Want a low-cost, real-time, and comprehensive guide to personal investments? Try the Internet.

By Shilpa Nayak

The hardest thing about investing, most people would agree, is not finding money to do so. Rather, the trouble is in finding somebody who can give you the most appropriate advice, is reliable, doesn't cost you the earth and, more importantly, is available when you want him.

In real life, don't even bother looking for this utopian combination. More often than not, the investment advisor is trying to sell you instruments where he gets the most cut, or trying to stretch your investment budget so that he can take home a bigger fee.

Fortunately, there is an eight-letter answer to your investing problem: internet. You not only can trade online, but also research stocks, access investment advisory, and track portfolio anytime from anywhere. Here's how to get the most bang for your buck-using the internet:

E-Trading: Hassle-Free

You probably don't think it is safe to trade online. But truth be told, it is as safe as trading offline. Listen to what Sajid Contractor, a 33-year-old, full-time investor who e-trades on ICICI Direct, has to say: ''Net trading saves me a lot of time and energy, and even money, when compared to offline trading. I no longer have to wait for three days for the broker to give me the cheque, the money is credited online into my bank account.''

The lure of e-trade is its low transaction costs, and the thrill it provides an investor to execute a trade on her own. The transaction costs are economical due to the seamless way in which the Net connects the retail investor, brokers, and intermediaries. Brokerage rates are low, too, at 0.5 per cent for delivery-based transactions and 0.10 per cent for trading deals. That apart, e-wallets-such as the ones at sharekhan.com and icicidirect.com-allow you stay abreast of market developments.

Content: A Goldmine Of Information

There's tonnes and tonnes of information available out there in cyberspace. Don't know the difference between debt and equity? No problem. Trawl the Net. Want to know the basics of balancesheet and profit and loss statements? Again, hit the Net. Apart from such tutorials, the Net offers real-time information on your portfolio of companies: intra-day stock movements, news about events that affect the stock's performance, and regular corporate updates.

Manish Kanchan, CIO of AW Holding, for instance, doesn't have a net trading account, but still manages to monitor his portfolio using Sify's walletwatch.com. ''Particularly for equities, walletwatch gives you a lot of research options, and since they outsource research, their opinion is neutral,'' says Kanchan. Agrees Badal Saboo, 30, Head of Brand Development at Arvind Mills: ''The links that sites like walletwatch and moneypore provide are enough for me to make my investment decisions.''

If you are a skilled investor and interested in technical analysis of stocks, you can do that, too, online. ICICI direct gives you access to metastock, a primer on technical analysis. So do sharekhan and myiris. Other sites such as rediff give you a lot of information on mutual funds and fresh public issues. And do you know what's so good about doing your own research? One, it makes you appreciate the effort involved in making investment decisions and, two, it pins the responsibility on you for your investment losses or gains.

Advisory Services: It Pays To Listen

There are several investment advisory services available on the Net. Sharekhan, for example, offers expert advice for free, while walletwatch charges a fee. Both the sites have tied up with investment consultant P.N. Vijay, but walletwatch charges Rs. 500 for any number of queries on up to 20 stocks for a period of three months. Says Vivek Bali, President, walletwatch: ''In fact, we have some members from Africa who work in Indian embassies, and want to keep track of investment back home.''

Many of the e-wallets offer online chats with experts, who field investor queries on subjects ranging as wide as equities, mutual funds, tax, and homeloans. Even hot market tips are available online. Kotakstreet.com, for example, has a Market Buzz section that picks up stockmarket gossip, and walletwatch does something similar with its Market Whispers. Some others, however, steer clear of serving up market rumours, preferring to let investors make their own decisions. Says Anup Bagchi, Chief Executive Officer of ICICI Direct, which has 1.05 lakh net trading customers: ''Our philosophy is to give all decision-making tools in the hands of our investors. We don't think it is approporiate to give them tips.''

Tracking Tools: Handy Alerts

Of all the tools available in e-wallets, the most popular going around is the portfolio tracker. Like walletwatch's Pack and Track, rediff's portfolio tracker helps users build and maintain stock portfolios. You can even set high and low price limits for individual stocks, get e-mail alerts when either of these limits is reached, and decide whether or not you want to buy or sell at those levels.

Another cool tool is order queueing. You don't have to wait for the stockmarkets to open before placing an order. You can do it before hitting the sack, and the computer will place the order as soon as the markets open. Then, there are some nifty planners for retirement, investment, and tax. Besides, there are other facilities such as helplines which are available. Make the most of them.
  

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