8 “Best Online Investing Websites” to Improve Your Gains

We are looking at your money. Of course, with the chockfull of posts we have already posted on the subject of making and saving money. The inspiration comes from the web, which seems to have a bountiful of resources on creating wealth.

Investing right is a lot about timeliness. That’s where the right information bolstered by real-time data is the need of the second. The good websites on investment advice go beyond ticker tapes. When you have so many websites to pick from, how do you decide on the best online investing website?

Well, you try them out and pick the one that works for you. Most of these websites have portfolio tools that help you manage your investments online.

So, here are eight more to sift through for some of the best online investing websites with aids and tips.

Wikinvest

Wikinvest always deserves a mention whenever you talk about online investing aids. Wikinvest Portfolio Manager is a comprehensive website that lets you make the most use of your online investment portfolios. The site’s data import tools allow you to easily and quickly setup your portfolio account by bringing in data from external brokerage sites with a few clicks. You not only get to see all your accounts in one place but also have easy access to portfolio analytical tools supported by real time data and visualizations. Wikis also cover company reviews and performance metrics, making your investment decisions all the more sounder. The Money School is where you should go if you are just starting out with personal finance and investing.

StockMapper

Stock heat maps are visual aids which constantly update and tell you what’s going up and what’s down in the financial markets. StockMapper is a collection of many such heat maps which reflect the volatility of today’s financial markets. The stock heat maps cover some of the major exchanges like NASDAQ, NYSE, and Eurotrac. You can use the heat maps as a ‘dashboard’ and apply filters to get the information you want according to all the relevant indices (there’s a 3-D map too). Clicking on the color coded stock points also brings up news feeds related to that particular stock or company.

FINVIZ

This site is another stock visualization tool. The stock screener also works with various filters and you can even create your own custom screeners and map it to the online portfolio for the stocks you want to focus on. You can save them as presets and use them later too. The web app supports multiple charts with which you can monitor aspects like different sectors, futures and forex markets, or high performing stocks easily (among other things).

Guru Focus

Learning how the best investors invest can fast track you and your investment pile. The site doesn’t have a direct portfolio management tool but it’s job is to guide you to pick the right stocks. The site serves investment ideas through financial news, insights, and commentaries. The site is not about short term investing. The Real Time Guru Picks is a membership based feature but most parts of the website are free.

Stockpickr

The site is part of The Street network of financial information websites. It also found a place in Times annual list of best websites (2007). As the name says, all the financial hints on the site comes from tracking the portfolios of many of the top mutual and hedge funds and super investors like Warren Buffett, Wally Weitz, and George Soros. The articles that fall under Stock Ideas are must read for helpful insights. If you have time on your hands checkout The Stock Game for some real-time simulated stock trading.

Yahoo Finance

Yahoo Finance along with Wikinvest finds a place on our 107 Best Websites on The Web list. Along with financial headlines, you get you get free stock quotes, portfolio management resources, international market data, message boards, and mortgage rates. Also, Yahoo Finance is localized just like its main portal for some major countries around the world. Some new features to look at include the streaming codes, smart lookup for to find quotes faster, a new personal finance section, and more. Then of course, there’s the Experts panel and Money Guides among the tools.

Financial Times

This top-notch publication needs no introduction. For worldwide coverage of the latest financial trends, this publication is the one to read. But then it also covers regional markets like Asia, the Middle East, and India just as well. Don’t forget to check out the lineup of tools (as in the screenshot) or the many blogs that are on the second tier of the website.

MarketWatch

Anything from Wall Street Journal is a must read if you want to invest wisely. Apart from the topics, companies, people, investment aids, and markets in the news, do take a look at the podcasts and the Virtual Stock Exchange Game. The section on investments has a range of tools that could help to make your decisions more carefully planned out. For instance, the list of top IPO performers (and worst too), mutual fund comparisons, and the other screening tools are worth a bookmark. The My Portfolio section is lets you track your investments.

The eight sites and their investment tools are for the serious investor. You would need a fair degree of know-how to tackle the data that’s thrown out. Reading our other wealth related articles could lay the groundwork. Here are some of them:

• 5 Websites Where You Can Learn To Invest Money
• 5 Great Apps That Let You Send, Track, Manage & Do More With Your Money
• 10 Financial Websites That Help You Stay On Top Of The Market
• 10 YouTube Channels To Learn How To Invest Money
• 5 Free Website Stock Tickers for Financial Geeks

When it comes to investing, which are the financial websites you follow?