MICROCAPS
& SMALLCAPS
Controversy surrounds trading of micro- and
smallcap stocks (microcaps are generally stocks
for companies with between US $5O million and US
$150 million in market capitalization; smallcaps
range from US $150 to US $500 million). While
micro- and smallcaps are relatively inexpensive
and can be extremely profitable, investing in
them is as risky as screwing in a light bulb
while standing on a rolling swivel chair.
Instability abounds. Low trade volumes mean that
movement of even a few shares affects stock
price, and large sales can cause prices to
suddenly crater. Small company stocks are also
sensitive to market volatility and when the
market falls, small stocks often plummet the
fastest. The companies themselves are volatile,
too; small and young companies are much more
subject to failure and loss than established
Firms. Finally, many micro- and smallcap stocks
have wide bid/ask spreads, which means that the
selling and asking price for a stock often vary
by 5 to 15 percent or more. The bid price of a
stock has to increase by the spread amount just
to break even.
Researching micro- and smallcaps call be
difficult, which might make investing seem like
taking shots in the dark. Analysts rarely cover
small company stocks and less information is
generally available on small companies than large
ones. Although there is much talk out there about
micro- and smallcaps, telling useful analysis
from propagandizing puffery can be difficult. The
Stock Detective Guide to Pseudo-Research and
Other Phony Financial Reports (http://www.smallcapinvestor.com/),
reviewed in this section, offers an excellent
list of biased sources and stocks to avoid, as
well as a table of publications featuring
financial disclosures of interest to smallcap
investors.
A good article describing the basics of small
company stock trading is the Beginner's Guide to
Microcap Investing (http://www.smallcapinvestor.com/guide.asp).
Other articles in this category lead you to
indexes, articles, and exchanges for micro- and
smallcap investing.
MICROCAP1000
The MicroCap1000 Index is comprised of 1000
microcap companies selected for liquidity and the
presence of certain growth indicators. Click on
MicroCaps on the Move for a daily report; you'll
find a brief market comparison. Three surging
stocks and three sliding stocks are listed and
briefly analyzed. Stock prices and performances
are updated every 20 minutes in The MicroCap1000
Model Portfolio. Get the edge on continental
stocks at EuroBeat, which features articles on
European smallcaps.
SMALLCAPINVESTOR
One of megasite FinancialWeb.com's 17 sites,
SmallCap Investor offers a strong range of
services to investors. There's a useful
introduction to microcaps, news and quotes on
these stocks, research reports, investing tips,
advice on how to choose a broker, and discussion
on the risks involved. Use the MicroCap 50 Index
(updated daily) to monitor how microcaps are
performing in comparison to smallcap and largecap
stocks, and subscribe to the free newsletter.
13
STEPS TO INVESTING FOOLISHLY: STEP EIGHT,
CONSIDER SMALL COMPANY STOCKS
This page, a thoughtful article, on the Motley
Fool site, explains why microcap stocks should
have a place in your portfolio. It tells why
mutual funds don't invest in these equities and
how this provides opportunities for you as a
small investor. The downside of smallcap
investing is addressed too. Don't shy from
surfing through the site: The Motley Fool has
numerous features for the online investor
(regardless of investment preference) including
bulletin boards, lots of advice (like how to pick
an online broker), a portfolio monitor, stock
quotes, and more.
SILICON
INVESTOR: STOCK TALKFIVE DOLLARS AND UNDER
Silicon Investor is one of the leading sites
for posting questions and messages about stocks.
(Despite the name, it's by no means limited to
technology stocks, although it has a high-tech
emphasis.) This board is dedicated to stocks
priced under US $5 a share. It's a very active
board; there are threads with hundreds - even
thousands - of messages. Remember: some
participants might not be entirely unbiased
observers of the price action of these stocks.
FORBES
200 BEST SMALL COMPANIES
Each November Forbes picks the 200 best small
companies (businesses with annual sales ranging
from US $5 million to US $3SO million) in the US.
A database for these companies can be searched by
a variety of criteria, including sales and return
on equity. Each listing includes a profile of the
company and key financial and business data.
MICROCAP
WORLD
MicroCap World is a great resource for
information on OTCs (over the counter)
securities, which are not listed or traded on an
organized exchange. Registration is free and
provides access to the sections MCW Qualified
Companies, MCW Qualified Analysts, and MCW Client
Companies. The site makes a point of telling you
that, while it might contact you, it won't sell
your contact information to spammers. Curious
about what other investors are saying about
microcaps? Go to Discussion Forums for links to
and reviews on 15 sites with bulletin boards.
