| BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : MAY 24, 1999 ISSUE | ||||||||
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| COVER STORY
'A Diversity of Thought' ROBERTA MEYER: Schoolteacher Roberta Meyer is an old-fashioned buy-and-hold investor with just under $1 million, mostly in fixed-income instruments and mutual funds. But when researching investments, she is on the cutting edge. Before work, the 56-year-old health-careers teacher at Miami Senior High School drinks her coffee at her PC. She darts in and out of bulletin boards and sites including fundsinteractive.com and fundalarm.com. She also posts messages seeking advice. For example, she recently shopped for value investments to balance a portfolio that had grown lopsided due to the strength of growth stocks. Then, Meyer checks performance data at Morningstar.Net, confers with her husband, Samuel, and places orders online or by phone with Charles Schwab or Fidelity. The value search led her to 3M MMM, General Motors GM, and Washington Mutual Investors Fund. Meyer occasionally buys stocks online at Fidelity. Two winners: AT&T T and software maker Omega Research. Meyer says the Web makes her a better investor by exposing her to ''a diversity of thought.'' Yes, ''some of it is garbage.'' But with her portfolio up 26% in 1997 and 30% in 1998, Meyer considers her time investing online a worthwhile education--high praise from a teacher. By Anne Tergesen _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP |
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 Your Guide to Online Investing COVER IMAGE: Our Guide to Online Investing CHART: The Biggest Online Brokers TABLE: Broker Scoreboards TABLE: Online Brokers That Meet Your Needs Gotta Do the Legwork ``A Diversity of Thought'' Testing the Waters Commentary: Why Old-Line Firms Need New Online Tricks TABLE: Full-Service Dream The Right Tools for the Right Trades Street.Cop TABLE: Smart Investing on the Web TABLE: Web Resources for Online Investors Rocket Science Made Simple TABLE: Quant for a Day How to Seal a Great Bond Deal TABLE: Where to Buy...And Get Info What to Read: The Good, the Bad, and the Terrible TABLE: Wired-Up Investing Books Investor Beware of Web Talk TABLE: Separating Fact from Fiction TABLE: Cross Checkers Smells Fishy? Tell the SEC This EDGAR Is a Real Know-It-All TABLE: Searching the SEC Commentary: Analyst Calls: Let Investors Listen TABLE: Calling All Netizens The Barker Portfolio: A Battle Plan for Accidental Investors Inside Wall Street: Wells Fargo Online CHART: The Rise Trails Other Banks Inside Wall Street: Bidding for 3COM? CHART: Prior Takeovers Fizzled Out Inside Wall Street: A TV-To-Net Linkup CHART: ACTV's Rise Is Due to E-Commerce INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online | |||
