Uncle OJ- Thanks for the kind message. CMGI is doing well. My father is in Karachi. I wanted to thank you for your kind help and give my best regards to Steve. One of my other pick CD is also doing very well. Zain
October 28, 1998
Web Masters
The best get better in our annual survey of top Internet
investment sites
By KATHY YAKAL
Table: The Top 10 Investment Web Sites
Two years is like two centuries in the life of the World Wide Web. When
Barron's produced its first list of the Top 10 investment Websites in 1997, it
wasn't exactly a Who's Who of the financial world or even the media
establishment. Contenders may not have provided access to the best or the
most data or analysis, but they still stood out if they understood that the Web
was an entirely new medium and found effective ways to use its potential to
disseminate investment-related information and facilitate interaction. The
medium truly was the message.
That's all changed. The best investment Websites provide more information,
quicker and in a better-organized fashion than could be imagined just two
years ago. It's a cliche that the Internet provides individuals what once was
available only on Wall Street trading desks. Actually, it offers more.
This year's 10 include a couple of familiar providers of market news and
technology information: CNNfn and ZD Ziff-Davis) Interactive Investor.
Quicken.com, brought to you by the folks who've owned the personal-finance
software market for over a decade, moved in. Stockpoint, which some time
ago began to put more focus on selling its services to other Websites,
provides enough features and original material to take the No. 9 spot.
Making return appearances among our 10 are CBS MarketWatch (formerly
DBC Online), Morningstar.Net, Yahoo! and Street.com. Some of last year's
winners, such as Briefing.com and INVESTools, dropped into the second 10.
They remain exceptional sites but just didn't score high enough in all
categories to make the 10. Two familiar names absent entirely from last year's
accounting moved up into slots in the second group of 10: S&P Personal
Wealth and Bloomberg Online.
One constant in our survey: For obvious reasons, we omit the Wall Street
Journal Interactive Edition, which includes Barron's Online. Ditto for the site
for CNBC, a joint service of NBC and Dow Jones & Co., which publishes
Barron's and the Journal.
What also didn't change from last year was our choice for the No. 1 spot:
Microsoft MoneyCentral. Like so many other Microsoft offerings, it was no
overnight success. It took a few versions, but when it hit its stride, it whizzed
past companies that had been in the financial data and analysis business for
years or decades, but lacked Microsoft's acumen at designing hubs on the
World Wide Web. So herewith are highlights of our 10 favorite sites.
No. 1: Microsoft MoneyCentral (http://moneycentral.com ****). Microsoft
just finished consolidating its personal-finance and investment Websites,
dubbing the new entity MoneyCentral (Microsoft Investor still exists as a
separate site at investor.msn.com). It added muscle to its already strong site,
like free real-time quotes (snapshots, which means they don't update
continuously,) a graphical overview of your portfolio, and technical charting
tools. And its interface refinements made the site faster and easier to navigate,
without sacrificing its elegant look.
MoneyCentral's competence stems from a number of things. It provides
timely news and analysis (with Wall Street Journal updates five times a day,
plus news and insight generated by editorial staff members and outside
contributors). It does the portfolio thing better than anyone we've seen on the
Web. You can create charts and grab SEC filings, and access other current
data and news articles.
So, big deal. You can do those things on a lot of sites. What distinguishes
MoneyCentral is its paid subscriber features, and the way all of these assorted
goodies are presented. And the way Microsoft put together a carefully
selected amalgam of the features and information a large body of individual
investors might need. The discriminating design should serve as a model for
rivals still trying to snag eyeballs by shoveling as much stuff as possible onto
their sites, hoping people will wade through it to find what they want.
Example: MoneyCentral's Research Wizard (a free feature). The site
effectively uses a multi-screen scheme to walk new investors through the
process of researching a security. Each screen in the sequence uses learning
aids like tables, links and comparative tools -- all focused on the security
you're researching.
