- There is no shortage of free stock market websites competing for eyeballs and clicks. Most offer articles, opinions or educational resources. What a stock investor needs is free sources of unbiased financial information that he can evaluate independently, without relying on the opinions of others. Sites that provide such information can be roughly grouped as follows.
- Stock investors must have access to real-time financial information that they can access quickly to make decisions fast. The best sites that provide a wealth of stock investing information such as news, quotes, charts, financials, earnings calendars, personalized tracking portfolios and scanners are Yahoo! Finance, MSN Money and Reuters.
- In addition to the above, there are sites that specialize in stock charting, such as BigCharts or StockCharts.com.
- The SEC provides a free database of company filings, from quarterly earnings reports to insider transactions.
- Free screeners (scanners) have become a popular way to search for stocks based on pre-determined criteria. Investors can select from hundreds of fundamental and technical parameters. Some sites even allow searches based on technical patterns.
- There are many profitable ways to invest. The specific sites that a stock investor will use depend on the area or method that he specializes in. For example, biotech investors may use the website of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to obtain information on drug applications, clinical trial results and approvals; investors who trade initial public offerings may use Renaissance Capital IPO Home site, which provides extensive coverage on IPO stocks.
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