Going online for investment information is catching on like wildfire, even though finding such facts can sometimes be like searching for a needle in a haystack. It's all over cyberspace, but how to get your hands on it? And if you succeed, how reliable is that information? Should you act on it?

Investment information via the Internet comes in two basic forms: data and advice.

Currently available data ranges from the limited to the impressive. For example, some investments are just beginning to go online. Some funds offer little more than daily pricing information via their respective sites on the World Wide Web. Others provide prospectuses that can be downloaded.

In addition, the major commercial online computer services such as Prodigy, Compuserve and America Online provide databases on thousands of equities and bonds, plus links to the Web sites of various investment companies. These online services will allow you, usually for a fee, to screen equities according to criteria such as past returns and dividend yields.

But acting on this data is another matter. Some investing newsletters that provide advice on choosing specific investments are available online, typically for a fee. But more prevalent, and far more popular, are various online investment bulletin boards or discussion groups known as "chat rooms." They can be found both on the Internet and the commercial online services.

These bulletin boards present rich opportunities for scam artists who can contact more people, more quickly, more anonymously and less expensively via cyberspace than they can using the traditional methods of the telephone or the mail.

If you like to surf the bulletin boards on the Internet or commercial online services for investment information and tips, follow the same rule you would for any investment opportunity ordered by telephone, mail, or in person: If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

Perhaps two dozen discount brokerage firms currently offer trading online, and more are getting into it every month. It's quicker and simpler to execute trades online, and can usually be accomplished at a price traditional trading methods can't match. Product offerings tend to be more limited, however, than you would find if you went into these firms' branch offices.

To trade online, you must first open an account with the brokerage firm. Some firms then require you to buy their proprietary software, which will allow you direct access to your account so you can review your portfolio, check the latest market reports and execute trades. You also can connect to some discount brokers via the commercial online services.

However, in the case of a few discount brokers, if you wish to skip the proprietary software and commercial online services, it is possible to hop right onto the Internet and execute trades with them. But whereas trading via proprietary software and commercial online service is relatively secure, the Internet is more susceptible to security problems, such as invasion of privacy by "crackers."

So, whether you are going online for investment information or to execute trades, be aware. It is not a method I recommend for either the timid or the unsavvy investor.

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