Subscriptions cost $9.95 per month, with a free 30-day trial offer (six months
for registered Microsoft Money users). Paid features include stock and fund
screeners (including an investment matcher that finds similar securities based
on criteria such as market capitalization), an inside view of the strategies of six
professional investment advisers, insider trading and analyst
recommendations, and alerts triggered by significant events that may affect
your investments.
Features similar to some of those offered by Microsoft are available free
elsewhere, but we still recommend this unique and carefully crafted assembly
of features and usability.
No. 2: CBS MarketWatch (http://cbs.marketwatch.com *** 1/2 ). Less than
a week after DBC Online was named to the second spot in last year's Top 10
list, financial-data giant Data Broadcasting announced a joint venture with
CBS. The resulting site, CBS MarketWatch, draws on the strengths of both,
and lands in second place again.
CBS MarketWatch can't match investor tools found elsewhere. It does offer
a good portfolio tracker, a reasonably robust stock screener, a charting utility
with tools for technical analysis, and direct links to data from companies such
as Hoover's and Zack's. Its Getting Personal section offers good reading for
investors looking for market insight and guidance, and industry names like
Thom Calandra and Paul Farrell offer their takes on current financial events.
The standard data are there in abundance, retrievable individually, or in
quantified groupings (earnings surprises, initial public offerings).
Like MoneyCentral, CBS Market-Watch delivers a lot of the same tools
offered on other investment sites. But its strengths lie in reporting and
analyzing breaking news and its ability to select a set of features that will likely
appeal to many individual investors -- in a clear, lively interface. All free, and
with tools for both beginners (most notably an impressive investing primer)
and old-timers.
No.3: Yahoo! Finance (http://quote.yahoo.com *** 1/2 ). Regardless of
whether they meant to do it, Yahoo designers built a successful model for
competing Websites in the very popular Yahoo Website/financial portal. A lot
of sites these days look like Yahoo, with a few throw pillows added. Yahoo
Finance continues to eschew the spinning logos and Java-based opening
pages that irritate so many people, sticking instead to its straightforward, fast,
though not particularly interesting, front page. But nobody's yet bettered the
design, at least in terms of financial information.
Yahoo Finance doesn't really have an editorial voice of its own, but draws on
some of the best in the business for content, from places like TheStreet.com
and The Motley Fool. There's also so much in terms of market data and
financial news (U.S. and international) that you can probably find what you
need there. Market news is highlighted at the bottom of the page, and links --
the cornerstone of Yahoo's existence -- are abundant.
Yahoo's surprisingly generous set of tools includes a stock screener, message
boards and a stock chat area, a pager that can be triggered by your own
specific stock price limits, and a Java portfolio. Yahoo's integration makes it
easy once you get rolling. Set up a basic portfolio, for example, and one page
displays quotes and charts, current news and links to research and related
user messages. Many elements of the site's layout are easily modified, and
everything's free. If you haven't considered Yahoo because you still think it's
just a search engine, check it out.
No. 4: CNNfn (http://cnnfn.com *** 1/2 ). CNNfn's opening page doesn't
reveal much about this site's depth. Every link on the home page leads to
another set of links within. And sometimes, another and another. It's a very
straightforward, linear approach, and there's nothing difficult about using it,
but it doesn't feel as together as MoneyCentral. On the other hand, it's a little
faster. What CNNfn lacks in its interface design, it more than makes up for in
sheer volume of news and data, timeliness and analysis.
CNNfn's partnership with Quicken.com -- and the extra investment tools this
brings -- puts the site in the Top 10. Quicken.com on fn, a separate section of
the site (at cnnfn.com weaves together screens and links
from both Quicken.com and CNNfn to produce a powerful package of tools,
breaking news and other data and analysis.
Quicken's contributions include a customizable portfolio tracker, stock
screener and picks, an interactive retirement planner, and the Lipper Mutual
Fund Report. The site is completely free of charge, and its simplicity makes
navigation speedy. Which makes the site's depth and often maze-like design
more accessible.
