Best Investing Tweets
Zerohedge comes from an anonymous Wall Street refugee (refugees?) who fires off tweets that color the industry's rose-colored forecasts with a heavy dose of reality. Zerohedge is credited with bringing flash trading to public scrutiny.
Best Investing Blog
RealClearMarkets.com is a collection of research and commentary on finance, the economy and politics gathered daily from top money managers, economists and journalists. It's where insiders go before their cup of morning Joe.
Best Market Indicators
Two numbers that filter out the noise.
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The jobless rate is typically a lagging indicator, but today it also looks ahead. That's because it provides clues about the direction of consumer spending, which accounts for 70% of the U.S. economy.
Another is the Chicago Board Options Exchange Market Volatility Index (symbol VIX). The "fear gauge" is a measure of stock-market volatility. Most worry when the VIX is high, but smart investors turn cautious when volatility is low and investors have become complacent.
Best Free Data
For financial info, go to these sites.
For one-stop shopping, go to Yahoo Finance. You can find key statistics, interactive charts, and stories from the top financial Web sites on every U.S. stock. If you want to really dig, the Securities and Exchange Commission's SEC.gov offers every filing from every public company.