There are more than 37,000 such clubs nationwide, according to the National Association of Investors Corporation, which helps clubs organize.

The club is one of 31,800 investment clubs worldwide, according to the National Association of Investors Corporations, headquartered in Michigan.

Six times, the National Association of Investors Corporation has ranked them near the top of the 11,000-plus investment clubs it tracks.

Women-only investment clubs tracked by the National Association of Investors Corporation have earned a 21.3 percent average annual return, compared with 15 percent for men-only clubs.

The other group is the National Association of Investors Corporation, which represents some of the nation's investment clubs and has 350,000 members.

The National Association of Investors Corporation, a Madison Heights, Mich., nonprofit group that represents 17,004 clubs, warns against that fate.

The National Association of Investors Corporation, the investment clubs' national organization, is bragging that its Top 100 index has trounced most major market indexes.

The National Association of Investors Corporation in Royal Oak, Mich., which represents the bulk of investment clubs, now lists 9,200 nationwide, the most ever.

Another way to avoid the initial broker's fee is to buy stock through the National Association of Investors Corporation of Royal Oak, Mich. (313 543-0612).

"Registered" refers to clubs set up under the aegis of the nonprofit National Association of Investors Corporation.