No. 5: Quicken.com (http://www.quicken.com *** 1/2 ). Absent from last
year's list, Quicken.com has undergone several improvements since then. It
lacks MoneyCentral's stylized appearance, and some of its tools and
navigational conventions are not as well-developed. But in terms of data and
analysis, commentary, tools and interactivity, it's among the best of them. And
everything's free.
Like MoneyCentral, Quicken.com is a full-service personal-finance site,
incorporating related issues like banking, mortgages and insurance. But its
investment features are strong on their own. The portfolio tracker's columns
are quite customizable. You can choose from four predefined column sets
(valuation, equity fundamentals, holdings summary and price performance), or
build your own, selecting from 12 choices. You also can set alerts that are
triggered by events like stock-split announcements.
Quicken.com also draws on other sites' expertise. Market data come from
Briefing.com and Standard & Poor's, and commentary from TheStreet.com
as well as reporters from CBS MarketWatch. A stock screener and
mutual-fund finder are joined by a new stock evaluator that lets you compare
two or more stocks using various ratios and fundamental measures, like
price/sales and EPS.
Web Masters Part Two
No.6 Morningstar.Net (www.morningstar.net *** 1/2 ). Morningstar may be
synonymous with mutual funds, but its Web supersite is a mecca for individual
investors whether they're into funds or individual stocks, and repeats as one of
Barron's Top 10. The site looks much as it did last year; its opening page still
resembles a slick magazine with all of the site's contents clearly identified up
front. Top news and features are displayed in two of the three columns, and
the third holds links to some of the site's best tools, like the stock and fund
selectors (basic versions of both are free, but more advanced features are
limited to subscribers at $9.95 per month).
Quicktake reports also are available from opening page links. Enter a security
symbol, and Morningstar.Net pops open a tabbed file folder graphic with six
data categories, including financials, growth trends, price/ownership and
valuation. Much of the data comes free, but some things, like earnings trends
and return on equity analysis, are for subscribers only.
The Morningstar site is divided neatly into several sections: Learn (guidance
for novices); Plan (more ammunition to help you develop your own);
Research (investment data and analysis); Invest (hands-on trading information
and advice); Monitor (more market updates and commentary, and
portfolio-tracking), and Socialize (topic- and company-related message
boards). Morningstar.Net's simplicity belies its depth; it's a clean, fast site.
No.7: TheStreet.com (www.thestreet.com *** 1/2 ). This is the place for
informed, expert analysis of the investment scene before, during, and after the
trading day. Ubiquitous head pundit James Cramer is joined by a talented
staff and contributors like Herb Greenberg, which give this site credibility and
a unique blend of voices. Add targeted, timely market updates, voluminous
feature stories on companies in the news, and an entire section devoted to
articles and columns on mutual funds (usually several daily), and you have
more analysis and opinion than you probably have time to read. The site's
investor tool kit includes standard investing tools, like a portfolio tracker,
stock/fund charting and access to Thomson reports. Free sections -- daily
stories on the markets, plus tools -- are clearly marked. Access to the site
goes for $6.95 a month, while $9.95 also brings twice-a-day E-mail bulletins.
No. 8: ZD Interactive Investor (www.zdii.com ***). This one surprised us.
Ziff-Davis has had a longtime, far-reaching presence on the Web, moving well
beyond the scope of its print technology publications. It couldn't match
competitors like Microsoft in terms of its interface and tools, which, oddly
enough, were the two areas in which it might have been expected to excel.
Instead, ZDII fared well in the areas of data and editorial content, and value
for price (free).
The site's opening page emphasizes breaking news. Links to the latest news
stories and snapshots of current market activity (winners, losers, global view
and a brief view of the U.S. markets) dominate the page. Enter a symbol in
the Quote field, and ZDII returns a page incorporating a delayed price, with
links to a full quote, comparative charts, related news and SEC filings, a
company profile, key financial figures and names of competitors. Nothing
ground-breaking there, but it's a nicely executed, speedy tool.
Our biggest gripe with ZDII's interface is its unremarkable list of feature links;
there are better designs out there. No argument with ZDII's content, much of
which is generated internally, with some contributions from industry names.
