Useful Information for Investors

There is a tremendous amount of information available to investors on the worldwide web. Much of it is very useful, but one needs to be extremely careful. There is unfortunately a lot of misinformation, and many con artists are taking advantage of this new medium. Remember that if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

All of the regulatory agencies have web sites, and we encourage you to visit them. The primary federal regulatory agency, the Securities and Exchange Commission has a number of useful areas, including EDGAR, a database of information public companies must file with the SEC, and general investor information.

Each state has a state regulatory authority; you can locate yours at the NASD’s listing of state regulators. Don’t hesitate to call your state regulatory agency to check the credentials of anyone wanting to sell you an investment or to check on a particular product with which you are unfamiliar.

You can check on a prospective broker or brokerage firm through NASD Regulation. This site also has additional useful information for investors.