ABA Family Legal Guide

Computer Law

Online Purchases

Stocks and Securities

The investment newsletters seem so thorough--what should I watch out for?

Some of those sleek online documents, which often read like unbiased reviews, are actually paid for by companies to trumpet their stocks, the Securities and Exchange Commission reports. Such publications are not illegal, so long as the newsletters disclose who paid for them and how much and how they paid. Nevertheless, the SEC says that many newsletters fail to disclose this information.

"Never, ever, make an investment based solely on what you read in an online newsletter or bulletin-board posting, especially if the investment involves a small, thinly traded company that isn't well known," the SEC says on its website. "And don't even think about investing on your own in small companies that don't file regular reports with the SEC, unless you are willing to investigate each company thoroughly and to check the truth of every statement about the company."