Briefly Noted

Features
The Warren Buffett Way of Finding Excellent Firms at Attractive Prices
The legend of Warren Buffett and his investment prowess is well-documented. Buffett first seeks to identify an excellent business and then invests in it only if the price is right. A look at how to screen for firms using the Warren Buffett approach, based on the book “Buffettology” by Mary Buffett and David Clark.

First Cut
The First Cut: Stocks With Low Accrual Ratios
A starting point for investors. This issue's focus is on finding companies that actually generate more cash than their accrual earnings indicate by screening for accrual ratios. The accrual ratio is calculated by subtracting free cash flow from net income, dividing the result by total assets and presenting the figure as a percentage.

Features
AAII's Best of the Net: 2008 Guide to the Top Investment Web Sites, 12th edition
Our Best of the Net ratings go to investment Web sites that provide investment information or services that are useful, substantial and available for free or at a reasonable price.

Portfolio Strategies
A Do-It-Yourself Approach to Target Date Retirement Investing
Target date mutual funds have become increasingly popular as one-stop shopping, automatic-pilot retirement vehicles. However, using index funds, it doesn't take a lot of difficult work to adopt the do-it-yourself approach to target date investing if you want to save on fees and possible expenses. The effort can potentially provide you with a greater retirement nest egg and retirement income.

Investor Professor
Making Sense of Profits Using Profitability Ratios
Long-term investors buy stocks with the expectation that the company will produce a growing stream of earnings. Profits point to a firm's growth and staying power. But profit figures are absolute numbers that don't relate to the size of the company. How can you put the numbers into context? A look at profitability ratios.

Offbeat Offerings
Offbeat Offerings: Mortgage-Backed Securities
An investor reference for products that are not your typical offerings. This issue's focus is on mortgage-backed securities, in particular pass-through securities backed by Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Departments
Briefly Noted
Current news items of interest to individual investors.