit trade
association of the no-load mutual fund industry. Since 1971 the
Alliance has been helping investors understand mutual funds and the
benefits of long-term investing. |
| Morningstar |
They
have risk statistics and performance for practically every mutual fund. They also include articles about the industry. Plug
some asset numbers and let them x-ray your portfolio. Their
subscription services are worth considering. |
|
| Brokerage
Accounts |
Top of Page |
| We have our personal
favorite brokerage houses, but the industry changes so rapidly
in terms of services and fees that specific recommendations are better
suited to a major newspaper or magazine publication. Many provide
annual survey's; Barron's has a good one that is
usually published in March. Also, our criteria may be
different than yours.
What is important to you, costs, execution efficiency, mutual fund
selection, quality research, a good web site? Do you prefer to deal
with different companies for a taxable account and your IRA so that
you have available the resources of two different companies, or do you prefer to have access to
both of your
accounts on one web site and with one phone call? Do you want your
banking to be linked to your brokerage account? Is a blue chip brand
name important? How comfortable are you making your own decisions?
Perhaps you prefer to keep your account(s) directly with a mutual
fund company.
With so many questions that we do not have the
answers to you can see why we hesitate to make specific
recommendations. We hope the list of questions above help you
determine what criteria is important to you in selecting a brokerage
house to work with.
|
| Gomez
advisor |
They
provide scorecards on full service brokerage, discount brokerage,
banks, credit cards and more. |
|
| Economy |
Top of Page |
|
The pulse of the nation. |
| American
Institute for Economic Research |
An
independent non profit research and education organization. |
| Bureau
of Labor Statistics |
The
government agencies page. |
| The
Beige Book |
As
published by the Federal
Reserve. The Beige Book provides
commentary on current economic conditions
by the individual Federal Reserve Districts. |
| SEC |
The
U.S. Security and Exchange Commission has lots of good information.
They have lots of data in the company filings for stock
research. |
|
| Exchange
Traded Funds |
Top of Page |
| Exchange Traded Funds
(ETF) have been around since 1993, though they have become more
popular in recent years. |
| AMEX |
ETF's
trade on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX), here is their web site. |
| IShares |
A
product of Barclay's. They have issued an ETF for many
indexes. In our view too many as there are redundancies. Check
the asset base and trading volume of the fund. |
| Morningstar |
This
is Morningstar's page on Exchange Traded Funds; they provide links
to many related ETF sites. |
| Other
ETF website's: Rydex
| State Street
Global Advisors | Vanguard
| Power
Shares |
| Mortgages |
Top of Page |
| Also
be aware of the quality of your bonds and don't be too quick to
chase the yields. After all, the extra yield is given because
you take extra risk, typically because of credit quality, not
because the issuer is nice.. |
Need a home loan? Apply in 30 seconds.
|
Quicken
Loan services is a leader in the industry.
 | Easy-to-use Web site with educational tools
puts the user in control of the process
| Competitive pricing on all mortgage products in
all 50 states
| A world-class customer experience with hands-on
advice from loan consultants |
| |
|
| Real
Estate |
Top of Page |
| Below
are some of recommended links from Money Magazines June 2006 cover
story.
Mortgage-calc.com
DoItYourself.com
Zillow.com - House
values
Homeplans.com
ForSaleByOwner.com
LetsRenovate.com
Houseblogs.net
Realtor.com - To find a realtor
Real-estate-law-freeadvice.com
HomePages.com - Views of neighborhoods.
Bankrate.com
Schoolmatters.com
|
| Bonds |
Top of Page |
| Also
be aware of the quality of your bonds and don't be too quick to
chase the yields. After all, the extra yield is given because
you take extra risk, typically because of credit quality, not
because the issuer is nice. |
| Investing
in Bonds |
Want
to learn about bonds? investinginbonds.com is a a well done site. |
| Treasury
Direct |
This
is a valuable resource to learn of different treasury products,
release dates, and how to establish an account. |
| All
About Savings Bonds |
A
resource for savings bonds, which provides further links. |
| Exchange
Traded Funds |
Barclay's
has issued some ETF's for a few types of bonds. As of this
writing, there are four options, and each have a low 15 basis points
expense ratio. |
|
| Internet |
Top of Page |
|
Below is an assortment of various resources for further learning. |
|
Wall
Street Journal and Barron's
Online
|
The
online version of The Wall Street Journal / Barron's is not
free, but is quite reasonable in price. A subscription
includes:
| Full text of The Wall Street Journal,
plus breaking news throughout the day
| Customized news and portfolio tracker
| In-depth searching of Journal archives
| Exclusive access to Barron's online,
comprehensive company information
| Start-up kit and mouse pad mailed to new
subscribers
|
| | | |
|
| New
York Times |
The
New York Times does a superb job with world events, major national
news, in addition to having an outstanding business section. You
need to register, it's free. |
| Prime
Rate |
The
current prime rate and more. |
| IRA
article |
Some
lesser known IRA facts revealed. |
| Rob
Black |
Rob Black who
previously hosted the defunct radio program Stock
Talk and now is on the KRON staff, a San Francisco television
station. Rob writes a solid summary of the day's events on his
web page
and has an archive worth checking out. |
| Investor
Words |
Definitions
of investment terms. |
| IRAHelp |
Lots
of information on IRA's. |
| Investopedia |
Resource
for learning about investing with topics including both basics and
advanced subjects. |
| Foundation
for Investor Education |
Investor
information |
| FDIC |
To
find out about bank deposit insurance. |
| Focus
Investing |
A
website that focuses on the concept on focus investing. |
| Market
Screens |
Market
Screens is a good source for technical market information. |
| Efficient
frontier |
Wise
investors respect and understand risk. There are some good
articles to read here. This is William Bernstein's site, author of
The Intelligent Asset Allocator and The
Four Pillars of Investing |
| William
Sharpe |
Stanford
professor; developer of the sharpe ratio and one of the originators
of the Capital Asset Pricing Model theory. |
| Inflation
data |
Historical
information on inflation and more. |
| research-finance |
An
assortment of academic articles. |
| Retirement
Planning |
Retirement-4-U
is a retirement planning, analysis and forecasting company offering
individual retirement information that will benefit you for a
lifetime. Each retirement plan is tailored ... |
| Saving
for College |
A
good site for 529 plans. |
| moneychimp |
They
have information on investment basics, risk, and more. A easy
site to find your way through. |
| College
Savings |
Sponsored
by the college Savings Plan Network |
|
| Specialty |
Top of Page |
| Gold.org |
Industry
trade group |
| Estate
Planning |
Top of Page
|
| Net
Planning |
A
network of Estate Planning attorneys |
| NAEPC |
Search
for an accredited estate planner from the The National Network of
Estate Planners and Counselors. |
| Nolo |
If
you want to lay the groundwork for your estate planning, Nolo is a
great starting point. |
|
| Health
Savings Accounts |
| Article
Link |
An
article from a local paper from 11/21/04 |
|
|
