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International Online Investing |
| For years, Europeans have wanted the type of
online investing access that Americans take for granted. Stumbling blocks include how to
address Europe's Internet market? Which language to use? What investments should be
featured? With consulting help from their American counterparts European online investing
sites are getting more up to date with information and research sources. Sites like
Moneyworld (www.moneyworld.co.uk) and the
Financial Information Warehouse (www.financial.de)
offer such investor services as online quotes, research, investing advice, financial
tools, calculators, and links to banks and markets. In the developmental stages are sites
that offer European cross-border trading. |
| Europe's Exchanges
are Now Online Investor Bonanzas Europe's
many exchanges have recently undergone online changes that make them Internet treasure
troves for investors. The Deutsche Boerse (www.exchange.de),
Paris Bourse (www.bourse-de-paris.fr),
Nouveau Marche (www.nouveau-marche.fr/bourse),
Amsterdam Stock Exchange (www.aex.nl) and London
International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (www.liffe.com)
offer such services as online quotes, graphs, charts, trading volume, and company
information. Some exchanges even offer stock tracking services, fundamental financial data
and contract information for the companies they list. |
| Still Looking For
the First Pan-European Online BrokerageCurrently Europe doesn't have an electronic brokerage that allows
online investors to buy and sell shares on a pan-European basis. Several companies are
vying to be the first online brokerage. One of these companies is Interactive Investor
International. Interactive Investor (www.iii.co.uk),
which planned to launch their pan-European online brokerage by the end of 1998,
failed to meet their own schedule. Another company, World Online Quotes & Trading
System also had designs on being the first pan-European online brokerage but may have
abandoned their goal when they merged with European Investor (www.europeaninvestor.com), a European-based
provider of European financial information. Hopefully, the new millennium will ring in
pan-European online trading. |
| While working feverishly on the technical side of online trading, the European exchanges are undergoing rapid changes. For example, the Paris Exchange announced in December 1998 that is has developed a partnership with the London and Germany exchanges. It appears that the European community wants an exchange to rival America's New York Stock Exchange. This indicates that we are likely to see more consolidations and Europe becoming a bigger player in the online investment scene. Parle Vous Francais? |