Starting Points - Investing

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Starting Points: Guide to Investing Resources

INVESTING RESOURCES - In the Reference Department
The Kiplinger Letter	The weekly Kiplinger Letter, subtitled “Forecasts for Management Decisionmaking,” was launched in 1923, and remains the longest continually published newsletter in the United States addressing market trends taking into account politics and other variables.
Mergent Equity Research Reports	Moody’s Manuals, published since 1909, changed names to Mergent, Inc. in June 1999 after the publishing division of Moody’s Investors Service was purchased by Mergent in July 1998Mailed 11 times a year, Mergent’s Equity Research Reports, alphabetical by company name, provide overviews of thousands of publicly traded companies. Included are “Recommended Summary,” Analysis Summary,” Business Summary,” “Price Performance,” “Earnings Momentum,” “Recent Developments,” “Price Momentum,” Prospects,” Analyst Forecasts,” and “Fiscal Year Fundamentals.” The “News Reports” are updated weekly and available to subscribers at www.fisonline.com.
Morningstar Mutual Funds	Morningstar is a one-volume loose-leaf financial advisory service covering the mutual fund industry. For each fund a one-page statistical profile is given, which includes a description and analysis, basic operating facts such as minimum and subsequent investment, fund manager, fees, income, portfolio holdings and some historical financial statistics.
The Outlook	The Outlook, published since the late ‘30s, is a more traditional weekly 12 page newsletter with articles and stock recommendations of exceptional value and occasionally a list of “stocks to avoid.” Includes articles on investing, bonds, mutual funds and other securities.
Value Line Investment Survey	Value Line, a popular advisory service, provides coverage to 1,700 stocks groups in over 90 industries. Value Line is issued weekly in three parts. Part I, “Summary and Index,” serves as a cumulative index to the entire set. The index leads the user to the page on which each company report appears and summarizes key data for all 1,700 stocks. Part II, “Selections and Opinions,” a weekly newsletter contains articles on the economic outlook, state of the market, investing trends and statistical indicators. Part III, “Ratings and Reports,” carries full-page coverage for each of the 1,700 companies, plus an industry overview for the 90 industry groups. Analyses is updated four times per year on a rotating schedule.
Value Line Investment Survey Small & Mid-Cap Ed.	Covers approximately 1,800 stocks not covered in Value Line Investment Survey. The “Expanded Edition” is set up like the “Standard Edition,” published weekly & issued in 3 parts.
The Reference Department also contains information on bonds, annuities, industry surveys, statistics, etc.

FINDING BOOKS AND OTHER LIBRARY MATERIALS/ Dewey Decimal browsing numbers: 331, 371, 650

In addition to reference books, you may want to search for other books and materials (videos, audiobooks, etc.) on your topic. The best way to find good sources of information is to do a subject search in our Library catalog. You can access the Library’s online catalog from the Library or home by going to our Web page (www.wppl.org), then to Search Our Catalog. A good subject heading for this topic is investments.

eBOOKS

You may also want to check out the collection of thousands of online books (eBooks) the Library offers located on the Web site www.netlibrary.com. Initially, you must open an account from Library computer terminals, but you will then be able to use the account from home as well. See a reference librarian for more details.

FINDING ARTICLES

The following sources can be used to find magazine articles dealing with your topic:

· The Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature - Adult Reference R 050 R Search for articles on a subject within any given year.
· EBSCOhost and InfoTrac OneFile - Access from the Library or at home using your library card number at www.wppl.org.

Search for full text articles on these online databases using your choice of keywords. You can limit your search to a certain year or even a certain magazine. A good database for business information is Business & Company Resource Center.

WEBSITES

Big Charts	Quotes, news, industries, markets and historical stock quotes back to 1970.
Morningstar	Information about stocks, mutual funds, taxes, retirement and more.
Motley Fool	Offers entertaining and extensive advice and commentary on all aspects of investing. Free registration for many functions, subscription for others.
Mutual Fund Investor’s Center	Both the basics and sophisticated advice about mutual funds.
Social Investment Forum	Information, contacts and resources about socially responsible investing.
The Library also offers a collection of business-related sites at (www.wppl.org), then to Reference Resources, then Good Web Sites, and click on Business & Personal Finance, or go to Starting Points for Stocks, Bonds, & Companies.

Page maintained by Courtney Moore - cmoore@wppl.org

Updated: December 11, 2007