Money, Money, Money.

Hi All,

Over the last 8 months since I' started this blog, I've yet to delve into one of the most popular topics on the internet: money and investing. After 150 posts and nearly 8 months of posting, I think it is time to broach the subject.

There are a few issues I'd like to straighten out first though. This blog entry will NOT be:

1. I am not giving any advice on stocks, bonds, mutual funds or any other type of investment.

2. I am not an investment professional. Quite the contrary: I am a librarian - I like research.

3. Note that websites and links change very quickly on the internet. Caveat emptor. (Click here for a definition of what caveat emptor means...:) ) So what I write about today, might possibly not exist in a day, week or month from now...

Okay, now that we've got this posts ground rules out of the way, onto the main event.

Forthwith a list of 2 very mainstream financial and investing websites for investors.

1. Yahoo! Finance - one of the oldest, most recognized names on the internet with regards to investing and finance. What makes the site so good? Ease of use, it is remarkably comprehensive (with links to stocks, bonds, mutual funds, options, etf's and news) and it is constantly updated. Click on this link to get to Yahoo! Finance directly.

Okay, okay, don't forget these direct links to: Yahoo! Personal Finance, a link to Investing Ideas, and Investor Education. Users will also find that the site has links to topics relating to Commodities, Currencies and much, much more. It can almost be endless when you are visiting the site - amazing stuff for an investor who needs information.

Also note that Yahoo!Finance is pretty much an agregator type website. In other words, you'll see articles and links from other sources like AP, CNBC, The Motley Fool, Investopedia and Zacks and many, many others.

2. Bankrate.com is a different type finance website - which is one of the reasons why I want to mention it in this blog entry. It doesn't have typical news stories or stock prices or links to commodities, mutual funds or etf's. Bankrate.com has more focused - think more detailed - information than Yahoo! Finance. Bankrate's coverage includes Mortgage information, Mortgage Refinancing, Home Equity Loans, CD's and Investments, Checking and Savings Account information, Auto Loans, Credit Card Information, Debt Management information, Insurance information, College Financing information and Retirement information.

Bankrate.com has lots of charts and tools that will help users make better finance related decisions for themself and for their families. Good stuff - and the site is unbiased and updated very frequently. For an example of how the site works, click here for the rates on the current 30 year fixed mortgage.

When I originally came up for the idea of this post, I wanted to cover 4 different finance related websites. Since this post is already a bit lengthy, I'm going to cover the other two sites that I wanted to cover (MarketGuide and TheStreet.com) in my next finance related post. Look for that entry some time in May or June of this year!

Regards and I hope you find the sites I mentioned helpful and educational.

Stu

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