User Guide

WHETHER YOU ARE an experienced user or a newcomer to SmartMoney.com, you will find it useful to familiarize yourself with everything that our site has to offer. This User Guide — organized into 9 basic categories — provides you with an intuitive way to navigate our site.

First-Time User

SmartMoney.com offers a variety of free interactive research tools. To get started, simply register at our site. Basic registration requires you to provide us with a Username and a Password of four-10 characters each, as well as some demographic information and current email address. This information will then gain you access to the following features: email alerts, stock portfolio, watchlist, advanced charting, forum participation and a customized start page.

The information you provide helps us administer these features and tools. Your demographic information is shared, in aggregated form, with our advertisers. However, we do not supply email addresses to them so that users remain entirely anonymous. For your Username, you are free to use your real name or a set of characters you find easy to remember.

As you surf the site, keep in mind that you can navigate to the major features using the menu on the left-hand side of any SmartMoney.com page, and you can return to the home page by clicking the SmartMoney.com logo. If you need online assistance, visit the customer service page for more information.

Investor

This section targets investment savvy users. If you are interested solely in tracking your portfolio or watching the market, here are some tools that can help you track your investments easily.

• Portfolio Manager
  Track up to 50 portfolios containing 50 securities each. Equity holdings in the portfolio system are updated throughout the trading day.
• Watchlist
  Watch your stocks as you surf the Web and keep track of your holdings minute-by-minute.
• MapStation
  Analyze and instantly act on market trends with MapStation. This tool uses innovative data visualization techniques known as Maps and Profiles that enable you to track the broad market as well as your own portfolios.
• Map of the Market
  View and research the broader market with this state-of-the-art analytical tool.

Market Watcher

As you track your investments, you may want to stay abreast of the latest market news. SmartMoney.com offers the latest stories from all sectors updated throughout the day as often as the news demands. Check out The Market Now section on our home page for hourly market reports and all the latest breaking news articles.

• News Search
  Search the latest front-page news.
• Map of the Market
  View and research the broader market with this state-of-the-art analytical tool.
• Watchlist
  Watch your stocks as you surf the Web and keep track of your holdings minute-by-minute.

Stock Researcher

Further your research and learn about the best investments for you. The Investor Snapshot tool provides long- and short-term comparative performance data, company or fund essentials, major holdings, volatility data, company news, analayst recommendations and more. Additionally, you can read about the companies we recommend and even download information from our Stock Screens so that you can manipulate it as you like in any spreadsheet program.

• Stock Screens
  Read about companies we recommend and learn how we picked them.
• Stock Snapshots
  View long- and short-term comparative performance data, company essentials, major holdings, volatility data, company news, analyst recommendations, key ratios and more.

Mutual Fund Researcher

As you explore your investment choices, you will find it useful to check the Mutual Fund page for funds we recommend or find out how we ranked the funds you chose. Our news portion of the page will enable you to track recommendations, while giving you new ideas for your portfolio.

• Fund Finder
  Find mutual funds that fit your investment criteria and then analyze them with our unique fund screening tool.
• Top 25 Funds
  Slice and dice the SmartMoney.com mutual fund database to find the top performers.

Bond Researcher

Whether you're just starting your investing career or have already amassed a tidy nest egg, your portfolio needs some steady and reliable income. Refer to our Bond page to keep you up-to-date on the latest news and give you new ideas for your portfolio. In this section, you'll also find several bond tools to help you calculate and evaluate your portfolio.

• Bond Market Update
  Read the latest bond market stories and be informed of investment opportunities.
• Goal Setter
  Stay on top of the latest investment opportunities and determine how much you should save.

Retirement Planner

Find investment strategies, advice and tools that can help you make educated financial decisions for your retirement plan. Once you have researched your planning strategies, it is time to determine a course of action. Use the SmartMoney One Asset Allocator to evaluate the right allocation for your investments and to determine your planning strategy.

• Retirement
  Learn how much you should save and how to invest for your retirement.
• 401(k) Planner
  Get advice and tools on building a better 401(k). If done right, your 401(k) can make your golden years a pleasure.

Resource Hunter

For information on important consumer issues ranging from Debt Management to Divorce Planning, check out the Personal Finance section. For users who are looking for ways to take care of problems — personal or financial — our advice section can be your first step towards resolution.

• Real Estate
  Get advice on buying, selling and more.
• College Planning
  Use the tools in this guide to maximize your investment growth.
• Consumer Action
  Read articles on current consumer issues.
• Debt Management
  Use the worksheets and advice in this section to work through any financial issues you may be facing.
• Taxes
  Use our intuitive tax guide to learn everything you need to know about taxes.

Shopper

Keep from squandering your fortune as you build it! Visit these sections of our site to help you find the best deals on consumer items.

• Autos
  Find SmartMoney.com's best new car buys and a guide to auto shopping over the Internet.