Investment
Strategies, Inc.
Strategy Update

www.isi-su.com.

Investor Internet                
Resource Links

Interest Rate Tracking Services & Resources . . .

• iMoneyNet:  a leading source for money market mutual funds, including highest yielding funds.  Here are the 7-day yields for the three largest and best known money market funds, listed by size as of 2/3/2012:
• 1.)  0.04 %  Fidelity Cash Reserve
• 2.)  0.04 %  Vanguard Prime Money Mkt
• 3.)  0.06 %  Schwab Cash Reserve

•  Bankrate:  is a leading source for financial rate information.  Bankrate tracks about 4,800 financial institutions in all 50 states.  They claim "to provide clear, objective, and unbiased rates to consumers".  In addition, their website states that Bankrate "provides free rate information to consumers on more than 300 financial products, including mortgages, credit cards, new and used automobile loans, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, checking and ATM fees, home equity loans and online banking".

•  EmigrantDirect:  is a division of Emigrant Bank, with operations since 1850, offering an FDIC insured savings account with a current, as of 2/3/2012, annualized 0.6% yield and no service fees or minimum balance requirements for personal and trust accounts.

•  ING Direct:  is part of the internationally financial giant ING with banking, insurance and asset management operations in over 50 countries offering an FDIC insured savings account with a current, as of 2/3/2012, annualized 0.80% yield (Variable Rate effective 1/6/12) and no service fees or minimum balance requirements for personal accounts.

Market-related websites - fee & free . . .

• Decision Point:  a one of the very best websites for the independent investor.   Past winner of Best of the Web from Forbes Magazine, this is one of Mr. Sabby's all-time favorite market data resources.  It has one of the most extensive database and extensive charting found anywhere on the Internet.  Some parts are free, most require a nominal monthly subscription fee. 

• Dividend Reinvestment Investment Plans or DRIPs offer an excellent means to purchase stock without a broker and without paying commissions (for a large but not all public companies).  In addition, DRIPs can be way to build a stock portfolio employing dollar-cost-averaging, which has been proven to be a successful method to long-term investing. 
• One well known source to investigate for investing in DRIPs, including the ability to purchase one-share of stock to start a DRIP with an individual company, is www.CompterShare.com  which is affiliated to a number of companies providing a range of services to corporations and independent investors.  Do your homework. 

www.us.computershare.com

• MarketWatch:  is powered by Dow Jones and several respected sources.   It's easy to use, has great graphics and excellent search capabilities.  The website expands beyond the equity markets for coverage of a wide range of financial subjects and resources.  It's free, but there are numerous resource links that are commercial, fee-based, business entities.

• Save and Invest.org:  is a free public service of the NASD Investor Education Foundation—and the result of a civic lawsuit settlement.  Its goal is to help investors with objective advice, unbiased investing resources and simple to use financial tools.  The NASD claims that there's no sales pitch or confusing advice.  Although it's aimed at helping U.S. military personnel and their families, their helpful advice and resources are available to all investors.

Periodicals - print & via website. . .

• The Wall Street Journal: is the benchmark financial daily newspaper now has a comprehensive online site.  Beyond the no cost daily pages, a free two-week subscription is available online for the entire website.  The cost is very reasonable, especially compare to the print versions of both publications. Mr. Sabby and ISI have been a print and/or Internet subscriber for over 36 years.

• BARRON'S: is a leading weekly market-focused news magazine. Content is split between free and subscription.  BARRON's  is owned by Dow Jones & Company, which also publishes the daily Wall Street Journal described above.  BARRON'S is an indispensable source for investment professionals, and can be extremely helpful to individual investors in stocks and mutual funds.  Weekly columns and a quarterly mutual fund report (provided by Lipper) are examples of the depth offered by this resource.  Early ISI research utilized BARRON'S publications on microfilm from the 1920s on to the current era.  BARRON'S is a must have resource for the independent investor.

• The Economist: one of the oldest weekly financial magazines in publication, source of excellent international economic and market analysis, delivered in a concise, witty manner.  It also has one of the best websites with powerful graphics and a thoughtful site map.  ISI has been a subscriber for over 16 years, currently to the Internet based subscription service.

• Forbes: an excellent biweekly business magazine, noted for independent observations.  Its annual mutual fund survey is one of the best anywhere, especially for presenting performance in market cycles which provides an important and unique analysis.

• Notable and well worth the investment of time and effort is the semi-annual  Forbes Mutual Fund Survey.  It's one the very best resources for finding the best mutual fund managers, based upon their performance over full market cycles.  The 2007 Mutual Fund Survey covers four bull and bear markets since January 1994.  Funds are graded on a curve, from A+ to F, and the cream of the crop is separated and noted as Best Buys.  The very best-of-the-best are further designated with a * which indicates the fund as a part of the Forbes Honor Roll.  Click on the icon to the right for a direct link to the current survey.
• Click here for ISI's List of Top Performing All-Season Funds, complied from ISI's independent analysis of the 2007 Forbes Mutual Fund Survey.

clink icon below for a direct link to the 2007 Forbes Mutual Fund Survey

• The 2008 Mutual Fund Survey covers four bull and bear markets since June 1994.  Click here for the Forbes 2008 Mutual Fund Honor Roll with a listing of 10 different mutual funds rated the best by Forbes for both up and down market performance.
• Click here for a link to Forbes 2008 Best Buys in Balanced Funds, with low costs (sales loads, internal expenses, etc.) and acceptable risk-adjusted returns over the past five years.  From the 2008 Forbes Mutual Fund Survey.
• Click here for a link to Forbes 2008 Best Buys in Global Stock Funds with a listing of five globally-focused stock funds.  From the 2008 Forbes Mutual Fund Survey.
• Click here for a link to Forbes 2008 Best Buys in Socially Responsible Funds with a listing of five mutual funds with a focus on investing in socially responsible public companies.  From the 2008 Forbes Mutual Fund Survey.

clink icon below for a direct link to the 2008 Forbes Mutual Fund Survey

• The 2009 Mutual Fund Survey - published in January '09 - covers four bull and bear markets from June 30, 1994 to December 31, 2008.  Click here for the Forbes 2009 Mutual Fund Honor Roll with a listing of 10 different mutual funds rated the best by Forbes for both up and down market performance.
• Click here for a link to Forbes 2009 Best Buys with a listing of cost sensitive funds with good track records.  From the 2009 Forbes Mutual Fund Survey.
• Click here for a link to The Best & Worst Performers for 2009 with a listing of the top and bottom mutual funds for 2008 along with their respective 5-year returns.   From the 2009 Forbes Mutual Fund Survey.

clink icon below for a direct link to the 2009 Forbes Mutual Fund Survey

• The 2010 Mutual Fund Survey - published in January 2010 - covers 2,710 funds for various market cycles.  For U.S. domestic stock funds, Forbes ranked for three bull and bear markets from June 30, 1998 to December 31, 2009. 
• Click here for the Forbes 2010 Mutual Fund Honor Roll with a listing of 10 different mutual funds rated the best by Forbes for both up and down market performance.
• Click here for a link to Forbes 2010 Clever vs. Clueless selections with a listing of cost sensitive funds with good track records.  From the 2010 Forbes Mutual Fund Survey.
• Click here for a link to The Best & Worst Performers for 2009 with a listing of the top and bottom mutual funds for 2009 along with their respective 5-year returns.   From the 2010 Forbes Mutual Fund Survey.