ON THE INTERNET
Spotlighting Web Sites
The Internet is a network of computer systems from around the world, including government,
university, commercial, and public computer systems.This section explores investment-related
sites on the Internet. Each issue highlights an area that may be of interest to Computerized
Investing readers. We welcome referrals to sites you have discovered.
Real-Time Stock Data
The last time we covered real-time data was in the January/February 2005 issue of Computerized Investing. Over
the past two and a half years, real-time data has become
much more prevalent—albeit, usually at additional cost.
In fact, in mid-January of this year, the Wall Street Journal
reported that the New York Stock Exchange was considering a program that would provide real-time stock quotes
to financial Web sites for $100,000 a month. Google, which
does not currently provide any real-time data options, said
it would provide the real-time data to Google Finance users for free.
Some comprehensive investment Web sites provide realtime data to supplement the various investing tools provided
including portfolio tracking, screening and analysis tools,
and securities data. Other sites are devoted to providing
real-time data and supplement the data with basic charting
and portfolio tracking tools.
Yahoo! Finance
finance.yahoo.com
Yahoo! Finance is a comprehensive Web site offering a
wealth of financial data and tools including portfolio tracking, securities analysis and screening tools. The site offers
Yahoo! Finance
free streaming quotes, which you can see changing every
few seconds. This, however, can be misleading because
the data is not streaming in real time—it is delayed by at
least 15 minutes.
Recently, Yahoo! Finance stopped offering free real-time
ECN data due to pricing changes by the exchanges. [ECN
stands for electronic communication network, a computer
system that facilitates trading without using a traditional
market maker.] Now, Yahoo! Finance premium members
can access streaming real-time stock and index price and
volume data for $10.95 per month. Included in the premium membership are more advanced portfolio tracking
and screening tools and live charts. Premium members
can watch as the current bid and ask prices, daily volume
and market cap tick up and down in a flash. The site has
also introduced new fully customizable, interactive technical analysis charts. Premium members can choose from
numerous technical analysis techniques and chart data in
real time. Additionally, the chart’s timeframe is fully customizable and you can compare a stock to an index, its top
competitors or any exchange-traded stock.
ADVFN
www.advfn.com
ADVFN offers free delayed market quotes on stocks
listed on U.S. exchanges as well
as numerous foreign exchanges.
Quotes are delayed 15 to 20
minutes. Live, real-time data on
NYSE, NASDAQ, Amex stocks
and various indexes are available
for $5.99 per month. ADVFN also
provides real-time quotes for the
London, Canadian and Irish stock
exchanges for $19.99, $24.99, and
$21.99 per month, respectively.
Real-time data includes price
and volume information and is
incorporated into interactive,
customizable technical charts with
streaming data. Links to recent
news stories and related message
boards are provided as well. The
site also has financial statement
data and a portfolio tracking tool,
which will track your stocks in
real time.
May/June 2007
Forbes.com
www.forbes.com
A recent addition to this comprehensive Web site is a Java
based portfolio tracker. The free version of this portfolio
tracker is called Quotestream and provides streaming, but
delayed, portfolio updates. For $19.99 per month, you can
access the real-time portfolio tracker. All registered users
have access to delayed stock market data from the site’s
Quotes section.
The new, real-time portfolio tracker provides portfolio
updates, news on stocks in the portfolio, and price and volume charts. You can also get real-time quote data for stocks
not in your portfolio. Additional features include: historical
charting tools, interactive charting capabilities, company
profiles, upgrade/downgrade calendars, SEC filings, the
ability to export data to a comma-separated file, custom
alerts and the ability to customize views and colors.
FreeRealTime.com
www.freerealtime.com
FreeRealTime.com provides registered users with free
real-time ECN market data on most stocks and indexes. If
ECN data is not available, data is delayed by the typical 15
to 20 minutes. Users also have access to after-hours ECN
market data. For $11.95 per month, you can use the watch
list feature in real time. For $24.95 per month, you can access
streaming real-time exchange data; for $49.95 per month,
you get streaming real-time java charting capabilities and
wireless or E-mail alerts. The Java charts work directly
through your Web browser, allowing you to manipulate
timeframes, compare against indexes and add various
technical charting formulas.
All users have access to stock data that includes company
profiles, SEC filings, news, message boards, customizable
technical analysis charts and a list of upcoming conference
calls via BestCalls.com. Additionally, all users can create
watch lists and track multiple portfolios. The “Markets”
section provides lists of the day’s most active stocks, biggest percent gainers and losers, biggest dollar gainers and
losers and a What’s Hot list. You can also find basic data
on exchange-traded funds.
For investors with Web-enabled cell phones,
FreeRealTime.com offers wireless access to its site (wap.
freerealtime.com). You can view stock quotes and your
watch list, look up ticker symbols, view lists of the most
active stocks and see market snapshots and index data.
MSN Money
moneycentral.msn.com
MSN Money is a comprehensive Web site that offers free
real-time quotes. Simply enter a ticker symbol and choose
“Real-Time Quote” from the left menu bar. You can get upto-the-minute price and volume data as well as real-time
charts. One-, five- and 10-day intraday real-time price and
volume charts are also available. You can print and export
the charts. Unlike the delayed intraday charts, you cannot
compare multiple stocks or indexes on one chart. Also,
the free quotes are not tied to the site’s portfolio tracker.
Compared to some of the sites that charge for real-time
data, MSN Money’s offerings are sparse, but the data is
free of charge.
SmartMoney.com
www.smartmoney.com
Similar to Forbes.com, SmartMoney.com provides free,
delayed quote data to all members. For $10.95 per month,
SmartMoney Select Real-Time provides stock quotes via
a portfolio tracking tool that works through your Web
browser.
The real-time data applies to quotes, news, and charts.
You can track multiple portfolios with up to 40 securities in
each and fully customize displays. For stocks not included
in your portfolio, you can create watch lists or enter a ticker
symbol for real-time quotes and charts.
SmartMoney Select members also have access to advanced
screening and analysis tools, Smart Money magazine articles
and an exchange-traded funds center.
Wall Street Journal Online
wsj.com
The Wall Street Journal offers some free areas on its site,
but it is mainly a pay-for-use site. The Wall Street Journal
Online offers real-time data on stocks and indexes to all
subscribers, but only after an additional registration form
and liability waiver is completed.
The data is provided by SmartMoney, but is presented in
a different format. There is no real-time portfolio tracking
system, only the ability to look up individual securities
for real-time price and volume data. The portfolio tracker
displays all data with a 15- to 20-minute delay. There are
no real-time charts.
Zacks.com
www.zacks.com
Zacks, another comprehensive investment Web site, also
offers real-time quotes tied to its portfolio tracker for $9.95
per month (plus $3 per month for exchange fees). Free
quote data is delayed by 15 to 20 minutes. The advanced
portfolio tracking system provides streaming charts for
the major U.S. indexes and includes customizable features,
interactive and dynamic charts, company news, SEC filings,
and corporate research. There is no software to install: The
program works through your Web browser.
Zacks also offers screening and analysis tools, charting,
fundamental company data and mutual fund data.
CI