Online Brokers 2000: Real-Time Quotes -- We Want Them Now!

Think about a hungry baby at dinnertime. That gives you a hint about how online investors feel about real-time quotes. They want it NOW!

In TheStreet.com's Online Broker Survey 2000, real-time quotes were the second-most important feature to investors after reliability. The numbers speak for themselves: 80% of daytraders regard real-time quotes as "vital," as do 76% of active investors. Even other types of investors, such as buy-and-holders, place a premium on real-time quotes: 53% regard them as vital.

Online Broker Survey 2000 In Today's Package Getting In on IPOs Real-Time Quotes Reliability -- Getting Better Investing Styles Calendar of Stories Message Boards

Here's the kind of quote-junkie that online brokers just have to please: "While DLJdirect(DIR Quote) advertises the availability of real-time quotes and options trading, in fact it does not provide online real-time quotes on any equity option contract with open interest of less than 100 contracts," wrote Stephen Mintz. "This means that for a quote on an equity option contract with open interest of 100 you must call one of their traders, which often means hold times of 10 minutes or more." ...