What are the Different Tools for Investors?

Many investors make use of different resources or tools in order to make prudent investment decisions regarding the management and growth of an investment portfolio. Some of these tools for investors are designed to aid people just learning to invest, while others are designed for use by individuals and entities that have been investing for years. Today, there are a number of online as well as offline tools for investors that make the tasks of evaluating opportunities, understanding market events, and making wise decisions regarding when to buy or sell much easier for just about every type of investor.

One of the most basic tools for investors is known as the investing calculator. There are actually a couple of different calculators that are in common use. One type focuses on helping a potential investor determine how much money he or she can afford to invest in a given market, without creating any difficulty in meeting day to day financial obligations. This particular calculator can be used by any investor, but is especially helpful for those who are just beginning to build a portfolio and need guidance in how to manage their available finances to best effect.

There are also calculators designed to help investors project returns from different stock options, bond issues, or commodities trading. Here, the focus is on aiding the investor to account for various events and circumstances that are likely to impact the price movement of the security in the marketplace, with a specified period of time. The idea is to help the investor determine if the projected return is considered reasonable in comparison to the degree of risk that is assumed by purchasing the option. Many brokers and dealers provide tools for investors like these on their web sites, making it simple for investors to utilize them at will.

Investment publications are another example of tools for investors that are extremely helpful. Some of these publications are made available by exchanges, while others are published by brokerages or even independent analysts. In times past, publications of this type were often made available in printed form to subscribers. Today, investment newsletters and magazines are also available in electronic form, making it possible for investors to access them through the Internet with relative ease.

Since balancing assets is important to creating a diversified portfolio, many tools for investors focus on helping investors develop and maintain that balance. Tools of this type make it easy to determine what percentage of a portfolio is composed of different types of investment options, such as stocks, bonds, or commodities. These tools can also help investors consider the contents of a portfolio in terms of the risk associated with each investment. Doing so makes it possible to balance the amount of investments that carry very little risk with those that carry considerable risk. Investors often find these tools helpful in matching the contents of the portfolio with their own general concepts of money management, as well as their goals for earning returns on the investments held.