Investment pricing alerts can help you get the most out of your money by e-mailing updates on stock performance, investment price changes, current market conditions and stock price changes over time.
Your e-mail alerts are based on criteria you select or the investments you want to watch, such as those currently making headline news.
Investment alerts come in different forms, including tracking through a software program. For example, Fund Manager offers real-time monitoring performance of your investments, sending you e-mail alerts based on when your investment value rises or falls above a fixed price.
Many investment companies have their own versions of alerts. Charles Schwab and Company offer a different type of investment alert. It sends e-mails to account holders with stock price changes, earnings updates and market research. If you have an account with Schwab, you can set up these alerts at any time.
Morgan Stanley offers customizable options including e-mail updates on new stocks, and AG Edwards offers customers investment alerts based on particular stocks.
Investment pricing alerts can also come from third-party, subscriber-based services. Poweropt.com offers subscribers pricing alerts based on the market and even filters for price considerations, such as high-return, low-risk opportunities. These pricing alerts aren't advertised as recommendations, but advice on investments-to-watch opportunities that fit one or more of the following:
- Companies trading 3.5 million shares of stock or more a day
- Companies with rising stock prices
- Companies with high ratings by analysts and brokers
- Companies with positive price, volume, momentum, and other factors
- A minimum of a 5 percent, 60 day return on the investment
Even though they're generated by different sources, these alerts work in a similar way. Some are computer generated based on criteria such as the Poweropt.com pricing alerts. Others are created by a team of investment professionals who watch the markets and determine what they consider hot stocks, bad risks and rising stars in the investment world.
If you get your information from an investment service like AG Edwards, the alerts include basic information like opening and closing stock prices. Alerts may also include expert commentary on stock performance, as well as a market outlook.
Stock pricing alerts and investment information are meant as general advice, not money-making instructions. Investment pros at sites like The Motley Fool advise against making stock buys without research, or based on short-term, high-risk activities.
The experts say it's better to use the information in your stock pricing alerts to make buying and selling decisions based on what Motley Fool calls "long-term buy-to-hold investing." This means conservative investing in quality companies, doing research on those companies and watching them over time.