Here is a list of websites, tools, widgets and apps I use to build my BLOG and keep it running as it does:
Professional sites I use:
nospinforecast.com – home for Mr.Model and its founder Dr.Robert Dieli
cnbc.com – my favourite for international financial markets affairs; clean, tidy layout, live news coverage (you can sign up for their newsletter) and real-time market data
bloomberg.com – ex-equo winner with CNBC, but provides less free-of-charge content; Bloomberg Professional is obviously the world’s best-in-class application for capital markets professionals (but costs USD2k/month so will not be available to the wider public)
tradingeconomics.com – a perfect place to dig into macroeconomics for most countries around the world; macro calendars, graphs, historical data, etc. – all put in a very accessible and user-friendly way
macrotrends.net – very useful site with corporate numbers of stock exchange listed companies; BalanceSheets, P&L, CF statements; great macro and company-specific charting
money.cnn.com – good international coverage of global markets issues. CNN also runs a widely-followed Fear&Greed Index
etfdb.com – great database of ETFs, very useful screening and rating info
etf.com – similar to the above
morningstar.com – it’s an investment information and services company providing data, research, and analysis of mutual funds, stocks, etc. Morningstar publishes a line of print, software, and internet products for individuals, financial advisors, and institutional investors; famous for wide popularisation of its Morningstar Style Box (a visual summary of a mutual fund’s underlying investment style) and Morningstar Ratings (mutual funds (incl ETFs) rating based on risk- and cost-adjusted returns); Morningstar also manages asset portfolios; I use it for running my portfolios – it’s great 🙂
federalreserve.gov – a must-have for anyone seriously looking at world’s biggest central bank’s actions
ecb.europa.eu – a 2nd must-have after the above 🙂
fred.stlouisfed.org – an almost infinite-depth database by St.Louis FED of US macro data including the GDPNow index; great interactive charting for macro indicators
nber.org – the National Bureau of Economic Research – it’s a non-profit private organisation, which is responsible, among others, for setting the offical economic cycle date for the USA
bls.gov – U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics provides in-depth data about historical, current and prospective situation of the US labour market
bea.gov – Bureau of Economic Analysis calculates the US GDP data (among others)
economist.com – very informative and opinion-shaping magazine about economics
seekingalpha.com – a community of capital markets enthusiasts; a lot of comments on current issues, independent analysis, news feeds on tickers of interest to You, stock ideas, screeners of stocks and ETFs
investopedia.com – a fast, good and pretty simply put vocabulary of a financial analyst, investor or a manager
multpl.com – nice site with many ratios, especially the Shiller PE (based on inflation-adjusted earnings).
Professionals I highly regard and listen to:
Dr. Robert Dieli – founder of RDLB, Inc. and the father of Mr.Model, Best-in-class macroeconomic forecasting work done in his regular publications about labour market and business cycles, which i have been using in my investing activities for over 3 years now (wish I knew nospinforecast.com earlier!) and which constitute the very base of my cycle-adjusted equity allocation attitude I push as part of my Smart Investing Approach (SIA) and use as major signaling tool in the portfolios I pledged to run on this blog (read more here).
Ray Dalio – excerpt from his own LinkedIn: Ray Dalio is the founder, co-Chief Investment Officer and co-Chairman of Bridgewater Associates, which is a global macro investment firm and is the world’s largest hedge fund. He’s also the author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller Principles: Life and Work. He is known to have a very practical understanding of economics that is very different from conventional economic thinking that he spells out in his video series “How the Economic Machine Works”.
Mohammed El-Erian – Chief Economic Advisor at Allianz and President-elect of Queens’ College, Cambridge University. A Financial Times contributing editor, Bloomberg Opinion columnist, Gramercy senior advisor and part-time Practice Professor at Wharton, he has authored two New York Times best sellers.
Warren Buffett – no need to introduce him I guess.
Nouriel Roubini – widely known as Dr.Doom. Excerpt from his own LinkedIn: Nouriel Roubini is a professor of economics at New York University’s Stern School of Business. He is also CEO of Roubini Macro Associates, LLC, a global macroeconomic consultancy firm in New York, as well as Co-Founder of Rosa & Roubini Associates based out of London. At a 2006 address to the International Monetary Fund, Roubini warned of the impending recession due to the credit and housing market bubble. His predictions of these upside-down balance sheets became a reality in 2008, with the bubble bursting and reverberating around the world into a global financial crisis – a recession we’re only recently rebounding from after a decade climb.
Bill Ackman – founder of Pershing Square Capital Management. One of biggest activist investors, often seen as contrarian.
Jeffrey Gundlach – also known as The King of bonds. The founder of DoubleLine Capital LP, an investment firm running one of world’s most beknown bond funds. Has often strong views and sticks to them, even though most may not agree.
Books I personally recommend:
Apps, widgets and plugs:
Core: WordPress
Security: Wordfence
Contact form: Contact Form 7
Backup: Akeeba
Mailing and marketing: mailchimp.com
Mailchimp widget: MC4WP
Site layout theme: the7.io
Site maintenance: abcx.pl
Hosting: home.pl
Antispam: Akismet
Business partners:
Amazon.com – please be aware that I act as an affiliate of Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, which is designed for independent content providers like myself to earn fees by advertising and linking to this website. I might earn a commission, if you purchase a product or service on amazon.com after being redirected from my site. I thank you for that in advance!
Etoro.com – I act as an affiliate of eToro, the world’s leading Social Investing platform. If you opt in to open an account with eToro via any of the links on my site, I might earn a commission. Please bear in mind that eToro not only offers stocks (no leverage), but also leveraged products like CFDs and Cryptos, where your losses can exceed your capital. I personally suggest using no-leverage instruments to non-professionals. If you’re not a pro, stay with stocks.
I am also a member of eToro Popular Investor Progam
Global Alpha Search in media:
A visit to the “WhatWeDon’tKnow Podcast” by Michael A. Leslie
Debate about passive investing with me as a speaker (Polish language)
Our cooperation with Marketwatch.com on investing in ETFs and stocks: