Financial Information: The Internet and its Effects

The abundance of online advertisements for stock brokers, mutual funds and currency trading suggests that web-based trading in the financial markets has been widely embraced by the general public. Stock trading once had high entry barriers, including startup capital, a good understanding of the market, and access to special information. This paper explores how the Web has reduced entry barriers and in the process has transformed personal investing and related services. Issues of information quality, timeliness, aggregation and analysis as related to web-based trading are considered