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INVESTOR SERVICES
A Mercedes in the garage, a Bloomberg box on the desk. Wall Street status is measured by hot wheels and a dual-screen console that provides real-time tracking, trading, and complex analytics over closed T1 lines. For a mere $1,640 per month, the Bloomberg box serves up financial data and more than 3,000 daily news stories, as well as audio interviews with CEOs, and, of course, sports scores. You can even access your account while you're on the road, if you're willing to drop an additional $395 a month.
If this seems a little pricey, the Internet can provide much of the same information - in real time - for a lot less. Complete services like PC Quote and DBC feature equities and options charting, analytics, and quotes for $75 to $300 a month. Or if that's still too rich for your blood, try the guerrilla approach: Create your own Bloomberg desktop using Web browser windows and streaming media. Then, use the cash you save to pick up a few stocks on your wish list, and watch them plunge - in real time.
Complete Service DBC (www.dbc.com/) features a series of services for both day traders and institutional investors. PC Quote 6.0 (www.pcquote.com/) offers streaming quotes and charts and can be expanded to include options and Nasdaq Level II trading. Streaming News Customize RealPlayer to stream live news or display updated CNNheadlines every five minutes (www.cnn.com/desktop/). Charting Use the BigCharts site (www.bigcharts.com/) for sophisticated graphing; it also lets you save your portfolio for frequent use. Sports Scores Up-to-the-minute game results can be found on CBS SportsLine (www.sportsline.com/u/sportsticker/scoreboard/) and displayed as a component on your desktop. Trading Visit Net brokerages like Schwab's online service (www.eschwab.com/) for advice, portfolio analysis, and $20 trades. Datek (www.datek.com/) offers limited analysis and $9.99 trades. Suretrade (www.suretrade.com/) charges just $7.95 per trade. Money Management Avid traders should use money management software, such as Microsoft Money or Quicken, to keep tabs on their taxes. Real-Time Ticker Bullsession.com's ticker (www.bullsession.com/) tracks your portfolio and USexchanges in real time for $36.95 a month.
NEW MONEY
Reverse Engineering Bloomberg
It's a Wireless World
Quote
Cashing in the Chips
Hungary for Action?
The Right Stuff
