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Every Wednesday, we publish our “Investor Toolkit” series on TSI Network. Whether you’re a new or experienced investor, these weekly updates are designed to give you specific investment advice. Each Investor Toolkit update gives you a fundamental piece of investment strategy, and shows you how you can put it into practice right away. Tip of the week: “Smart investing limits the danger of lawsuits.” Lawsuits are an everyday risk in business. For example, U.S. lawnmower engine maker Briggs & Stratton (symbol BGG on New York) recently paid $18.7 million U.S. to settle a lawsuit that accused the company of using misleading labels on its lawnmower engines....

It has been one year since Apple Inc. (symbol AAPL on Nasdaq) unveiled its iPad tablet computer. This device is a complete personal computer that uses a touch screen instead of a traditional keyboard. That makes it more portable and easier to use than a traditional laptop. Apple sold roughly 300,000 iPads on the first day the device was sold in U.S. stores. The iPad continues to be a very strong seller for Apple: In its latest quarter, the company sold 7.3 million iPads. In response to the ongoing popularity of the iPad, other technology stocks, such as Research in Motion and Samsung, are preparing to launch new tablet computers of their own in the coming months....

Here are three common errors most investors make when stock market investing. All three can seriously hinder your portfolio’s long-term results. (You can get Pat McKeough’s latest lower-risk investing strategies in his new free report, Stock Market Investing Strategy: Pat McKeough’s Conservative Investing Guide for Making Money & Cutting Risk. Click here to download your copy right away.)

1. Disregarding subtle signs of high stock market investing risk: These include an unusually high dividend yield or an unusually low p/e (the ratio of a stock’s price to its per-share earnings). High yields and low p/e’s are good, but only within limits....

When you practice a “dollar-cost averaging” investing strategy, you invest equal amounts of money (say $300 a month) over a specific period. It’s a little like systematic saving, except you put your money into stocks instead of a bank account. (Dollar-cost averaging is one of many low-risk strategies you’ll learn about in our new free report, Stock Market Investing Strategy: Pat McKeough’s Conservative Investing Guide for Making Money & Cutting Risk. Click here to download yours right away.)

Investing strategy: How dollar-cost averaging can help you profit from long-term market trends

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You’ve probably heard of Facebook, a “social-networking” site with more than 500 million users worldwide. Facebook was started by a group of Harvard University students in 2004. It then expanded to other schools before it was opened to anyone aged 13 and over.

Facebook: An outstanding way to keep in touch with family and friends

In just six years, Facebook has expanded way past the circle of students who started it. The site now attracts users of all ages. In fact, according to a 2009 study by Washington, D.C.-based iStrategyLabs, the number of Facebook users aged 55 and over jumped 514% in the first six months of 2009. By comparison, Facebook users between 18 and 24 years of age only rose by 5% during that time.

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If you’re looking for stock-market bargains, December is the best time of year to find them. Here’s why: Investors love to sell stocks for a profit, but they hate to sell at a loss. That’s why many investors spread their selling-for-a-profit throughout the year, while holding on to stocks that have dropped. Toward year-end, it occurs to these investors that they’ll have to pay taxes on their capital gains, regardless of whether they made money overall. This leads some investors to dump their losers near year-end, simply to establish a capital loss for tax purposes, to offset a capital gain....

Get my latest advice on how to cut your portfolio’s volatility — and maximize your stock market investing profits — absolutely FREE. If you’re like many investors, recent market volatility has made you more sensitive to risk. In fact, in light of all the bad news being reported in the mainstream media, you may be tempted to throw up your hands and sell all your stocks. But if you do, you’re likely to miss out on strong gains in the coming months and years....

Members of Pat McKeough’s Inner Circle enjoy a double benefit when it comes to taking advantage of our stock investing advice. They get to address investment questions directly to me and my research associates; AND they get to see all other members’ questions, and the stock investing advice we give in our answers (of course, we eliminate any personal information). Inner Circle members ask us about a wide range of investment questions, including questions about specific stocks they are considering buying. For example, here’s a recent member question about a highly speculative oil and gas explorer that could be set to tap into a vast deepwater reserve. I hope you enjoy and profit from it. Q: Dear Pat: I saw a story about oil and gas off the shore of Namibia. It gave a name, Chariot, but no details. The oil and gas formation is supposed to be same as that off the shore of Brazil on the other side of the Atlantic. What is your stock investing advice on this? Regards....

We get a wide variety of interesting questions from members of Pat McKeough’s Inner Circle. Most often, members ask us about specific investments, such as stocks, income trusts or exchange-traded funds, that they’re considering investing money in. However, they send us other types of financial questions, as well. To give you a sense of how the service works, I’d like to share a recent question from an Inner Circle member on investing money in time-shares. I hope you enjoy and profit from it. Q: Pat: What is your take on time-shares? They seem like a deal for a cheaper vacation. Thanks....

Members of Pat McKeough’s Inner Circle sometimes ask us how to find good investments for young children. If children are under the age of 18, they cannot yet invest as adults. However, there are a couple of savings and investment options available:

1. You (or the child) can open a bank account in the child’s name: Interest paid on small balances may range from zero to, say, 0.50% annually, paid monthly. All of the major banks have special bank accounts for children, usually without service fees on basic transactions. However, once the child has accumulated $500, he or she could move the money into an interest-paying guaranteed investment certificate (GIC).
2. Informal in-trust account: If you want to build up an investment portfolio for a child, then an informal in-trust account is a low-cost and flexible option. (Investments or investment accounts in the name of a child must be set up in trust because minors are not allowed to enter into binding financial contracts.) An adult must be responsible for providing the investment instructions and signing the contract on the child’s behalf. An informal in-trust account has a donor (or “settlor”) who contributes funds to the trust. The trustee is the person in charge of the account, and is responsible for managing the funds for the child (the “beneficiary”). The settlor should not act as the trustee. The settlor’s spouse can be a trustee, however. The money belongs to the child, but only the trustee can make withdrawals if the child is under the age of 18. Once the child reaches 18, the money is theirs to do with as they wish.
   
   

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