The Internet and the Stock Market

The advent of the Internet contributed vastly to our direct involvement with the stock market and the financial world. We are spending more time in front of our computers than in front of our television sets.

The World Wide Web has transformed global communications and liberated us to think and act for ourselves with regard to our financial affairs. No longer do we have to rely on financial advisors to mail us an analyst’s report about a company. All the financial data we could ever hope to digest lay right at our fingertips and within a mouse click away. Stock research reports , detailing news , fundamentals , institutional holdings , and proprietary rankings , are readily availabe online.

As more and more of us decided to take control of our portfolios , brokerage houses soon got the picture by offering us the opportunity to purchase and sell equities online. Since we are conducting our own research , we had no intentions of paying big commisions to have the trade made. discount brokers offered slashed commisions , and many large brokerage houses followed their lead.

What happened next is that daytraders flocked to the market in droves , attracted by narrower spreads. The availiability of sophisticated order-entry systems that give direct access to exchange floors.Some of those traders took home big bucks. Others crashed and burned ! Trading is a tough journey.