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Editor's note: The new Globe Investor has several newsletters that you can sign up for and get delivered right to your email inbox for free and we will be adding more in the coming days.

Rob Carrick's new newsletter is one of the first out the door and is worth following since it gives you a look at the things he's keeping an eye on around the world as he tries to track down the stories that will help you and your money.

and click the check mark next to Personal Finance Reader to get this sent to you each week. Here's this week's edition:



Welcome to this edition of the new Globe and Mail Personal Finance Reader. I'm Rob Carrick, personal finance columnist at The Globe, and each week I compile a list of articles, blog postings and websites that represent the best of what the online world has to offer on money-related subjects.

This is the summer reading and learning edition of the Personal Finance Reader. We've got lists of financial books, magazine articles worth reading and online how-to resources that includes Howcast, a YouTube-like website for people who like to watch and learn.

There's also some analysis of what's up with the stock markets, a link to website that could help you salvage your aging computer instead of replacing it and some tips on seeing whether you're properly insured.

Found something on the Internet your fellow investors might enjoy? Talk to me at rcarrick@globeandmail.com.



The latest from The Globe and Mail and Globe Investor

Personal Finance TD Bank lays down the law, reminding customers of its right to access account, writes Rob Carrick

Tax Matters Moving this summer? Make sure you save some income tax in the process, says Tim Cestnick

Financial Fraud Dozens of people were victims of a ponzi scheme run by Montreal financial adviser Earl Jones. Here are some warning signs and tips on how to protect yourself from fraud.

Home Cents Does it pay to go organic, asks our personal finance blogger Chaya Cooperberg

Real Estate In this video, mortgage planner Robert McLister discusses what borrowers should do in the current environment



Must Reads From Around the Web

Reading for Fun and Profit Me, I've got The Grapes of Wrath and a Lee Child novel lined up next for summer reading. If you're looking for something more financially rewarding to read, check out this list of book suggestions from Gail Bebee, author of No Hype Investing.

Globe & Mail reporters John Heinzl and David Parkinson asked five financial experts what they're going to be leafing through on these long, languid days. Click here for a literary list of financial fiascos and some foresight to stash in your beach tote.

Here's a Top 10 list of books about money from the About.com website.

Here's About.com's top investing books for beginners.

An ex-editor of the Financial Times lists his favourite investing books.

The big U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs helped power the stock markets this week with a quarterly profit that looked surprisingly robust, given the global financial situation. In this Rolling Stone article, writer Matt Taibbi slams Goldman as "a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money."

Michael Lewis, one of the smarter and most amusing writers on matters of high finance (he wrote Liars Poker, as well as Moneyball) has chronicled the fall of the U.S. insurance giant AIG for Vanity Fair magazine. The piece is called The Man Who Crashed the World.

Watch and Learn If you prefer online learning about investing, take a look at the Financial Times' FTMoneyGym. It offers quick and painless courses on various investing topics, including exchange-traded funds and asset allocation. Warning: this content is aimed at UK audiences and includes a little bit of jargon you may not be familiar with.

And now for something completely different. The Howcast websites offers instructional videos on a wide variety of topics that must be seen to be believed (how to treat a snakebite, how to play 21, much potentially x-rated content that was unsuitable for pre-viewing in the workplace). Included in the Business & Finance area are some videos on both traditional personal finance topics (how to live on a budget) and unconventional ones (a very funny take on how get money out of your parents). Look also for a segment on how to haggle. Haggling is in now.

Mercurial Markets After four straight losing weeks, the big days seen this week on the stock market were sweet. Will we see more of this? Economist Gary Shilling answers with a forecast that the S&P 500 will fall 35 per cent by year's end. Context: Mr. Shilling is one of the biggest bears around.

Here's an interpretation of the current stock market environment that seems bullish for Canada's resource-dominated stock market. It holds that we are in the midst of a long bear market for stocks that coincides with a bull market for commodities.

Screen Saver Continuing with last week's frugality theme, how many of you are reading this on a clapped out computer just begging to be replaced? A cheaper alternative would be to see if the experts at Support.com can do anything to help by remotely accessing your computer. My two cents: I've tried having slow, old computers fixed before and it was never worth the money spent.

An Investing Reality Show A guy named Phil has offered up his portfolio for comments and analysis on the Canadian Capitalist blog. Be sure to read down to the part where Phil mentions his misadventures in a tax-free savings account with leveraged ETFs, which are designed to provide two or even three times the up or down movement in a particular stock index or commodity.

A new investor advocacy group called the Canadian Foundation for the Advancement of Investor Rights has been trying to warn retail investors away from leveraged ETFs while also calling for better disclosure from companies offering these products. Here's an upupdate from FAIR on this initiative.

Here's some practical "what you need to know" information about leveraged ETFs from the B.C. Securities Commission's InvestRight website.

Horizons BetaPro, the only Canadian provider of leveraged ETFs, issued a study on its website this week that is meant to educate investors on how to use these products.

How's your coverage? The Thicken My Wallet blog covers five signs you are improperly insured.



That's all for this week

You can tell us what you think of the Reader by sending us an email at globeinvestor@globeandmail.com.

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