The power of the Internet and World Wide Web is about to
make yet another major impact as several companies are reportedly planning
to offer free stock trade services to investors willing to do their
trading from a host site that generates its revenues from advertising
messages and other investor services.
Lucent Technologies Chief Executive Officer Rich McGinn said, he
expects the first Web portal to offer free stock trading to be announced
within the next 12 months. "There is no doubt in my mind that within
the next 12 months someone of substantial repute will announce they're
going to provide trades free online, with the value of you coming to their
Web site for other services," McGinn predicted in his keynote address
at the NetWorld+Interop 99 trade show in Atlanta, Georgia. He did not
identify the companies that are planning the service.
The rapid expansion of online purchasing by consumers will also start
to be felt in the retail market. "The communications revolution is
causing a shift in the value of goods and services that requires a
creative response," he said, adding that in the past 12 months
electronic commerce has generated $40 billion in sales and that may rise
to $1.3 trillion over the next five years. Online advertising has reached
$3 billion annually and is "expected to grow over the next five years
to $22 billion."