The Wall Street Journal Market Data Center has plentiful information available for students to use when researching stocks, bonds, and other financial instruments.  The site itself is part of the online Wall Street Journal page and easy to locate by clicking on the Markets tab at the top of the WSJ page, and selecting Market Data.  Here are some suggestions for items to browse on the site:

The Economic Forecasting Survey   
View the results of ongoing surveys of 56 economists views on the direction of the U.S. economy.  Every month broad surveys are conducted on more than 10 major economic indicators.  Selecting the Charts & Data link will display forecasted data on unemployment, GDP, Inflation, the Federal Funds Rate, the 10 year note and home prices. 

Stock Indexes
(select Stocks and then an index from the Major Indexes box)
Chart major stock indexes back a decade.  If you view the DJIA, the names of companies comprising the index are available in the lower right side of the page.  When viewing a selected index, chart controls let users set a time frame using a frequency of daily up to yearly.  Upper and lower chart controls provide possibilities for further customization, including comparing movements of several indexes.  The Historical Quotes feature makes it easy to locate the open, close, high and low price for an index, as well as the volume traded as far back as 1990.

Quotes & Research
Type in a ticker symbol (or up to 10 symbols separated by a space) into the search box to display options for viewing an overview of the stock price (real time quote, P/E ratio, market cap, shares outstanding) news stories; research & ratings (analysts’ buy, hold or sell); company description and people; and financials (5 year trend for balance sheet, cash flow, and income statement).  Select the Research & Ratings tab and click on Interactive Chart to access an interactive historical chart you can use to simultaneously view the date, stock price, and number of new stories on a selected company for a particular day.

Consumer Money Rates
Select the Bonds, Rates & Credit Markets tab to display a page posting current Consumer Money Rates (including the Federal Funds Rate, Prime Rate & Libor) along with a menu of options to locate Bond and Credit Market Data.

Ask a reference librarian for assistance navigating the Wall Street Journal Market Data Center or help locating additional sources for research on the financial markets.