Whether you’re into stocks, bonds, mutual funds, futures or options, there are tons of electronic investment newsletters offering to turn your small stake into a giant fortune. All you need to do is subscribe and watch your portfolio soar.

Yeah, right!

As a practicing investment advisor specializing in no load mutual funds, I have received my share of e-mails from disillusioned subscribers wanting to know how to better evaluate newsletter services.

While there are no absolutes, I can give you a few pointers that might help you make a better decision:

1. Stay away from most obvious hype. Ads promising to turn your $10,000 into $1 million in 2 years by buying this incredible stock or hot commodity are not promoting investing — they are selling gambling. Follow "If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is" rule.

2. Most mutual fund newsletters won’t make those outlandish claims, but some of them are still pushing truth as far as they can. So try to get a free issue or two to examine. If you can't get a sample, check if they have a trial period? How about a money back guarantee? If not, pay with your credit card. These days you’re pretty well protected by this payment method even if newsletter doesn't offer a satisfaction guarantee.

3. Consider editor as well as disclaimer notes. Is he or she only publishing a newsletter? Or is he also an investment advisor with a practice?

Why would that last point matter? I may be biased, but I believe that you get far better advice from a writer who also is in trenches every day investing their own as well as their clients’ portfolios. They would have far better insights as to what works and what doesn’t than someone who has theory down but no practical experience.

I wonder if people buying these houses, for ever-rising prices, are same people who couldn't get enough Amazon.com stock at $100 or Lucent shares for $75? Having been burned in stock market, I guess they decided to re-invest what was left in their homes. Are we in a housing bubble? I don't know, but I suspect that we are, at least in some areas of country.

Don't misunderstand me, now. I own a home, and I think home ownership is one of great freedoms we enjoy in this country. I get nervous about people who are pulling all equity out of their homes with new mortgages. I suspect that most of these people are spending equity, not investing it. What they're left with is a larger mortgage, and a bunch of worthless Chinese made goods.

The current low-interest rate environment is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to lock in a cheap 30-year mortgage on your home. If you refinance balance of your current mortgage, you've won. If you refinance, and max out on your equity, you're probably hurting yourself. You might say that by refinancing equity in your home, you're just cashing in on your home's rise in value. Well, not exactly.

What you're really doing is collateralizing portion of house that you own to get a cash loan, with intention of paying back loan at a later date. You've really transferred ownership of equity in your house to your lender, not cashed it out. If you want to cash out your equity, you have to sell your house, plain and simple.

For those who are buying new homes, low interest environment is a double-edged sword. On one hand, you can get a tremendous rate on a 30-year mortgage, likes of which you see once in a lifetime. On other hand, because we live in a world where monthly payment is all that matters, lower interest rate mean higher home prices. The monthly payment stays same, but now you've got a much higher mortgage balance, which could turn around to bite you in future.

The dangers of refinancing equity out of your home are readily apparent, but why shouldn't you buy a home in current environment?