In The Spotlight: Luxury Real EstateThis week's picks: * Stock Valuation Tools: StockWorm* Job Hunting--Specialty: Quintessential Careers* Nature Tours: Earthwatch Institute * Vacation Homes: Luxury Real Estate* Recipes: Epicurious * Comparison Shopping: ConsumerReports.org * Weird Wide Web: Presidential Pet Museum Category: Stock Valuation Tools Click here for more Stock Valuation Tools site reviews
StockWormwww.stockworm.comStockworm's founders would likely argue that investing is a science, not an art. The site's top three managers have extensive experience in genetics and bioengineering, but they clearly have a deep understanding of financial markets as well. The site's stock screen includes the usual options such as earnings growth, P/E, and market capitalization, but also permits investors to drill down on technical parameters such as stochastics, moving average convergence/divergence, relative strength index, and moving averages. Investors can evaluate the merit of a set of parameters by back-testing. Once a set of stocks is identified, Stockworm offers a variety of valuation models, ranging from complex dividend discount models to simpler PEG and P/E analyses. Subscription fees range from $7.95 to $29.95 per month.BEST: If you have found a great candidate, enter its ticker into the stock screener and Stockworm will spit back other stocks that have similar fundamental and technical characteristics. WORST: No data provided about the past performance of the site's valuation models. Category: Job Hunting--SpecialtyClick here for more Job Hunting--Specialty site reviews
Quintessential Careerswww.quintcareers.comStart your specialty job search here. Use the pull-down menu to access annotated lists of job hunting sites, sorted by industry. Choose from 28 groupings, which cover the gamut from accounting, legal and public relations to science, architecture and entertainment. Each hotlinked site is accompanied by a helpful description of its areas of specialization, resources and fee/registration requirements. Job Channel pages include analysis of trends, resources-including career consultation and videos--and even links to colleges that specialize in the field. This full-service job-hunting site also offers a wealth of career content, including articles, quizzes and tutorials. BEST: Check the Jobseeker-Specific list for sites and resources aimed at executives, telecommuters, career changers and consultants. WORST: Some broken links. Category: Nature Tours Click here for more Nature Tours site reviews
Earthwatch Institute www.earthwatch.org There's nature travel, and then there's the next step: making sure these natural wonders will be here for future generations to enjoy. That's where Earthwatch Institute comes in. Choose from 300 different expeditions in 50 countries, each one an opportunity to roll up your sleeves and assist with a scientific research project on a topic that captures your imagination. Expeditions like tracking wildlife in Alaska's rainforest and excavating a Stone Age cave in France are ten to 14 days long, but it's possible to sign on for tours of duty as brief as a weekend. Browse by date, by clicking the region of your choice on a world map, or by areas of interest such as archaeology, cultural diversity, and endangered ecosystems. BEST: With each expedition summary comes a clickable menu bar that puts photos, maps, suggested readings, and related Web sites at your fingertips. WORST: An awful lot of text to scroll through. Category: Vacation HomesClick here for more Vacation Homes site reviews
Luxury Real Estatewww.luxuryrealestate.com In the market for a sun-bleached Tuscan villa and vineyard? Swiss chateau with lift access? Click here for thousands of world-class properties for the international jet set, ranging in price from a $500,000 Naples, Florida penthouse to a Saint Jean Cap Ferrat, France $38,000,000 private hotel built in cooperation with Gustave Eiffel, the architect of the Eiffel Tower. (When we looked, there were 350 listings over $10 million.) Super-sized images and virtual tours convey some of the grandeur of these fantasy homes. Myriad search options, from location and cost to property category, like waterfront and golf course. Don't pass up the chance to view the featured properties, such as a 12,000 acre Napa ranch, complete with several ponds and a waterfall. BEST: Volume of luxe properties.WORST: Listings can be light on photos: a $35 million home marketed with just one picture?
Category: RecipesClick here for more Recipes site reviews
Epicurious www.epicurious.com Feel like cooking something special? The site offers more than 15,000 restaurant-quality recipes from Bon Appetit and Gourmet magazines. You'll find recipes to fit everyone's tastes, from shrimp risotto with baby spinach to kid-friendly turkey burgers. Visitor reviews with quips such as "on the spicy side" can help you adjust a recipe to your liking. Check out the What's New section for twice monthly added recipes--recent dishes include asparagus custard tart and cheddar beer soup. You'll also find helpful technique videos, including how to fill ravioli and the proper way to butterfly a leg of lamb. Register for free and get a Personal Recipe Box to save and organize your favorite dishes; you can also rate recipes and share cooking tips.BEST: Epi to Go: You can download recipes to your cell phone, which makes shopping for ingredients a breeze.WORST: Recipes lack nutrition facts.
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ConsumerReports.orgwww.consumerreports.org The most trusted name in product reviews dishes it online for $5 per month or $26 per year. Cheapies get plenty of useful free content, including articles on tech support and fees associated with online gaming. Expect the usually thorough product reviews on everything from SUVs to snow blowers. The site is exceedingly easy to navigate, with categories neatly organized and those familiar red moons used to rate the goods. Extras include up-to-date product recall notices, links to consumer agencies to lodge product complaints and fields to report ad violations.
BEST: Incredibly comprehensive, current product reviews.WORST: The site won't necessarily guide you to the best bargains. Category: Weird Wide WebPresidential Pet Museumwww.presidentialpetmuseum.com/Forget foreign policy. Dump domestic issues. Leaders of the free world instinctively understand the strategic importance of ... a fabulous first pet. Richard Nixon made political hay with Checkers the cocker spaniel while he was Vice President, but which of his dogs wagged for photo-ops after he made it to the Oval office? Get a close up look at Miss Beazley, President Bush's new Scottish Terrier or find out which president let sheep graze on the White House lawn and which kept a herd of elephants given to him by the king of Siam. For information about advertising in Forbes Best of The Web Weekly please e-mail Linda Bentley at lbentley@forbes.comFor more Best of The Web site reviews please visit www.forbes.com/bow. Please send inquires to editors@forbesbest.com