Every active investor needs to stay up to date on business and world news as well as news specific to his or her investment portfolio. Active investors also can find investment ideas on the Internet, that, with rigorous analysis and fact checking on the investor's part, can yield a profitable investment.

Here are some Web sites that every investor should know about. Many of these Websites offer potential investment ideas, or are good sources for business news. Investors should take care, however, to closely examine any investing analysis found on the Web for themselves.

1. Motley Fool (www.fool.com)

One of the more well-known investing Web sites, Motley Fool focuses on investing news for the retail investor. It has a wealth of information relating to many styles of investing. It has many basic articles to explain investing and financial concepts.

Experienced investors can find useful and thought provoking articles from Motley Fool's many investing columnists. Some columnists put forth investing ideas with significant analysis that can be insightful.

However, some parts of the Web site are exclusive to paying subscribers. In addition, the quality of columnists is variable, and the broad focus of the site on many investing styles means that much of the information is topical rather than in depth.

Even so, every investor should be aware of Motley Fool and review the information relevant to the investor's investing style. Investors who are willing to subscribe can also take advantage of Motley Fool's email newsletters.

2. Seeking Alpha (www.seekingalpha.com)

Seeking Alpha is a good Web site for both investing news and investing ideas. The primary focus, however, of Seeking Alpha, is opinion and analysis pieces from investors describing their own investment styles and ideas.

As such, it is an interesting source of new investment ideas. In addition, Seeking Alpha exposes investors to new investing perspectives through hard analysis.

Seeking Alpha is one of the largest hosts of investment blogs, with over 250 articles posted per day. With so many contributors and articles, the quality of analysis offers varies widely. A few famous investors such as hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson post on Seeking Alpha. Readers of Seeking Alpha can find nuggets of good analysis, but should rigorously verify the analysis with their own work before making any investing decisions.

If you are looking to read lots of opinions and investment analysis, Seeking Alpha is a must stop.

3. Google Finance (www.google.com/finance)

Every investor needs a source for financial information and investment specific news. Google Finance is a good free source for financial statements, company information and news.

While not nearly as comprehensive as professional financial databases like Bloomberg, Google Finance is a good free source for investment information.

However, Google Finance is mostly limited to stock market information. It doesn't have corporate bond quotes or price information for derivatives. Commodities information is also limited. In addition, the quality of corporate news aggregated by Google varies widely. Some of the company specific news is highly relevant, but for some companies the news aggregated is mostly irrelevant for investment purchases.

For instance, local crime reports mentioning a franchise are often found in fast food company's news section. Sometimes relevant financial news is completely washed out by irrelevant news stories.

Still, Google Finance is a good free source of financial news and financial statements and basic data. Yahoo Finance (http://finance.yahoo.com) also offers a comparable service that is comprehensive.

4. Bloomberg.com (www.bloomberg.com)

Bloomberg is an essential information source for investment professionals, and while the Web site does not have the same comprehensive information as the professional service, the quality of information on Bloomberg.com is unmatched.

Bloomberg.com is a good source for financial news of all kinds, and every active investor should read Bloomberg's financial news feed.

5. Marketwatch (www.marketwatch.com)

Marketwatch.com is a good source of financial news, and also of investment ideas and analysis. Marketwatch is part of the Dow Jones family of business news organizations, including the Wall Street Journal and Barron's.

Marketwatch is notable for being a good combination of opinion and analysis oriented columns and traditional business news. It is a good daily stop for active investors, and should be among the websites an investor reviews for business news as well as company specific news.

Among the useful features Marketwatch offers are opinion columns by staff columnists and economists.