Copyright © 2000 by Michael
Segers, All rights reserved
After
"Free
Money on the Internet,"
a recent column about money on the Internet, I got an e-mail from an old friend
who asked why I did not mention online banking. I had intended to, but as I
checked the article online and in my word-processing files, I was surprised to
find that I did not include the links and other information about this very
important online financial activity.
So,
this gives me an opportunity to give you more money, I mean, sites about money.
Before I go any further, of course, I have to give you my usual disclaimer:
these links are for your reference. In no way should you interpret their
appearance here as an endorsement by Peanut.org or by me.
There
are two different kinds of online banking. One is simply an extension of
services provided by your traditional bank. Just think of your computer as one
more branch office. The other kind of online banking is service provided by a
bank that has no brick and mortar presence. It is truly online banking at an
online bank. Your computer is your bank.
My
friend shared with me a great page of information that he had compiled about
online banking, and now, I’m sharing it with you.
www.root-beer.org/onlinebanking.htm
Be
sure to check out his link to "Online Banking: Is It for You?" from
the Motley Fool (a fool I introduced to you last week). And you can visit the
site of the Online Banking Association:
Online
banking still seems to be pretty much a novelty. One way in which the Internet
has profoundly affected the financial activity of many more people is through
trading stocks online. Of course, many "dot com" stocks themselves
have become superstars of the stock market. But more importantly, the Internet
has stretched Wall Street to every street in this country.
Never
before has it been so easy for ordinary folks to buy and sell stocks or to have
access to up-to-the-minute financial news. Last week, I referred you to
informative sites on investing. This week, I want to share with you the sites of
the stock markets themselves:
The
American Stock Exchange:
NASDAQ:
The
New York Stock Exchange (which has an especially good glossary):
These
three sites provide a wealth (in more ways than one) of information, not only
about the current status of stocks but also about the stock market in general.
I'm
not going to mention any online brokers by name. If you cruise through the sites
referred to in these two articles, you will find ads for many of them, and you
will hear their commercial messages on many television programs. Do your
homework. Your friendly neighborhood Fool can help you, even when your friendly
peanut patch raver can’t:
www.fool.com/foolu/askfoolu/2000/askfoolu000322.htm
"The
Wall Street Journal" is a legendary daily resource for the stock market.
Guess what? You can get a lot of its content online for free—and find out how
to subscribe—at:
http://interactive.wsj.com/home.html
The
Federal Reserve System sometimes seems like the enemy to some investors, but, if
so, then investors should keep their eyes on the enemy:
Depending
upon how much money you have to invest, you might be interested in IPO’s
(Initial Public Offerings) or penny stocks, and you can find information about
either. (And this is a very good place to repeat my disclaimer: just reference,
not recommendations!) For IPO’s, go to:
For
technology stocks at or below a dollar a share, check:
For
the rest of us, there is "Quotemedia", self-described as a
"provider of financial content, financial content software engines,
financial analytical tools and on line trading services":
For
all of us, there are, of course, two certainties, death and…
I
referred you to this site last week. I hope you will go back to it to find all
the forms and information you need to get through what T.S. Eliot called the
"cruelest month," especially on the 15th.
For
a historical, pre-Internet "Time Line of Money," go to:
http://scripophily.com/moneychron.html
And,
to find out one way that we think about large sums of money today, check out:
http://abc.go.com/primetime/millionaire/mill_home.html
Recently,
I read in the newspaper an article about a company in which I knew my niece
owned stock. So, being a good uncle, when I logged onto the Internet that
afternoon, I checked the online edition of the paper, found the article, and
sent it to her—a sort of high-tech clipping. What makes this story special is
that my niece is a teenager, and her investments are limited to what she earns
babysitting.
I’ve
tried to make my readers feel comfortable with the Internet. I don’t want you
to think that the Internet really is anything so terribly new or different.
I’m sure that at some point in the past, there were teenagers who invested
their babysitting fees in the stock market.
The
difference is just that it wasn’t so easy, so likely for them to do so. The
Internet breaks down barriers and opens doors, making it as easy for a teenager
in south Georgia with a few extra bucks to own a piece of the Wall Street (or
NASDAQ) action as it is for a millionaire in the Hamptons.
With a split in my Cisco stocks today, I’m feeling very good about stocks and the Internet. Even with the recent turmoil in high tech stocks, I’m still the rovin’ and ravin’ fool (not the motley one, preferring rather drab tee shirts and jeans). Look for me with a gray parrot on my shoulder, my feet dry (easy, in this spring), and quite a few noble thoughts in my heart. I commend the condition of my feet and heart to you… and as for the condition of my shoulder, well, if your parrot is as well-mannered as mine, go for it!
Rovin' on the Internet: Online Adventures