Personal Finance

Investing newbie questions

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  • Oct 13th, 2012 6:27 am
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Deal Addict
May 7, 2006
2372 posts
149 upvotes
Toronto

Investing newbie questions

Hey guys

I've saved up some cash in the bank that is just sitting there. I don't want to put it in funds in the bank because I am not impressed by my parents' portfolios with investment companies or banks.
I'd rather read up on companies, which I like as interesting reading anyways, and I'd like to control my own funds without paying some broker to profit a percentage of my dough for just selling me a fund that just sits there anyways.

My question is:
What websites do you guys suggest for
- tracking funds - Google?
- business news
- explanations of how markets, bond prices, interest rates, metal prices, stock prices, work (kinda confusing sometimes but important to understand nonetheless)

(I'm kinda curious on investing in overseas companies too, just wondering about that...)

What sites do you suggest to do investment transactions?
My requirements are: simple to use, not too expensive (I know it depends on how much cash you have...)

- bank? (I bank with TD and RBC funds)
- Questrade? (I know it's cheap but personally, I found it a royal pain in the ***** to use with the hold funds period of 7 days, 2-3 website platforms each with their own passwords etc

I'm pretty tired of bank managers giving me bad advice on funds, based on unsound to nil knowledge on the market situations.

Thanks!
2 replies
Deal Addict
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Nov 28, 2010
1249 posts
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Tracking Funds - MINT.com
Business news/recent stocks, bonds etc - Bloomberg
:arrow: JussB
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Mar 13, 2012
865 posts
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aokec wrote: My question is:
What websites do you guys suggest for
- tracking funds - Google?
- business news
- explanations of how markets, bond prices, interest rates, metal prices, stock prices, work (kinda confusing sometimes but important to understand nonetheless)
Explanations on markets:
Maybe you can start with Investopedia for some general overview... Not sure how Newbie you are.
Finiki is another good place for investing information & explanations.
Slanted and often taken with a grain of salt articles from the Globe Finance site & Mutual Funds.
If you have more then $50K you maybe interested in Index investing.
Tax information and proper portfolio allocations.

Tracking funds:
Google is pretty good for stocks, news & portfolio related news.
Globe & Mail is not too bad for portfolio tracking & news.
Morningstar Portfolio is will have most funds for tracking purposes but not much news.
Yahoo Finance is good for stocks & news but doesn't do CDN mutual funds.
(I'm kinda curious on investing in overseas companies too, just wondering about that...)
Larger trading desks will allow you to purchase offshore equities on foreign exchanges but it will cost you. Beware of tax complications and non-recoverable tax credits.
You can purchase may foreign companies by through ADR's which is pretty cool.
Check the NYSE regional listings to get an idea of foreign listed equities.
What sites do you suggest to do investment transactions?
My requirements are: simple to use, not too expensive (I know it depends on how much cash you have...)

- bank? (I bank with TD and RBC funds)
- Questrade? (I know it's cheap but personally, I found it a royal pain in the ***** to use with the hold funds period of 7 days, 2-3 website platforms each with their own passwords etc
I won't even speak about Questrade... Buyer beware for anything outside simple stock trading.
There is plenty of information on RFD about brokers, big bank trading desks and other information. If you have lot's of cash to manage TDW & RBC are probably the better ones but as I said... Do your homework and scan RFD for broker feedback & recommendations. Financial Webring is also a great resource.
I'm pretty tired of bank managers giving me bad advice on funds, based on unsound to nil knowledge on the market situations.

Thanks!
Aren't we all... Educate yourself and avoid any advice from banks on your personal finances & investing. There are lots of blogs & easy to read books for you to start with. It's all up to you and it isn't really that hard to manage your own finances. All I can recommend: Pay down & eradicate debt before investments, save like heck and take full advantage of compounding over time!
If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you even tried.

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