No. 9: Stockpoint (www.stockpoint.com ***). Lots of Website companies
would like to license their technology to other sites. But not all of them have
enough material or design expertise to make the deal worthwhile. Stockpoint
does. It's begun shifting its emphasis to providing tools for other financial
Websites, but what it offers -- free -- to Web users is enough to land it in our
Top 10.
Stockpoint's interface is a dream: clean, simple, understandable and fast. It
recently added Eric Tyson, author of Investing for Dummies, as a regular.
Briefing.com, whose insightful analysis shows up on other Websites, also
contributes editorial material here. News briefs and in-depth stories come
from the usual suspects -- Comtex, UPI, Businesswire et al., and the market
data screens capture all of the key numbers from the day. Securities quotes
are supported by a variety of supplemental material, like analyst ratings and a
nice interactive chart feature that lets you apply technical indicators, compare
indices and securities and specify chart types and dates.
This site was carefully conceived and just as carefully executed. It's a pleasure
to cruise through.
No. 10: The Motley Fool (www.fool.com ***). One of the first real hits
among investment sites, it always has had two real strengths: its sense of
community and its common-sense, folksy approach (the Fool's School, which
teaches the 13 steps to investing, according to the site's founders). This is one
of the best sites for beginners because of its friendly tone and understandable
verbiage.
There's a lot for experienced investors here, too, and everything's free. But
don't look for reams and reams of raw (or even partially digested) data from
the outside. That's not the Fools' focus. Research tools are certainly adequate
for the casual investor. Portfolios link to customizable charts, news, estimates
and other data, plus an entire section devoted to interesting stock ideas.
The site's message boards are some of the liveliest you'll find anywhere. There
are informative articles on just about any personal-finance subject imaginable,
with lots of input from experts and other contributors. It's not the best site for
breaking news and analysis, though the Fools do offer some of both. Come
for the ongoing discussion of news and stocks. It's kind of a self-help group,
with funny hats.
Three sites that placed in the Top 10 last year slipped into the second tier, not
because they got worse, but simply because the competition stiffened. But we
still recommend them highly, each for different reasons, along with rest on this
list.
Briefing.com (www.briefing.com) is an excellent research and analysis tool for
the very serious investor. Though it offers some free features, its premium
services cost either $6.95 or $25 a month, depending on the package
selected. The site's real strength is its continuous analysis of the market
throughout the trading day, and wrap-ups and other commentary outside of
market hours. The free introductory package offers quotes, charting and
commentary. For $6.95, you get more focused information, more often, like
tech-stock analyses and upgrades and downgrades. The higher tab also gets
Professional package adds running analyses on the credit and currency
markets, similar to services aimed at bond trading desks and costing hundreds
per month.
Newsletters can be great resources for individual investors. But they're often
prohibitively expensive, and it's often hard to find the right horse to bet on.
INVESTools (www.investools.com) provides an intelligent solution by
ferreting out the best of these and offering subscriptions (a free trial is
available). These include Hulbert Performance Profiles, the Option Advisor,
the Prudent Spectator, and the Buyback Letter. Prices range from roughly $5
to $25 per month. Nonsubscribers can order newsletter issues or articles
individually. INVESTools also offers a Portfolio Workshop Premium Level
for $9.95 per month, which includes tools like E-mail alerts and charts,
analysis and advice and fundamental data, all in an integrated format. An
advanced stock screening tool is also available, for an additional $9.95 a
month.
WallStreetCity (wallstreetcity.com) has done good things with its overall look
and navigation since last year. Though it offers a generous heap of news,
commentary and data, as well as a few tools, the lion's share of the best
goodies are in the paid subscriber areas. Seven levels are available, ranging
from $9.95 to $149.95 per month. If you're more than a casual investor and
need special services, go directly to the WallStreetCity site and peruse the
tiered list of services available. Telescan, the company behind the site, has
been a respected provider of data to investors for years. Casual investors
should check out WallStreetCity's hourly and daily news and reports.
|
