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Although most brokerage houses are honest businesses, there are some that are not above playing fast and loose with your funds.Once you sign your money over to them, they are in control it and getting it invested the way you want, when you want is like fighting an uphill battle.

Brokerage firms can offer advice on how to invest your money, but sometimes you can run into serious trouble with a stockbroker if you are not paying attention.There are some stockbrokers that are more interested in their own pocketbook then they are in making money for you.They can neglect to buy when you've placed an order, they can advise you to make a transaction which creates commissions for him instead of profits for you, or they can misrepresent you and your interests in any other way with his own interests in mind instead of yours.

However, despite what you may have thought, it is not necessary to hire a stockbroker in order to invest your money.You can do it all yourself.All it takes is a little bit of homework and an ability to take advantage of free or cheap information available to you in any library, on any bookshelf or on the Internet.

There are several ways that you can cash in on markets and funds, and there are many free or reasonably-priced information sources available to help you research your investments.Take responsibility of your own future and educate yourself on investing because nobody wants your money to increase faster than you do.

You don't have to be a big-time investor to do the same kind of investigating top security analysts do.A security analyst gleans information from the financial statements of major companies around the world.As a smaller, individual stockholder, there is nothing to keep you from taking advantage of this source of free public information.
Some of the important information located on financial statements include:
- Deviations and inconsistencies: Look for any areas where the company broke away from trends or otherwise acted unusual.Especially compare the information presented in stockholders reports with the material filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).These sources might be able to show you places where taxes were deferred, depletion allowances, and different tax credits.
- Inventory figures: These figures are the company's heart and soul. They can tell you whether the raw materials on hand match the finished products being shipped out, and whether work in progress is keeping up with production.
- Accounts receivable: These can show you a company's policy on handling allowances for doubtful accounts. If the ratio to receivables is down, the company is manufacturing false earnings. If it is up, they might be heading into trouble. An accounts receivable can also let you compare this year's receivables' activity to previous years.
- Accounts payable: You can spot potential cash problems in a company by investigating the accounts payable section of the financial statement. If the company pays its bills on time in one lump sum, it is in good financial condition. If you notice that bill payments are getting stretched out, the company might be having cash flow problems.

Other ways to get free information on investing are:

Be Your Own Broker:If you enjoy investing in government securities, you can cut out the broker's price by buying you own Treasury notes and bonds directly from the Federal Reserve Bank.

Do Your Own Forecasting Through Technical Analysis: Technical analysis is predicting the major trends of a particular stock by studying its price pattern.

Watch The Indicators: Although trends on the Dow Jones Industrial Average are reliable sources of market information, it is not the only method for predicting market movements. Some of the other indicators to use in conjunction with the Dow can be the Quotron Change, the Over-the-Counter Composite Index, the Dow Jones Transportaiton Average, the Dow Jones Utilities Average, and TRIN.

Ask the Investor Relations Officer: When all else fails, you can ask a company's investor relations officer (IRS) for information about a corporation's status.

In summary, you are not limited to getting investment help from your stock broker.There are many ways you can find information out there that is available to the public.Just realize that it will take some time to research.Read all the information you can find on the subject.

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