1. 1 How To Research and Invest Online 8-5-10

2. 9 Investing Online The internet allows investors to access account information 24/7, initiate securities transactions from virtually anywhere, and quickly and inexpensively research investment opportunities.

3. 9 Investing Online The days of keeping in constant contact with a broker and paying a fortune for stock trades are over. Today, more than a million trades are made everyday online. Thanks to the internet, people can now make trades just about anywhere from their couch, their lunch break or on the go.

4. 3 Exercises in this class You will: Compare top discount broker sites Set up a tracking portfolio on either Google Finance or Yahoo finance Research one company website to locate investor information (SEC documents, annual report, events/presentations) Track / view a companys current activities/news using Google News Set up an alert on Google News

5. 3 6 Things Every Online Investor Should Know Start small. If you are new to online investing, don't put your entire life savings into an online account.

6. 3 6 Things Every Online Investor Should Know Stay diversified. Develop a well- balanced portfolio of stocks, bonds, and cash.

7. 3 6 Things Every Online Investor Should Know Don't bail on mutual funds. Keep your mutual funds; dont cash out your long- term fund holdings so that you can start "playing the market" in individual stocks!

8. 3 6 Things Every Online Investor Should Know Costs may not always be obvious. Even if online brokerage costs are lower than those of full-service brokers, they can still add up, particularly if you do a lot of buying and selling.

9. 3 6 Things Every Online Investor Should Know Problems are inevitable. Trading online is not foolproof. There will be times when you can't access your account. You could be away from your computer when the market makes a major move. Your Internet connection could be down.

10. 3 6 Things Every Online Investor Should Know Information is power. If you are going to buy and sell individual stocks online, it is your duty to keep as well informed as possible about what is going on with the company in question.

11. 3 Security Tips Protect your passwords for your online investment accounts. Use anti-virus and anti-spyware software, and a firewall, and keep them up-to-date. Avoid using public or other shared computers to access your financial accounts online

12. 3 Security Tips Don't believe everything you read in online newsletters, investing blogs, or bulletin boards. Turn to unbiased sources when researching investments

13. 3 Access The Internet isnt always available. Faulty servers, bad Internet connections, busy phone lines, natural disasters, peak-hour overload all can get between you and your on-line firm. Remember that your click of the mouse represents a request to execute a trade. You are not directly connected to the stock market. All trades will be executed by your on-line firms brokers/dealers, presumably as quickly as possible.

14. 3 Investing Online Two types of Online Trading services exist Full-service brokerage –Online Trading service with the advice of a broker. –Merrill Lynch, Salomon Smith Barney, etc. provide Full-service brokerage trading. Discount brokerage trading –-Investors make their own investment decisions without the advice of brokers.

15. 3 Top Discount Brokers Zecco: www.zecco.comwww.zecco.com TradeKing: www.tradeking.comwww.tradeking.com eTrade: www.etrade.comwww.etrade.com Scot Trade: www.scottrade.comwww.scottrade.com Sharebuilder (ING Direct) www.sharebuilder.com www.sharebuilder.com

16. Resources for Creating and Tracking Portfolios Two best sites for creating and following a portfolio of stocks –Yahoo Finance: http://finance.yahoo.comhttp://finance.yahoo.com –Google Finance: http://www.google.com/finance http://www.google.com/finance 16

17. Research – Company website Find company website by searching on Google for companys name in quotation marks (Home Depot). At company web site, look for link to Investor Relations or Investors. Download to read Annual Report, and annual 10-K SEC filing. Read most current quarterly earnings reports. Look for Events & Presentations to view speeches and powerpoints about company. 17

18. Research – Current News Google News allows you to search for news stories on your companies, and also to set up news alerts. Google News: http://news.google.comhttp://news.google.com 18

19. 19 Search on company name in quotation marks Results NEWS.GOOGLE.COM for any current news on companies youre tracking

20. 20 Sorted by relevance Results can be sorted by relevance, date or date with/without duplicates Sorted by date NEWS.GOOGLE.COM for any current news on companies youre tracking

21. 21 Waiting for a company to announce a earnings? Sign up for news alerts to be delivered once-a-day, once-a- week or as it happens NEWS.GOOGLE.COM for any current news on companies youre tracking

22. 15 Creative Commons License Curriculum content created by Connect Your Community, a project of OneCommunity, funded by the federal Broadband Technology Opportunities Program.OneCommunityBroadband Technology Opportunities Program This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0