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The National Association of Securities Dealers, or NASD, site is one of the few that demands a long review. NASD is the parent of the Nasdaq site, and many others, as well, so the NASD site is set up like a ring of related sites, with the home page serving as the hub. Unfortunately, the site is not well laid out, and it's a bit hard to find what you are looking for. The best thing to do is click on the "Other NASD Sites" on the lower left corner of the screen. Check on

Your Broker First, let's examine the NASD Regulation Web Site. A new feature on the site allows you to check up on the history of your stockbroker. Type in his name and see if he's been arrested for cheating the Securities and Exchange Commission, for example. When you log onto the site, just click the "perform an online search" icon in the top right corner. In addition, you can file a complaint against a broker. Nasdaq Next, visit Nasdaq, the technology-focused exchange that went down a few years ago because a chipmunk ate through one of its lines. Not long ago, Nasdaq redesigned its website -- making it the U.S. exchange with the best presence on the 'Net. Along with information about the exchange, Nasdaq's website includes additional investor information -- such as intra-day data on certain indexes, intra-day charting, and New York Stock Exchange and American Stock Exchange quotes. The Nasdaq Trader Web Site is a site geared to traders and vendors of market data. It has information about:

Nasdaq Trading Services;

Nasdaq Market Data Products;

Nasdaq Share Volume Reports;

and news relevant to the trading community.Individual Investors and Non-TradersFor individual investors, the NASD Individual Investor Web Site has info on:

Investor On-line Training;

Working With Your Broker Guidance;

Investment Financial Calculators;

and Educators' Investing Curriculum Guide.And at the Nasdaq Newsroom, journalists -- and others interested in breaking market news -- can get hourly financial markets reports and Nasdaq news releases (these often are less than helpful, because of marketing hyperbole) and statistics. Also available here are company IPOs.Membership, Glossary, and Investor TrainingBack at the main site, you can sign up to become a NASD member, putting you on the same footing as virtually every broker/dealer in the nation that does a securities business with the public. There are more than 5,400 securities firms with more than 58,000 branch offices, according to the site. There also is a glossary of terms of the securities industry.In the Investor Training section, the "Taking Charge of Your Finances" page is an introduction to basics of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and retirement plans; the "Working With a Broker" section teaches you how best to do just that; and financial calculators help you figure out how your current and potential investments are doing.