Yahoo!'s Fund Transfer service...MOVE your money!
Written: Oct 15 '01
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Pros: Great information and resources are abundant.
Cons: Limited research on thinly traded issues.
The Bottom Line: If you like to keep up to date about your stocks and mutual funds and haven't given Yahoo a try...you're missing out in a BIG way.
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| boden11's Full Review: Yahoo Finance |
This review will be on two aspects of Yahoo!'s financial information website; the information provided on equities (stock quotes, portfolios, research) and also on Yahoo's specific Fund Transfer service.
Stock Quotes/Research
There's a reason why Yahoo! is one of the most popular portal sites in the entire world...it's seemingly infinite amount of information all in one place. Yahoo has one of the easiest webpages to navigate. After setting up a "My Yahoo" portal page you can customize it to allow you to see up to the minute (well...20 minute delayed) stock quotes.
Your portfolio or stocks that you are watching can be segregated into groups. Want to setup a separate portfolio for each broker that you use? No problem. Yahoo allows you to enter purchase price, commission, # of shares owned and any notes you may have. Want those alphabetized? No problem. Want to see daily gain and percentage change? No problem. Want dividend yields displayed? No problem.
The information provided for any stock is also quite amazing. The basic screen just lists the current price, change, volume, last trade and takes up one line. Need more information? No problem...go to the detailed quote. Now you can see a small 1 yr-chart, some basic fundamentals (P/E, EPS, Market Cap, Volume, Bid, Ask, etc.) along with recent news events. Need more information? No problem! (Ok, I'll stop saying that). Anything you can think of, Yahoo! provides. From long term graphs where you can compare the % change of one stock vs. the major market indices (S&P 500, DJIA, Nasdaq) or vs. any other stock.
Analyst ratings along with consensus earnings estimates, revenue estimates and other detailed information is available. (Under the...you guessed it...research area). Want more technical analysis? Bollinger bands, moving averages (from 5 days to 200), MACD, etc etc is all available just a click away.
Mutual Fund information is also very useful. With Load Adjusted returns, year by year historical performance, detailed information including minimum $$ investments (IRA or not), Morningstar ratings, asset allocations, it's ALL THERE! Perhaps this review might be easier if I focus on what Yahoo is lacking rather than what it has...
Areas Needing Improvement
On some thinly traded issues (like preferred stocks, foreign stocks, other small caps) Yahoo often doesn't have very much information. Sometimes the only graph available is a 5 day chart...not very helpful when your trying to time your purchase.
Also, Yahoo has been lately mixing real time and delayed quotes...which has been confusing when trying to figure out what price a stock really is trading at. (If it's after 1:20 PT --4:20 ET then it's always the price at close, except for mutual funds).
Other than that, Yahoo! financial prowess really blows away the competition. Now if you want more indepth analysis on some specific mutual funds I have fund other webpages to provide more data (such as Morningstar and CNNfn / Quicken's webpages). They offer comparisons quarter by quarter of mutual funds vs. the indices and also versus other mutual funds in the same category.
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Now on to part 2: Yahoo!'s Funds Transfer service...
Recently, Yahoo has been allowing people to use it's Fund Transfer service to move money through the ACH Network (Automatic Clearing House) for ...FREE! Simply add the accounts (nearly every bank, large or small is supported) and within a few days you can use it to move money.
Currently, Yahoo does not offer support for very many brokerages (some 10-12 are supported, including Etrade, Datek, and some of the other big names). However, if yours is covered, then your set!
Funds Transfer puts a whole new twist on 'managing your money.' Instead of relying on automatically monthly transfers from say your checking account to your broker, you can decide how often and how much money to move...both back *AND* forth. The cost is nil for most transfers, as long as neither your bank or broker charges (I don't believe many do). There is a small charge for "Jumbo Transfers" $5.95 for anything over $2,000 (max. transfer amount is $10,000 weekly). So for free one can transfer $2,000/week (which should be more than adequate for most people, and the $5.95 fee pales in comparison to wire fees that banks charge).
The Funds Transfer screen is quite nice, showing all your accounts available to transfer funds, and recent transfers (their current status, Pending, Complete). A history screen gives you a detailed list of all your transfers--from where to where, how much and when it was initiated. Most transfers require 3-4 business days to complete, not a big deal.
All-in-all, this ability to really manage your money is quite powerful. I am able to move money from my small credit union bank (whose nearest branch is over 200 miles away) to my Washington Mutual accout...and back. Items I sell on ebay can be moved from Paypal to Washington Mutual to Etrade...(would take about 7 business days for everything to clear...but it would be completely free). The amount of time and hassle this service saves is uncomprehensible. Definitely a must!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
boden11
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 in Personal Finance |
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Location: California
Reviews written: 126
Trusted by: 112 members
About Me:
boden11 loves gambling...errr investing in the stock market and and doing his own taxes
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