By PETER SINCLAIR
It's a gold rush, certainly, but these days the search for paydirt doesn't involve a long trip with a large frying-pan to some godforsaken creek. Nor are the prospectors gnarled old-timers with just a grubstake and a stubborn hope.
The optimism remains, but keyboard has replaced shovel for millions
of young computer-users rushing online in search of cyber-gold.
Take Australia. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that, per capita, the country is now the highest share-owning nation in the world. More than half the adult population [53.7 per cent, 7.2 million people] holds shares, mostly the younger demograph.
Or Europe. Forrester Research expects European online brokerage accounts to soar from 1.3 million this year to 14 million by 2004.
Kiwis are a cautious race who largely shun the vagaries of the market in favour of the reassuring presence of weatherboard in their lives. But if you now feel the rest of the world's at a party to which nobody asked you to come, knock on the door of one of our own online brokers, because everyone's invited.
Alphabetically, Access Brokerage leads off, and their range of services is fairly typical:
* $29.50 per completed trade regardless of trade value
* Buy/sell orders for NZSE listed securities
* 'Market' or 'limit' orders
* The ability to alter or cancel orders which have not traded on the NZSE
* Automated tracking of each order
* Records of open orders and order history
* Real time prices, company announcements and price charts
* Personal portfolio updates for each completed trade
When viewing a quote, click on the 'intraday chart' to alternate between a time-based or trade-based axis.
Similarly, Direct-Trade offers a rate of $25 +0.35% - there's a sliding scale for phone trades.
The BNZ, too, offers a range of online options [considerably expanded for clients who take advantage of free registration] at their Securities Trading site at a rate of $37.50 per trade – you'll probably want to compare their services with those of online banking pioneer ASB whose trades begin at $24.95 +0.4% - over $50,000, you start haggling.
D.F.Mainland is probably our friendliest online brokerage at the moment, patiently instructing newbies in the basics of executing a trade with how-to's, investment guides, feature stories, and their Guru's take on the local market. Such hand-holding, absent from some of our other sites, has been a major feature of e-brokerages overseas, largely responsible for their uptake by an inexperienced but enthusiastic public.
But you may not want to commit yourself until the imminent arrival of E*Trade from Australia with its competitive rates, customisable desktop, live ticker and E*Trade Pro, "financial tools for the very active investor". You can check these features out in advance at www.etrade.com.au.
Information is the only thing which distinguishes trading from gambling, so there are sites you'd better bookmark before you start plunging too wildly.
This newspaper's excellent StockWatch remains profitably alert, and Henley Global Investor is essential reading for the neophyte, with its portfolio management software and dynamic charts of market activity plus a trove of basic data.
It's InvestorWeb for an open window on the Australian market, and Sharechat – the first internet discussion group for New Zealand punters – is probably indispensable; it's certainly interesting and doesn't countenance, I'm told, the heinous habit of 'pumping and dumping'.
So good luck! And if you strike it rich, please bear in mind that I'm always available for celebrations involving champagne…
BookMarks
MOST AUTONOMOUS: Home of the Future Today
Smart fridges, voice-activated lights, microwaves which know at exactly what temperature baby prefers its milk… they've all arrived at this ingenious and intriguing site. Click individual rooms and explore the potential of the networked home, which functions as a kind of organism, courtesy of chip-giant Intel.
Advisory: the future arrives…
MOST ROMANTIC: Match.co
Global pioneer of e-romance for both the young and the restless and the old and unsettled, Match.com arrives in New Zealand courtesy of this newspaper. Suddenly the love of your life is only a mouseclick away…
Advisory: free for now.
Comments: petersinclair@email.com
