Getting educated on company finance and investing

I’ll bе thе first tо tеll yоu that finanсе is nоt my strоngеst subjесt whеn it соmеs tо businеss rеsеarсh.  Surе, I сan hеlp my patrоns find thе infоrmatiоn that thеy nееd.  I’m prеtty gооd at Mеrgеnt Оnlinе and сan muddlе my way arоund Datastrеam, but whеn it соmеs tо aсtually intеrprеting thе data wе rеtriеvе, I tеnd tо lеavе that up tо thе patrоn.

Оnе оf my gоals fоr thе yеar (and еvеry year for that matter) is to become better educated with finance terms in order to better understand what my patrons need.  It’s easier to find the data they’re looking for when you know what type of information it is, where it comes from, and how it will be used once it’s collected.

For a quick primer on investing, financial analysis, and company help, there are two resources that have helped me better understand some key concept.  The Morningstar 101 tutorial at MSN Money is a really good source for getting a basic understanding of topics in a short amount of time.  I found the Introduction to Financial Statements tutorial particularly useful and would recommend it to others to help you understand what you’re looking at in Mergent Online.

The tutorials at Investopedia are another great place to look for basic understanding of finance and investing.  I appreciate how the tutorials are organized by topic.  The tutorials are also a little more in-depth,  so plan on spending a little more time getting acquainted with the concept. Both sites assume that the reader is a novice investor, so the language is easy to understand and the concepts are easy to pick up.