NASDAQ-AMEX
This is the site for the combined NASDAQ-AMEX
markets, which merged in October 1998. The NASDAQ
was the world's first "electronic"
(i.e., non-floor-based) stock market. It lists
almost 5,400 companies (more than 1,100 of which
are smallcaps); the AMEX is America's second
largest floor-based exchange. The site includes
NASDAQ history, rules, market activity, and
listing requirements. This is a good resource for
finding quotes, company news, and SEC filings for
both NASDAQ and AMEX securities, as well as
stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange
(NYSE).
SMALL STOCK NEWS
NETWORK
The focus of this site is companies with
market capitals of less than US $300 million. On
the home page, enter a ticker symbol to pull up
closing prices, high/low statistics, volume
traded, and more. There are links to news about
companies, including SEC filings. Each company
listing includes the name of the company's
president and the company's address. This isn't
the easiest site to use; some of the links were
broken at the time of this review, and the page
design is sometimes confusing. Still, it is free.
THE RED CHIP
REVIEW
Unbiased commentary in the small-stock world
is rare. "Research" reports might be
written by public relations people and some
newsletters read like brochures. The Red Chip
Review is praised by industry critics for its
impartial analysis. Red Chip doesn't exactly give
away the store at its site (US $199 a year for an
Internet subscription), but you can sign up for
two free weeks, as well as view sample reports
and read short features.
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Foreign Exchange |
Administration
on Aging |
| Bank
of America |
Bartlett's
Familiar Quotations |
| Bloomberg
Foreign Exchange |
Business
Executive Resources Worldwide |
| The
Business Telephone Etiquette Page |
Business
Writing Tips |
| Charles
Schwab |
Citibank
Direct Access |
| CNBC |
COMFIN |
| Consumerinfo.com |
Credit
411 |
| Credit
Data Exchange |
Currencies |
| CyberInvest's
Guide to Online Banking |
Direct
FX |
| The
Facts on Saving & Investing Campaign |
FX Week |
| MBendi
AfroPaedia |
National
Credit Source |
| National
Partnership: Workplace Fairness |
NationsBank |
| OANDA |
Pacific
Exchange Rate Service |
| Resources
for Business Writers |
The
Retire Early Home Page |
| RetireNet |
Sexual
Harassment |
| SpCom
100A Effective Public Speaking |
Test
Your Business Etiquette |
| ThirdAge |
Tufts
Unviversity Writing Tips Sheet |
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Online |
Virtual
Presentation Assistant |
| Wells
Fargo |
Working
Women Working Together |
| Writing
for Business & Pleasure |
Writing
the Business Plan: Tips & Hints |
Library
of Congress
The U.S. Library of Congress provides online documents
and library publications to conduct historical research
about specific eras and topics in U.S. history.
Discovery Channel
Online
The Discovery Channel brings its entertaining and
educational television content to the Web. The site's
links to the latest science news (either text or audio)
provide environmental news that's not always easy to find
elsewhere on the Web. Read the feature articles, which
like their television counterparts, tell the tales of
nature and history. An encounter with the Discovery
Channel would not be complete without learning more about
animals. There are plenty of affiliated features here,
including Animal Cams, which provides frequently updated
still shots of animals at prominent zoos.
National
Geographic
Learn about geography and other subjects, as well as
learning how to buy and sell collectible items. Other
highlights include Map Machines (which lets you view
physical and political maps), featured exhibits at the
National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C., and of
course the outstanding photography that has made National
Geographic famous.
THEStreet.com
This financial news site helps you keep up on stocks,
funds, market trends and basic financial terminology. The
news available ranges from the tactical (real-time stock
reports) to the strategic (market analyses and company
background reports).
Small Business
Administration
This site provides information on starting, financing
and building a successful business. The Online Library
provides a quick small-business MBA with frequently asked
questions (FAQs) covering things such as setting wages
and whether you need a computer. This site also contains
research reports on topics such as the myths and
realities of working at home, and a section of forms and
publications. Other resources point you to counseling
about how to do things smarter, along with facts on
trademarks, patents and more.
CCH Business
Owner's Toolkit
This site highlights business news of the day on
topics such as product liability law and Occupational
Health and Safety Assurance rulings. The SOHO Guidebook
contains extensive chapters about starting a business,
marketing the product, and managing business finances.
The Business Tools section is packed with checklists,
sample documents, and sample agreements. The Ask Alice
Advice archives feature Q&A discussions on key
issues.
Expedia
This site lets you gather facts and make reservations
for every facet of your own itineraries. When you sign up
for a free membership, Expedia helps you research and
book airfare, train tickets, cruise tickets, rental cars,
lodging and more. You can easily create an itinerary and
let the various wizards find the best setups for your
needs. The program lets you choose a flight, rental car
pick up and drop off times, which are automatically set
up around your flight. This site also includes maps and a
travel magazine.
