The stock market, along with other financial markets, is rapidly becoming more integrated into computer networks.  This immersion has had an enormous impact on the way stocks are traded, how brokers offer and conduct business, and the knowledge investors have.  Along with the Internet came an easier way of investing; stocks are traded faster; information and quotes are available in real time, and the entire process is cheaper.  Even though this technology has upsides, downsides come with it.  Many unexperienced investors are losing a lot of money by day trading, some people are addicted to on-line trading like it is gambling, full service brokerage houses may lose some business, and there is intense volatility in our market.

    Investors are overwhelmed with all the information available to them on the world wide web.  There are currently thousansands of websites accessable which give market analysis, quotes, historical charts, business news, and much more.  In the past this information was available only thru newspapers, magazines, and prospectuses.  In some cases, by the time you get an analysis or read about a great stock pick the opportunity was gone.  Full Service Brokers were the key to making money in the market.  They had all the information and the means of executing transactions, but they charged a bundle for it.  Now the information and technology is at anyone's fingertips.  An average investor today is more knowledgable about investing than in the past.  An investor can now get on-line and enter an order without ever talking to a broker.  Several Internet sites, like e-trade or Ameritrade, offer almost all the information you could want at a cheaper expense.   Shifting the work to the investing consumer has enabled costs and prices to decrease.  If an investor has the time to pick stocks and watch the market he or she can by-pass the brokers completely while increasing his return by omitting commission fees.

    The way brokers do business has changed also.  Nasdaq, an over the counter market, has no centralized base.  Orders for stocks in thei market are executed over computer networks.  The Nasdaq market has given a large amount of competition to the New York Stock Exchange.  Stocks like Microsoft and Intel have immense market shares and could trade on the NYSE, but the executives choose for them to remain on the OTC market.

    Along with the good comes the bad.  Day trading is becoming very popular.  These are people who buy a stock, then, on the same day, sell it for a small gain.  Over time a trader may make a lot of money or he may lose a lot of money.  Day traders are usually professional traders who trade with their own money.  The average investor cannot sit in front of a computer screen all day watching the prices of his stocks and waiting for the best one.  This tends to cause the investor to take a loss or make very little returns.  Many would be better using a discount or full service broker.  Day traders have also brought much bolatility into our markets.  In the past a gain or loss of more than fifty points happened rarely, but today it is commonplace.  Some see this as good opportunities to make money, but others worry about the markets ' stability and future.  Also,  a new issue has come to light, a gambling addiction.  Many people have been diagnosed with a gambling addiction by means of on-line trading.  This negative aspect of technology is in teh beginning stages of recognititon, which means many more will come forward and marny more will suffer with no help.

    Regardless of all the negative aspects of automation of the stock market, we would not be anywhere close to where we are today without it.  There are some problems that must be dealt with, but we cannot stop what we started.  The positive outweighs the negative.  Real-time quotes, up-to-date information and business news, on-line trading, and the OTC markets have amazingly driven our market to where it is now.