Net News, October/November 1995

After a brief trial run this spring, the Chicago Board of Trade's World Wide Web site returned to the Internet at the end of August. The site design is visibly the product of much work, a joint effort between several Net consulting firms working with various CBOT departments. Outside contributors include Sterling Software (who have worked with the CME, Linnco Futures Group and the Chicago Corporation) and Apple, whose QuickTime movie standard the CBOT uses for its Virtual Tour.

This collaborative approach results in a collection of information as diverse as it is immense. The "About the CBOT" pages, featuring a striking timeline image map and architectural tour, could belong to a different site than the text-only quote data in the MarketPlex section. Further integration between these various sections may still be needed: the navigational toolbar which appears at the top of pages throughout the site works noticeably better on some pages than on others.

Although the site's "front page" graphic is attractive, the main menu page serves as a better bookmark. Dividing the site into six main sections, the menu links to six long, scrolling pages of multiple internal links. These six pages serve as the site's framework and frequently cross-link to each other, allowing surfers to access Financial Place information within the Trader's Post section. Some pages seem designed with the market user in mind, offering an exhaustive selection of contract information, while others seem geared toward the casual browser.

As this column went to press, the end-of-day settlement prices and delayed quotes which were to be sold on-line as previously reported here were displayed free of charge in the MarketPlex section. In the wake of recent Netscape encryption scares, Net surfers should be reminded to download a security-patched version of the browser from the Netscape site before sending any credit card information on-line.

The Kansas City Board of Trade has established its own Web presence with a stripped-down, utilitarian that provides helpful market information with a minimum of fuss. The data displayed is straightforward: statistics and daily summary information (listing price, volume, and open interest) are available on grain, value line and gas contracts. Exchange margins and fees are also listed, along with thorough contract specifications and calendars for traders.

In what may be a reaction against maze-like, endlessly surfable sites, KCBT's Web design is sparse. The only icon in sight is the exchange's logo, which performs the same function as a browser's Back icon. Apart from a full-screen map of natural gas pipelines, the most eye-catching graphical element is a blinking link to order historical data on diskette.

Data Broadcasting Corporation's Web site will be useful to many on the strength of its Instant Market Information page. This page offers a DBC Quote Server for stocks and mutual funds, along with reports by market summary, featuring Top 10 volume leaders, percentage gainers and losers, and by industry groups from software to soft drinks.

Screen shots of Signal software for both DOS and Windows can be found here, but especially helpful is an index of Signal-compatible investment software. Along with extensive information on all products listed, demos can be downloaded for many. For those backing a horse of a different color, the site also offers a variety of sports data featuring scores, schedules and even on-line odds from Las Vegas' own Roxy Roxborough.

Finally, two academic sites of note, both maintained by educators featured in last month's "Back to School" cover story. The Office for Futures and Options Research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne supports a Web site which may serve as a valuable bookmark for the research-oriented, a specific section within the UIUC's Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics site. Information on OFOR's research can easily be obtained through its summaries of past symposiums and series of working papers.

Don Chance, Virginia Tech finance professor, author of the widely-used Introduction to Derivatives textbook, and self-described "Rush Limbaugh of Derivatives" (though considerably more scholarly), has for the past year published a weekly commentary entitled Derivatives 'R Us. Topics range from a three-part series on swaps to a recent piece on digital options. For surfers used to the more user-friendly aspects of the Net, this DOS-style FTP site may be disconcerting, but the contents file provides a helpful explanation.

Sean G. Thomas, Sean Thomas, Sean Garrett Thomas