Everybody talks about ithow much you can save , and earn, when you start an online investment program. If you've decided you're ready to find out what all the excitement's about, you're in luck. Investing Online For Dummies has been completely revised and updated with the latest tools, Web sites, rule changes, and tips that can make online investing easy and profitable.To be a successful online investor, you need to know your way around the Web and you also need to understand something about investments. Investing Online For Dummies can help you make sound financial decisions by: Outlining basic investment fundamentals Explaining how stock options work and helping you determine the value of your employee stock option plan Pointing out costly traps and ways to avoid them Directing you to resources that provide information you need and helping you make sense of it Showing you how to use the Internet to become a savvy investor This 5 th edition of Investing Online For Dummies provides clear instructions and ample illustrations, taking you from the basics of online investing to making your own online stock transactions to purchasing bonds online. A few of the things you'll discover: What's important in an online brokerage and how to locate one that meets your needs How to find Internet resources that help you select mutual funds How to use stock online screens to find investment candidates that will move you toward your financial goals Where to look for direct stock purchase and ShareBuilder plans that let you invest online for as little as $25 a month How Internet tools can help you analyze and choose stocks and bonds The secrets to paying the lowest commissions when trading online There's so much information available on the Internet that you can easily feel overwhelmed. Investing Online For Dummies leads you through that maze, showing you how to get started, what you really need to know, where to go online to find it, and how to get the process underway. When it comes to choosing which cruise to take to celebrate your success, however, you're on your own!

Kathleen Sindell is the author of Managing Your Money Online For Dummies (Wiley, 2004), Safety Net: Protecting Your Business on the Internet (Wiley, 2002), Loyalty Marketing for the Internet Age (Dearborn, 2000), The Unofficial Guide to Buying a Home Online (Hungry Minds, 2000), and A Hands-On Guide to Mortgage Banking Internet Sites, a separate directory published by Mortgage Banking Magazine (2000, 1999, 1998, 1997). Dr. Sindell is a contributing author to the Encyclopedia of Computer Science (Groves Dictionaries Inc., 2000) and the online investing columnist for Investor Direct magazine (1999). She is the author of The Handbook of Real Estate Lending (McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing, 1996). Dr. Sindell is an expert on electronic commerce and is an adjunct faculty member at the Johns Hopkins University MBA program. She is the former Associate Director of the Financial Management and Commercial Real Estate Programs for the University of Maryland, University College Graduate School of Management and Technology. Dr. Sindell provides consulting and publications about management, finance, security, and real estate in the e-commerce environment. Her goal is to improve the quality of life and economic well-being of people and business organizations by providing information that they might not otherwise have or understand. She received her B.A. in Business from Antioch University, an MBA in Finance from the California State University at San Jose, and a PhD in Administration and Management from Walden University, Institute for Advanced Studies.