A colorful coterie of day traders, money managers and economists -- even one from the Federal Reserve -- are forming the core of a rapidly growing corner of the blogosphere: the markets and investing blog.

These amateur authors slice through the buzz and dig through the complexities of the trading day in an entertaining style. Importantly, they often have years of direct experience and know what it's like to have money in the game.

Unlike some other parts of the blogosphere, there's an authenticity to the discussion. These are Wall Street's own insiders -- the celebrity-blog equivalent of movie stars blogging about each other.

Spend a week with a few of these authors, and you could come away feeling more in control of your investments. You might even start to challenge the pack mentality that tends to take hold of mainstream market commentary.

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THE BIG PICTURE

Barry Ritholtz, an investment manager and commentator on financial TV network CNBC, operates the base camp for new explorers of investing blogs, the Big Picture. Accessible and unintimidating, the Big Picture tackles both the economy and the financial markets with a conversational style and ample references to pop culture.

Blog etiquette calls for linking generously to other writers, and Ritholtz's links are among the choicest.

A recent post linked to an article in Portfolio, Conde Nast's new magazine on investing, which eviscerates technical analysis, the vaunted art of studying stock charts to anticipate the market's next move. The piece pokes fun at the craft's jargon, such as the J. Lo, a term for a stock turning upward as it rounds off a bottom.

Ritholtz's blogroll -- a list of recommended blogs -- casts a wide net and is a good starting point for eager investors. Below, a sampler from four categories of investing blogs: trader blogs, economics blogs, market analysis blogs and industry-insider blogs.

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TRADER BLOGS:

Trader Mike -- The diary of a day trader. Mike, a former software programmer who took to full-time trading in 1999, doesn't dumb down his analysis of the market, and that could scare away aspiring traders. Mercifully, in case you don't catch the reference to narrow-range bars or Japanese candlesticks, explanatory links are provided.

Maoxian -- A trading blog with an eye to the Far East. Maoxian has laid out a strategy for betting against the red-hot Chinese stock market, but shies away from backing the idea. "I'm not recommending you take a leveraged short position in any of these markets, just as I don't recommend standing in front of a loaded freight train going 100 miles per hour." A mix of hard-core charts and lighter analysis, like a review of Credit Suisse's belief that China is a "super bubble."

Also worth noting: The Kirk Report

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ECONOMISTS' BLOGS:

Macroblog -- Perhaps the only blog written by a Federal Reserve official. David Altig, the associate research director at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, says his views are his own, not the government's. But knowing firsthand how a Fed insider sees the economy is a privilege not even available to the biggest Wall Street banks.

Other economics blogs: Econbrowser, Grasping Reality With Both Hands, MaxSpeak, You Listen!, Nouriel Roubini's Blog, TraderFeed

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MARKET ANALYSIS BLOGS

Trading Psychology -- Brett Steenbarger, a clinical psychologist, studies the market's sentiment like a doctor does a new patient Recently, Steenbarger questioned the strength of the rally in stocks by noting that nearly as many stocks hit new 52-week lows as 52-week highs. "I'm looking at the current action as a topping process unless we can see a broadening of the rally," he wrote.

Calculated Risk -- A philosophical blog on finance and economics. No stock tips or fancy charts -- just an anonymous business executive seeking the truth about the market. Some of it is worrisome, and blunt. Investment banks have been selling the riskiest slices of debt to pension funds, he says, which are entrusted with providing for the retirement of public workers. He calls these debt offerings, called unrated collateralized debt obligations "a pig of a pig, distilled essence of pig, ur-pig, Total Ultimate X-Treme Mega Pig" and says that buying them is "playing with matches."

Other market analysis blogs: The Capital Spectator, Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis, Jeff Matthews is Not Making This Up.

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INDUSTRY-INSIDER BLOGS:

Engadget -- The consummate geek blog, in a list of blogs for investors? With their ears to the ground on the latest trends, industry-insider blogs can tip an investor to the next hot -- or cold -- stock.

But tread carefully. Engadget proved its power and its fallibility in a recent post that claimed that Apple had delayed a major product release. Apple shares tumbled, wiping away $4 billion in shareholder value, when Wall Street got wind of the report. The memo later proved to be false.

Other industry-insider blogs: paidContent, Cool Hunting, Autoblog, PVRblog.

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asap contributor Dan Sorid is a reporter for AP's Money & Markets department.

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