“When your dream appears as an opportunity, you must have ready cash to take it home with you.”

- Anonymous

Welcome to Money-Smarts, MsMoney.com's weekly newsletter of financial facts, features, and tools. Money-Smarts is designed to provide quick and useful information to help secure your financial future. Enjoy, and tell a friend about MsMoney.com!

In This Week's Issue:

• Market Summary for Friday, November 17, 2000
• Tips for the Week: Daily Advice to Help Get You Through the Week
• Read the Latest: The Ups and Downs of Trading Online
• Run the Numbers: Which Mutual Fund Will Give You the Best Return?

Market Summary for Friday, November 17:

Close

Net Change

Percent Change

DJIA

10629.87

-26.16

-0.25%

NASDAQ

3027.21

-4.67

-0.15%

S&P 500

1367.71

-4.61

-0.34%

30-Year Bond

5.77%

-----

N/A

Source: Reuters

Tips for the Week: Daily Advice to Help Get You Through the Week

Monday: To combat inflation risk, consider investing in growth-oriented securities. Just how large a portion you should invest in equities is best determined by your investment goals, time horizon, and tolerance for market risk. Learn more about investing in stocks.

Tuesday: It's not enough to be doing a good job today; you have to prepare yourself for the future by keeping abreast of new innovations in your field and readying yourself for the next step in your career path. Learn more about keeping one step ahead in your career.

Wednesday: Investments with the greatest return potential carry the greatest amount of risk. Likewise, investments with conservative returns are generally the least risky. The key is to strike a balance between your financial objectives and your ability to tolerate market risk. Learn more about the risk/return trade-off.

Thursday: Keep a diary of all your financial transactions and ideas. Use the diary to identify successful trends and breakthroughs. Capitalize on your own successes to grow your wealth.

Friday: While you can earn free plane tickets through mileage credit cards, avoid carrying a balance because the interest rates can be sky-high steep. Click here to compare mileage to low-rate credit cards.

Read the Latest: The Ups and Downs of Trading Online
By Kara Stefan

I always figured if I tried to get my own broker or financial planner, I wouldn't be taken seriously based on my meager asset base and middle management income.

That fear--or the intimidation factor--is probably the number one reason I waited so long to start investing. Well okay, that and having no money left over at the end of the month to invest, no idea where to invest it if I did, and no idea how to begin.

But the Internet has changed all of that. Now I have access to gobs of user-friendly information and don't even have to reveal my investment ignorance to a professional who would much prefer to deal with old money or a dot com millionaire. I'm empowered--I can do it all myself.

In short, I can choose an online broker. More-->

Run the Numbers: Which Mutual Fund Will Give You the Best Return?

Click here to compare mutual fund performances to determine which will yield a higher return.

Questions

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