Mvenkat's Finance Page

FINANCE

Brokers
Waterhouse Securities - For the moment these guys are my main personal discount brokers, and as far as I'm concerned they provide the best value for money ($12 per trade at their webpage). Soon they hope to provide access to IPO's. They also provide some good research info., which is getting better and better - some of it is even almost upto date! Items include stock reports and earnings estimates. One caveat - do NOT attempt to use these guys for Corporate Accounts - I tried to open one, and 6 weeks and much heartburn later eventually found that although they allow corporate accounts they don't allow you to write checks on them! Kinda like selling a Porsche without an engine, don't you think?

Customer service is also a little hit & miss, although unfortunately that's starting to be the rule rather than the exception with most companies - as with any other company, make sure you have the name of the person you talk to on the phone and record the date and incidentals of the conversation - sometimes they still can't do anything with that but at least it helps you keep things straight.

Free Analysis
Investools - Same type of statistics
Earnings Whisper - Find out consensus earnings whispers to base Short Term investment strategies on - staff coldcalls analysts to get anonymous opinions.

Whisper Numbers - Uses proprietary software to check out message boards and aggregates the info
Insider Trading Info - I like to know what the Insiders are doing, not so much for when they sell but for when they buy. As a famous analyst once said, there are many reasons why someone might sell stock, but only one reason why they might buy.
Real Time Quotes - Free Real Time Quotes to base buying/selling decisions on

Options
General Options Information - I use this info to brush up on my knowledge of options before trading - they give good examples too.
Chicago Options Board - Info - More Options information.

Information
I never remember the difference between these, so I thought I’d place the definitions here so I never forget them in the future:

Limit Order – An order to buy or sell a stock with a restriction on the maximum to be paid or the minimum price to be received (the limit price). Advantage – If order is filled, it will only be at your specified limit price or better. E.g. stock is trading at $25 and you want to buy it – you can put a buy order in at $22 at limit, so you will only end up buying the stock if the price hits $22.

Stop Order – An order to buy or sell a stock at the market price once the stock has traded at or through your specified price (the stop price). Advantage – Serves as a kind of automatic order entry or exit upon a certain level of price movement in a specified direction. E.g. stock is trading at $25 and you bought it at $12 – you want to protect your gains so you put in a Stop order at $22 so if it falls below that it will sell.

Stop/Limit Order – A combination of a stop order and a limit order to buy or sell a stock at a specified limit price (or better) only after the stop price has been reached. Advantage – If order is filled, it will only be at your limit price or better. Also provides an order entry or exit.

How do you value Internet stocks? - anyones' guess, but this article helps

Financial Times (FT) - As they used to say in my youth - No FT, No Comment! This is primarily for you worldly types, since it is an English Financial newspaper.
Wall Street Journal - For those who want to be a little closer to home.
Money - Some people think that this magazine is a little too simplistic - I like it
Fortune - In between - a solid financial magazine.
The Street - These guys have some funny TV ads - site looks interesting - the more info you have, the better
Microsoft's Finance Page - A good solid page to get information on - particularly techs
Basic Investment Info - More basic principals

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This page is always under construction!