It get easier form here
While about 5 million American shares daytraders may use the Internet as their primary source of corporate information, Australia appears still to be in an embryonic stage.
But a s
While about 5 million American shares daytraders may use the Internet as their primary source of corporate information, Australia appears still to be in an embryonic stage.
But a spokeswoman from Lend Lease hinted at the future of share markets when she explained why Lend Lease had posted reports online since 1997: Its a global market in equities, so you owe it to yourself and to your investors - wherever they are - to get information to them on time.
Mr Debreceny notes that companies can attract a global investor audience that may have been beyond their wildest dreams just a few years ago, all by using the Internet. And when a planned global joint venture between the ASX and the Nasdaq exchange in New York comes to fruition from the middle of this year (see Nasdaqs top 100 on line, p150), the public companies who do not use the Internet well to communicate with international investors could find themselves in trouble.
The two exchanges will offer co-trading, providing Australian mum-and-dad investors with easy access to the $7.2 trillion Nasdaqs top 100 stocks through local brokers with real-time US pricing information, and reciprocal access for US investors to Australias top 50 stocks. The ASX is already seeking out its other foreign counterparts to replicate this model. Mr John Wilson, a client adviser at William Noall, says the Internet will become a lifeline to Nasdaq stocks after the co-trading begins.
Few brokers expect Australian broking houses to be preparing reams of information on large US stocks, and Mr Peter Rickard, Director of Commonwealth Securities, has even suggested there may not be much local investor interest in Nasdaq-listed shares.
But if you are planning to buy into the Dells, Intels and Sun Microsystems of this world, where in the Web can you go? Sites such as www.siliconinvestor.com offer in-depth information on Nasdaq listed stocks, with graphs to compare share price performance, breaking news and some general US and international market news. News files on broader financial matters are provided by Reuters on the site. Another handy page to bookmark is www.ragingbull.com, a site specialising in technology stock analysis and discussion. Articles on this page cover past and future floats and their chances of success, interviews with technology-company directors, and equity investment discussion groups such as those of recently floated Australian share chat forum Web site www.hotcopper.com.au.
Some chat forums have caught the attention of market regulator ASIC as possible hunting grounds of daytraders who could post false messages about companies to hike the share price before selling their own holdings, or damage the share price before buying in. Given the lightning speed these forums can move at, they may be better left for the steely-nerved traders who make investment decisions with stopwatch in hand.
This article appeared in the April, 2000 issue of PC Authority.
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