Playing the Stock Market via the Internet
Whether you're an active investor in the market, or you're just curious to know more about what goes on in that nebulous world of stocks and bonds, the Internet can be a valuable information resource and tool.by Forest Linton
If you live in Japan but are an active investor in foreign markets, you don't need to spend huge sums paying a broker to handle your overseas investments. There is a tool that can solve all of your long-distance problems: the Internet. Today, practically everything that you can do by phone or fax can be done via the Internet.
The Internet as a tool
One of the most satisfying uses for the Internet is as a personal tool. This month, you won't be reading about the latest Internet software, or how to make money with the Net's next "killer" business chance. Instead, I'll describe how you can use the Net as a tool to increase your productivity when it comes to investing your money.Since the advent of World Wide Web graphical browsers (such as Mosaic) in 1993, the information industry has been eyeing the Internet as its next big market. In the past year, Internet-based investment services have increased at an amazing rate. There are now dozens of investment resources on the Net, and many of the services are free. Investors can check stock prices on all of the major exchanges (including Canadian and European markets), download company reports and S&P reports, read market news and analyses, and even buy and sell stocks over the Internet.
Best sites on the Net
PRICES -- Probably the handiest resource is PRICES, a free stock price quotation service. Those lacking WWW access to the Net will appreciate PRICES' e-mail format. With PRICES, a user can set up a portfolio of stocks (including the number of shares); PRICES will automatically send an e-mail message at the close of each market day (or at other set intervals) with any or all of the following information: closing price, day's high/low, daily volume, 52-week high/low, and your portfolio's value change. PRICES is provided by Bozeman Technology Incubator; send an e-mail message with INFO in the subject to prices@bozeman.com.Quote.com -- An easy-to-use Web site is available at http://www.quote.com/. Member services include up to 200 quotes per day, access to the S&P News and Business Wire services, a price charting service, Stock Guide, 24-hour worldwide weather information for com- modities traders, and access to Canadian and European exchange information. In addition, precious metals, treasury securities, certificates of deposit, and government agency securities subscriptions are available.
Members can also set up portfolios and receive daily e-mail regarding every security in the portfolio -- including end-of-day price, share price alarms, and notification of news reports about a security in the portfolio. (Most services are available via the Web, too.) Non-members can receive up to 5 free stock quotes per day via the Web. Member packages for quote.com start at $9.95 per month.
APL/Pawws Financial Network -- In March 1994, Security APL established an experimental Web site to offer 15-minute-delayed stock quotes. Now, in addition to complete market data services, they also offer discount brokerage services (http://www.secapl.com/).
Yes, members can buy and sell stocks securely over the Internet. APL has teamed up with The Net Investor and National Discount Brokers to offer a wide variety of brokerage services, including real-time stock market quotes, sophisticated market analysis and planning tools, and news and financial information with analyst reports, historical market prices, volume graphs, and other market data. Non-members can receive unlimited free stock quotes via the Web. Member packages start at $8.95 per month.
E-Trade has offered online trading services since 1982. This year, they launched a Web site (http://www.etrade.com/) to provide brokerage electronic stock and option trading on the Net. They also offer stock quotes, but lack portfolio and real-time quote functions. E-Trade bills itself as a deep-discount brokerage; most trade commissions are just $19.95. They also offer a Stock Game so that members (via telnet) can get into the swing of things or practice trading options. E-Trade's stock quoting service offers unlimited 20-minute-delayed prices free to anyone with Web Access.
InterQuote is a collection of Internet-based stock market services. It provides real-time, 15-minute-delayed, and end-of-day information on stocks, options, indices, mutual funds, and futures on most US and Canadian exchanges. Most of the services can be accessed using a combination of their continuously updating InterQuote software and their WWW QuoteServer. InterQuote can also be contacted via telnet. All packages are immediately available for a 15-day free trial. Non-members can receive up to 5 free stock quotes per day. Member packages start at $9.95 per month. Real-time stock quote packages start at approximately $40 per month. Check out http://www.interquote
.com/.
Information sites on the Web
EDGAR is short for Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval. The Internet EDGAR Dissemination project allows the lookup of any 1994 and 1995 publicly available electronic filings to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Non-electronic filings, filings that are not open to the public, and data prior to 1994 are not available. Point your browser at http://town.hall.org/edgar/edgar.html.DowVision -- Currently in beta testing, DowVision (http://dowvision.wais.net/) offers free (for now) searching of articles in several major business publications. DowVision is a new service from Dow Jones in collaboration with WAIS Inc. Eventually, it will include the full text of The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones News Service, Dow Jones International News Services, Japan Economic Newswire, Canada Newswire, Business Wire, PR Newswire, Investext Abstracts, and Professional Investor Report.
The Nasdaq Financial Executive Journal is a joint project of the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School and The Nasdaq Stock Market. This online magazine, available on the World Wide Web, contains interviews with industry heavyweights, corporate case studies, and tips on corporate finance and investor relations. It is published by The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc., as an informational service to Nasdaq-listed companies. Point your browser at http://www.law.cornell.edu
/nasdaq/nasdtoc.html.
No more brokers?
Spring Street Brewing company became the first company cleared by the SEC to sell its stock directly to the public over the Internet. It is selling over 2.7 million shares at an initial price of $1.85.Does this spell the end of securities brokers? Probably not, but it could be the beginning of an interesting trend. Spring Street Brewing is avoiding the high costs of a typical IPO (initial public offering) by selling its stock itself. Depending on the success of Spring Street's offering, other small companies could follow suit. Check out their Web page at http://www.interport.com/witbeer/.ç
Next month: The World Wide Web, Part IV
Forest Linton lives in Tokyo and, when he's not busy exploring the Internet, works at Koyosha Graphics. He can be reached by e-mail at forest@gol.com. His personal Web page, The Digital Forest, can be accessed atÅ@http://www.twics.com/~forest/theforest
.html.
Trading stocks online
E-Tradehttp://www.etrade.com/
APL/Pawws
http://www.secapl.com/
Market data services
Quote.comhttp://www.quote.com/
Interquote
http://www.interquote.com/
APL/Pawws
http://www.secapl.com/
PC Quote/SpaceCom
http://www.spacecom.com
GNN/Koblas Currency Exchanger
http://gnn.com/cgi-bin/gnn/
currency/United_States
Newsgroups
misc.investmisc.invest.technical
misc.invest.stocks
Information online
Nasdaq Executive Journalhttp://www.law.cornell.edu/nasdaq/
nasdtoc.html
FINWeb
http://riskweb.bus.utexas.edu/finweb.html
Mutual Funds magazine
http://www.mfmag.com/aam
Holt Report
http://www.mfmag.com/aam
IPO Watch
http://iss.net:80/ipo/
Japanese financial resources
Nomura Research Institutehttp://www.nri.co.jp/
Nikkei Business Publications
http://www.nikkeibp.co.jp/
Mitsui Real Estate
http://www.mki.co.jp/mitsui.html
Nikko Securities
http://www.nikko.co.jp/
