Net News, June/July 1995

LIFFE's World Wide Web site, previously offline for redesign, returned to the Net in mid-June. Entering the site by way of a disclaimer screen, visitors proceed to the Headline News page, similar to the CME's initial page of collected press releases. This page is part of the news section, one of six principal areas of information; other sections include introductory exchange information, education (course and speaker profiles), and publications (including contract specifics).

The statistics section offers historical information in several formats: visitors can view contract records in table form, download end-of-day price histories for spreadsheets, and will soon be able to access tick-by-tick time and sales data. The Technology section details the exchange's trading and support systems. All six sections can be accessed from almost anywhere within the site.

LIFFE's Web site features a broad variety of information; if you can't find what you're looking for, chances are you can find a departmental e-mail address to write for assistance. Although the photo library (linked to several pages within the site) seems designed for a faster link than a standard PC modem, the general design is intuitive and easy to use.

Meanwhile, the Chicago Board of Trade recently announced that their Web site will return in mid-to-late August. Developed in conjunctions with Netscape Communications Corporation (creators of the predominant Web-browsing software), the site is slated to feature an "electronic information mall," including interactive services for news, weather, market commentaries and downloadable graphs.

The big news is that the CBOT will also sell market data such as delayed quotes and end-of-day settlement prices over the Internet, and will incorporate RSA Public Key Cryptography, licensed through Netscape, to securely transmit credit card numbers online. The exchange is negotiating with Bank of America to provide real-time credit card processing of credit card purchases. If successful, this feature will quickly move the CBOT into the ranks of cutting-edge data providers on the Net.

As industry leaders make their Internet presence known, people like Russell Davies have established the Web equivalent of the "mom and pop" store. Russell is the curator of the Quintain Financial Mall Web site. He is also the son of D.W. Davies, author of the HedgeHog on-line financial advisory, and additionally works as the art director for Investing Online newsletter. Both HedgeHog and Investing Online maintain home pages within the Mall, as does Russell's wife Carrie - who sells jewelry online. (Son Zachary, age nine months, has yet to establish an Internet presence).

Both Investing Online's monthly print publication and HedgeHog's online advisories focus on the individual's ability to invest from home using the Internet's resources for self-reliant research. Spirited, opinionated and well-suited to their medium, these distinctive sites are worth a look. When was the last time you saw a financial newsletter, on-line or otherwise, with a poetry page?

This column previously mentioned EDGAR (Electronic Data Gathering and Retrieval) project, a compilation of public filings with the Securities Exchange Commission since 1994. To casual Net surfers, the best-known EDGAR-related site is a searchable database established by the non-profit Internet Multicasting Service. However, the Washington, D.C.-based Global Securities Information (GSI) offers both a real-time (as opposed to Town Hall's 24-hour delay for new filings) searchable database called LIVEDGAR, as well as their own Windows-based Web browser, which can be downloaded from their GSI Online site. With more output and faster searches than Town Hall, LIVEDGAR is geared toward professional research.

Finally: the year is 1982. You have just purchased a shiny new Betamax VCR, soon to be the industry standard - or so you hear. Care to hedge that investment? Visit the Idea Futures site, where techno-gurus "put up or shut up" and wager on the future settlement of such pressing scientific controversies as virtual reality, sales of Microsoft Bob and the existence of UFOs. More mainstream claims include futures on the 1996 presidential election, O.J. Simpson trial and Michael Jackson's marital status. Though no money changes hands (as befits a market ruled by conventional wisdom, the unit of currency is the "credibill"), this site is a clever diversion for the futures-minded.

Sean G. Thomas, Sean Thomas, Sean Garrett Thomas