Portfolio Tracking Tools

There are numerous options to track a stock market portfolio, which makes it important to review the features of the different types to determine which fit your investments and goals.

Consolidation

If your assets are held in diverse locations like mutual fund companies and dividend reinvestment plans, using a computer-based financial program can bring all of your holdings into one spot for tracking. The best known programs such as Microsoft Money and Quicken can pull prices from the Internet and update your values.

Practice

The online financial websites provide portfolio tracking tools that are great for practice investment and trading. They will calculate your returns and let you allow for commissions. Yahoo! Finance, Google Finance and MarketWatch.com have excellent portfolio tools.

Real Money

The online stock brokerage sites such as TD Ameritrade and E*Trade have excellent portfolio tools. If you have an account, explore the website to see the services offered.

Social Investing

If you want to see how your portfolio performance stacks up against others, there are websites that compare the performance of individual portfolios. One website that allows you to compare your portfolio to others and post your opinions is MarketGuru.com.

Features

When comparing different options, it is important to determine how they handle commissions, dividends paid, price updates and cash balances.

References

• Market Guru Guide
• Yahoo! Finance

Resources

• MarketGuru.com