Investing Online For Dummies

by Matthew Krantz

Investors are becoming a lot more independent these days. With the stock market sinking and soaring from day to day, retirement plans becoming less certain, and a longer life expectancy in retirement, more people are looking for some control over their investments. If you’re one of them, Investing Online For Dummies, 6th Edition might be just what you’re looking for. The Internet brings a world of investment resources to your desktop, but how do you find your way through the dizzying array of investment possibilities? The Dummies Way, of course! This book helps you set reasonable expectations, assess your risk tolerance, choose an asset allocation, analyze and select investments, and maximize your financial success. You’ll discover how to If you’ve decided to take control of your investments but don’t want to make it your full-time job, Investing Online For Dummies, 6th Edition gives you the important information that will also give you confidence. Completely updated to cover all the new online tools and resources, it even provides some bonus assistance on the companion Web site.

Genres: Finance, Business, Economics, Reference, Money, Nonfiction, Personal Finance

408 pages, Paperback

First published December 26, 2007

Reviews

[David Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book I read to research this post was Investing Online For Dummies by Matt Krantz which is an excellent book which I bought from kindle. Two highly regarded websites for financial information are Yahoo Finance at http://finance.yahoo.com & Google Finance at http://google.com/finance. At one time if you wanted to invest money you found a broker and he did all the investing with your money. Nowadays with the internet there is a much more exciting option in that you can do your own research and investing via the internet and you haven't got to pay commission to a broker. Some sites like http://zecco.com let you do your transactions for free as long as you invest a certain amount with them. Wells Fargo & Bank of America do a similiar thing. There is also some financial services sites where you can either subscribe to their information service for a set fee per month or sometimes they waive that if you have a certain amount of assets or invest a certain amount. Of these kinds of sites Bloomberg which is very pricey is the best known. When you invest in a stock a lot of people tell the broker site they want to automatically sell their shares when it either goes up or down and reaches a certain amount or alternatively they will keep it a set period and then automatically sell. This book covers many of the types of investments there are such as futures, options & ETF's etc. One final thing worth noting is this is an american edition so if you live in a different country it won't cover your tax situation.

[T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book explaining both the fundamentals of investing, and the fundamentals of the new online world of investing. As with any in the "Dummies" series, the point of the book is to lay a foundation of general understanding in a certain field of study, and this book accomplishes that goal. I think you will find your experience to be much like mine, you take certain tips from the book and then move forward with them and do deeper research. I was needing some help in understanding the direction I wanted to take in my own investing, and this book helped me make that determination. As you read about the differences between stocks and bonds, for example, I think you will find yourself learning to one more than the other and may walk away from this book with a better investment strategy.

The biggest con of this book is that you are presented with so many websites and online options its almost more intimidating then when I started my search. I was looking for one or two online brokers to open my account with, and unfortunately, this book did not help me narrow down my options. That being said, because of all the different online resources discussed, I found myself jotting several down because I had never considered the angle that website had on a certain investment area.

Overall, this is a very insightful read for a beginning investor. I would recommend it to anyone fitting the role of a rookie investor.

[Karim Khashan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book twice to really make sure I got everything out of it. The second time included a pen and a notebook. After taking about 40 pages worth of knowledge I put the book down and owned online investing from every angle. My life knows nothing but the stock market and its bullish bearish moments. Anyone know any other good investing books to read?

[Peter Moreno · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informational.

I have recently been considering investing online and this book has provided useful information and I feel more comfortable trying my hand in this confusing game.

[Ariadna73 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Makes me feel like investing. Actually... too complicated for me. If I ever have money; I will spend it in toys instead of lousy investments (just joking...)

[Jochen · Rating 4 out of 5]

good way to start your online investing adventure. Has some good pointers next to a healthy dosage of common sense

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good, basic information. Provides lots of resources and practical advices. Great for beginners and a decent review for the casual online investor.

[Dorothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of general information but not enough details. I felt some topics just skimmed the surface. Provided a lot of website listings.

[Johanna · Rating 1 out of 5]

It wasn't very useful. It recommends a lot of websites and some were like a hole in the wall.

[Bob Benenati · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of online sites.
I will buy this book.

[Jakub · Rating 2 out of 5]

It may be good for a source list, everything else is skippable and better described elsewhere.

[Petar Nestorovic · Rating 5 out of 5]

good book for starting investors. It shows an overall look of different investment styles, some analytic tools and methods as well as tips to make smart investment desitions (and not making them just for greed or fear like most do). Combining this knowledge with books of fundamental analysis, day trading and other financial instruments (ex. options,futures, REIT's) might help active investors to actually beat the market.

[Renzhuo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basic introduction to online investment. Not very useful as a book, but might be good for people with limited knowledge of internet.

[Timothy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars.