Just when you thought retail sales couldn't get any more challenging.

USA Today has unveiled on its Money web section a new, free, personal Portfolio Tracker that will allow users to track the performance of their own stocks and funds.

Users go to this webpage where they create a free account with user name and password. If they want, users can then connect their online retail brokerage accounts to the USA Today system to import information on their portfolios. The Tracker will then automatically pull user investments into a single dashboard, giving them real-time views of their stocks, mutual funds, ETFs, and options.

The system, developed by SigFig, will provide users with a "customized, automated analysis" of their holdings.

The newspaper explains the move in this way: It was time to update our user portfolios, and this Portfolio Tracker offers a number of new features we hope you will like, such as the ability to link directly to your 401(K), IRA, broker or advisor accounts; portfolio analysis, including tips about underperforming stocks and funds and excessive fees; and charts comparing your portfolio's performance with your peers and with market indexes.

It's unlikely this service will ever keep executives at Morningstar up late at night, but nonetheless, USA Today is working hard to make it as accessible as possible.

For example, free Portfolio Tracker apps for iPhone and for Android. An app for iPad will be available soon. 

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