Entrepreneurial Edge
The guides and structured exercises here help you plan
and execute smart strategies. The articles from Entrepreneurial
Edge magazine explain concepts and throw in
checklists to help you find better ways to motivate
workers, for example. Business Builders are
"interactive modules" that help you step
through a task such as analyzing a market. Many of the
modules intersect.
Entrepreneurial Edge, a service of the Edward Lowe
Foundation, provides information you can use to grow and
improve your business. It offers entrepreneurs a
full-text searchable library of over 3,000 articles and
book chapters, reviews with links to other content-rich
resources, practical "how-to" training modules,
and peer-to-peer interaction.
HandiLinks
Business Directory
This site contains an exhaustive guide and links to
relevant business sites, topics and related newsgroups,
FTP sites and online news.
Business
Ethics Magazine
It's not all about the bottom line in business. There
are plenty of questions about the right way to make a
buck, and this magazine's site helps you think through
some of the tough ones and get the facts that help you do
things right. Articles use concrete examples, many pulled
from real life. Writers try to show how working ethically
also can improve that bottom line. The "What Would
You Do?" feature in each issue is especially
thought-provoking as it presents an ethical situation and
asks readers to ponder their own responses.
Glossary of
Financial Terms
When you're snowed under with financial talk from
business types and legal talk from doctors and lawyers
visit this glossary for help on getting up to speed.
Language,
Culture and Country Information
The wide-ranging resources at this site bring you up
to par on topics to cover at the next overseas meeting.
It also has links providing crash courses in regional
languages and history and keeps you posted on economic,
political and legal developments. The research available
should prove critical to businesses looking to expand
their markets.
American Society for
Quality
The information on this site helps with areas such as
getting various certifications (such as IS0 9000), and
vaguer scenarios such as improving team-work and making
your processes more efficient.
Yahoo!
Trade Magazines Directory
This virtual newsstand of the working world helps you
find a publication that talks shop in your field,
regardless of what your shop might be. Magazines listed
here include those covering hospitality, food, health,
home and garden, office supplies, and much more.
How
To Choose A Lawyer
This site's article on choosing a lawyer, along with
other pieces on relevant topics, help you make an
informed choice. You'll learn, for example, the
difference between choosing a lawyer to handle existing
disputes and hiring one to prevent future ones. The
information should prove helpful, but it comes from a law
firm, so bring your grain of salt.
The
Business Law Site
This site lets you track the laws pertinent to your
situation, with a searchable format and a large
collection of articles with explanations of various
topics, including handling contracts over the Internet
and managing meeting requirements to sell securities in a
company.
SBFocus
This tool cracks down on inquiries on imprecise Web
search engines by searching for keywords only at
small-business sites. The results mean you'll spend less
time digging through long lists of hits, so you won't
stumble over the likes of sites for rock bands named
Reckless Discrimination, for example. Turn to this search
tool before you cast a broader net with something like
the Yahoo! or Lycos search engines.
CNNfn-The Financial Network
As a worldwide leader in news, this site has an
impressive array of financial news and advice on its Web
site. CNNfn provides the latest happenings in the
financial world that can help investors with their
holdings. You'll also find calculators and planners at Quicken.com at fn,
learn more about technology stocks at Digital Jam, and
get tips for saving and investing money. If you want
financial news delivered to you via push technology,
check out Push This, which offers services such as
Marketing Briefing, a service that delivers daily Wall
Street news to your E-mail inbox.
Kiplinger Online
Publications from Kiplinger have provided investment
strategies for nearly 80 years, and much of that same
financial advice is offered on this Web site. This site
includes stock quotes, retirement advice, statistics on
mutual fund performance, and answers to financial
frequently asked questions (FAQs). Especially useful are
Kiplinger's calculators, which let you make decisions
about loans and plan for the future. For a fee you can
subscribe to online publications such as The
Kiplinger Washington Letter.
Microsoft Investor
If you are serious about playing the stock market,
turn to Microsoft Investor. This service's Market Report
is updated three times a day to give you news summary and
links to the performance of the day's most-active stocks.
The service's Portfolio Manager lets you track your
stocks' performance, and there are links to the nation's
top online brokerage firms. You also can sign up for a
free 30-day trial of Microsoft Investor's subscription
features, which include E-mail notification of important
changes in your investments, in-depth mutual fund
reports, tips for long-term stock investments, and
analysts' recommendations.
The Motley Fool
This site provides detailed advice on topics such as
"The 13 Steps to Investing," forming an
investment club, and how to determine the real value of
stocks. You'll also find plenty of the latest financial
news, stock tips, and other helpful advice, including how
to select the stock broker that's right for you. Want to
share tips with other investors? Trade them on the
Community message boards.
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