In This Issue - March 2001

We at Working Money hope that 2001 has gotten you off to a great start, ready to put the bad trades and ill-founded investments of yesteryear behind you. While the past can weigh heavily on the present when it comes to financial markets, it is equally true-- as disclaimers will tell you -- that past performance alone is no indicator of future results. And even if we did find ourselves glaring at that disclaimer in recent months, we should take some solace from the fact that, sometimes, divorcing past performance from future results suits investors just fine.

With that in mind, Working Money, to coin a phrase from our newly inaugurated President, plans to leave no investor behind in 2001. Whichever way the market takes you -- up, down, or whipsawed all over the place -- Working Money will be on hand to provide you with trading and investment advice for all seasons. For starters, in this issue, we cordially invite you to visit the world of exchange traded funds, an investment vehicle that is allowing institutions and private investors like you to grow and diversify their portfolios in new and exceptionally flexible ways.

We will also tip you off to some of the successes that novice and intermediate investors have found in investment clubs, and take you on a virtual tour of the Internet to find some of the best websites for investors. And for you bears out there, we have a guide to choosing mutual funds during market downturns and a primer on how to grow the "money tree."

Last, but not least, also in this issue of Working Moneyis an interview with Cassandra Toroian, CEO and founder of Financialmuse.com, a new Internet financial resource for women. It was Toroian who reminded us that the world of women and investing remains a sort of "last frontier of social equality." And while objectivity prevents us from tossing a spirited "you go, girl!" in Toroian's general direction, we hope you will forgive us if, instead, we murmur a modest "hear, hear."