Many people in Singapore are now using the internet for trading purposes – and with so many advantages to online trading, it’s really no surprise that this has occurred. From up to date advice on which stocks to buy, hold or sell, to the instant transfer of information that the internet enables, there are plenty of ways in which technology has truly revolutionised how traders go about their business.
Proliferation of advice
One of the main ways in which the internet has transformed the experience of an amateur investor, of course, is in the realm of advice and information. Until recently, the only way to receive stock tips through the media was by reading the business pages of a newspaper like the Singapore Business Review or a specialist trade press source – and that would only come out once a day at most.
Now, however, there are lots of different sources of up to date information available – and it’s technology, or specifically the internet, that is responsible for this development. This information is truly global as well: it’s now possible to sign up to receive Australian stock tips each week, while it’s also possible to find out what’s going on in the Nasdaq, London Stock Exchange and more, just at the click of a button.
The best part of this change in market information trends is that it means information is instant.Whenever the advice for a certain stock needs to change as a result of a market movement, the news can be communicated instantly through the use of technology like push notifications, email alerts and more. Traders are now, it seems, more in the loop than ever.
No more latency – hopefully
Ever since modern stock trading came into being, it’s been plagued by problems relating to speed of transactions. In the past, when a trader wanted to execute an order they had to get the message over to their broker – and if the message didn’t get there in time, the market may well have changed by the time the order was placed. Now that dealing technology is available, amateur investors benefit from better speeds.
Thatcan, however, still be a problem that not even technology is going to be able to eradicate fully – and dodgy web connections and software failures can mean latency still occurs. It’s all a matter of perspective: a five-second time delay may affect scalpers, but most day traders usually won’t be affected. And with Singapore’s average broadband download speed sitting at around 180 Mbps (one of the highest in the world), it’s clearly not too much of an issue.
For traders, the impact of technology has been enormous. While old-school traders could never have missed what they didn’t have, it’s definitely the case that technology like the internet has solved some of the major pain points that those who work on the markets have gone through for generations. From fixing issues of latency to ensuring the spread of wise stock tips and advice, the internet has clearly been a godsend for traders.
