I follow quite a few stocks for beginners sites online which means I get spammed to death with all the latest software that’s going to make me rich. Whatever affiliate link they’re pushing that week tumbles into my inbox and I guess I should buy it right there on the spot. That way they get their affiliate cash and I get to be rich quick! But then if they had this amazing software would they really be sending it out to a mailing list of thousands of people. If I did, I wouldn’t tell you or anyone else. I’d just sit here all day using it and then buy a place in the Bahamas when the money starts to pour in. If you get stuff like this in your inbox then you know what to do with it. If something sounds too good to be true then it probably is.

I’ve said it once but I’ll say it again. The best software around for everything stock market related is Google Finance. The best part about it is that it’s free. All the rubbish that these other guys want you to pay for is available for free if you take the time to create an account. When you do you’ll have access to Gmail and all the other web based Google software. Google News is excellent for keeping track of current events in the finance world.

The most useful part is the portfolio section without a doubt. You can dig into all kinds of stats and figures about stocks including over 40 years of past history. Everyone always says that past history shouldn’t be seen as an indication of future performance but I always think it’s agood palce to start before you really start doing some research. If you love your spreadsheets and have your own way of keeping track of your portfolio then Google Finance lets you export the raw data to Excel and you can do what you want with it there. It goes without saying that the stock screener is excellent. You can put in certain criteria such as price to earning ration or stocks that pay dividends and filter out companies that way. The stock screener is one feature that I use frequently and it has come in handy so many times in the past. It’s certainly one of the best investment options for beginners…well invest a little time setting up an account…you know what I mean.

So if someones been trying to sell you some stock screening software or a portfolio manager via an email sales pitch then ignore it. You can get it all free thanks to Google Finance.