Looking for the real deal? Help is on the Web

The International Herald Tribune: "For a basic view of a company or fund, a visit to Yahoo Financial is in order. Go to the top of the Yahoo home page (www.yahoo.com) and click the icon for "Finance." Next, type in a ticker symbol or do a search for the symbol by company name. Within seconds, a full page of real-time trading statistics, consolidated financial data and links to related sources, including daily headlines and news releases, will pop up. Yahoo Finance provides information on equities in all major world markets.

Those who prefer to "Google" can use the renowned browser in much the same way. Type in a company's ticker symbol on the "search" line at www. google.com and be linked to a variety of sources, including Yahoo.

Another place to try is the investor relations page on the company's Web site. More and more companies are putting key financial documents online, including quarterly and annual reports and proxy statements. Besides Yahoo, some of Giddy's top picks are Hoover's IPO Central, which offers bulletins on new offerings as well as free pertinent financial statistics, and Fitchratings.com, a site operated by Fitch Ratings, a major global credit rating agency."

CNN WORLD MARKETS. www.money.cnn.com

EDGAR.

www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml

FITCH RATINGS. www.fitchibca.com

HOOVER'S IPO CENTRAL. www.hoovers.com/global/ipoc/ index.xhtml

INVESTOPEDIA.COM. www.investopedia.com

MOTLEY FOOL. www.fool.com

SHIBUIMARKETS. www.shibuimarkets.com

IAN GIDDY'S RESOURCES IN FINANCE. www.giddy.org