Research and Reference Resources

Morningstar® Investment Research Center

Madison Public Library and the Madison Public Library Foundation are pleased to announce that the Morningstar Investment Research Center will now be available to Madison residents and Madison Public Library customers on an ongoing basis after an extensive public trial.

Madison residents, and those who visit a Madison Public Library, will have up-to-date, trusted information about over 23,000 mutual funds and 7,000 stocks available to them online with their library card. The library version of the database offers access to many popular Premium features of Morningstar.com, including research and independent opinions on thousands of mutual funds, stocks, and exchange-traded funds, and also the same concise reports that are found in the printed Morningstar Mutual Funds.

Free Morningstar Webinar!!

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In today's economy, who couldn't use a bit of re-balancing? Join Morningstar's Director of Personal Finance, Christine Benz, as she guides you through the process Wednesday, December 16 at 3pm Central Time.  Log on from home or anywhere you have access to a phone and internet connection. To register, send an e-mail to librarytraining@morningstar.com. And, when you do, please mention Madison Public Library.

What is the Morningstar Investment Research Center?

For nearly two decades Morningstar® Mutual Funds™ has been and remains a valued print reference for researching, analyzing, and comparing mutual funds. Used by advisors and individual investors, it is one of the most popular financial reference tools in libraries.

Morningstar Investment Research Center incorporates the best of Morningstar data, analysis, technology, and information design. Individual investors can access and use all of the features and functionality in this online destination, including analyst reports of 2,000 mutual funds and nearly 2,000 stocks. An exceptional Help & Education section offers in-depth guides on five different topics that matter most to today’s investor: retirement planning, college planning, investing during retirement, investing for beginners, and portfolio tips and tricks. Use Morningstar's online Help & Education section to get started, or view some of their help sheets here:

Quick Guide (1 page, posted 2/18/08)
User's Guide (20 pages, posted 2/18/08)
Fact Sheet: Morningstar Rating for Funds (posted 3/12/09)
Fact Sheet: Morningstar Rating for Stocks (posted 3/12/09)
Fact Sheet: Morningstar Rating for ETFs (posted 3/12/09)

In addition, Morningstar offers investment advice through occasional reports and articles:

Are You Protected in the Current Financial Crisis? (posted 9/2008)
How to Start Investing in Stocks and Mutual Funds (posted 5/2008)
Morningstar Guide to Alternative Investments (posted 5/2008)
How to Invest During an Economic Slowdown (posted 4/2008)
Where to Invest in 2009 (posted 1/31/09)
Woman's Guide to Money Matters (posted 3/12/08)
Morningstar Guide to Green and Socially Responsible Investing (posted 3/12/09)
The Morningstar College Savings Guide (5/09)

Sign up to the business email newsletter to receive these updates and other Morningstar updates via email or via RSS

 

What will happen to the print editions of Morningstar?

The print edition is available at libraries that currently own it through March 2009 (June 2009 for the Alicia Ashman branch).

If you prefer the print version, you have several options:

1. Some survey respondents preferred print because of the single-page summary report. You may still access that by choosing the Formatted Report option on the lower part of the left-side menu (see right) when looking at an individual stock or mutual fund profile. We do know the formatted report option doesn't work automatically with versions 1.x and 2.x of the Firefox web browser and are working with Morningstar to correct it (you can also troubleshoot this by checking in your Firefox Preferences - make sure that pop-up windows are NOT blocked).

2. You may call or visit the library and have reports printed off for you at your convenience.

3. You may email the library and request that formatted reports be emailed to you (they are PDF files) within 24-48 hours.

4. You may request an individual training session with library staff to help you become more familiar with the online version of Morningstar. To set up a training session, please contact Gregg at the Sequoya branch (266-6385), Barbara at the Alicia Ashman branch (824-1780), Liz at the Central Library (266-6350), Denise at the Pinney branch (224-7100), or Tana Elias to arrange a training at any other Madison library location (266-4953, telias @ scls.lib.wi.us).

If you or your community group are interested in having someone demonstrate the Morningstar service, please contact Tana Elias at 266-4953 or email telias @ scls.lib.wi.us.

For access to stock averages see: Dow Jones Averages and Historical averages: Dow Jones | NASDAQ | S&P 500

Morningstar Investment Research Center was purchased for the Library by the Madison Public Library Foundation.

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