If you’re curious about stock markets, or interested in making money through them, there’s good news. Macquarie Edge has some neat Web 2.0 features that can make online share trading loads of fun, unlike some things in life.
Online trading has been around since the dotcom boom, but most online platforms stillhave an old-school feel about them and are just not with it on the UI front. Then there’s Macquarie Edge, with its slick Web 2.0 interface. Here’s five cool features worth having a look at using JB Hi-Fi as an example:
Plenty of non-member features
Unlike most online financial management systems (and MMOs), Edge lets you play with lots of features without signing up, like access to stock research and company announcements. You can join as a member without having an actual trading account, and by doing so, you can set up watch lists—handy for fantasy share trading—and configure email or SMS alerts.
Visual news search results
When you perform company searches, Edge shows you a visual representation of related topics in a bubble chart. The search results for JB are on the left. The closer the bubbles are, the more relevant the topic; the larger they are, the more info available. Hovering over a bubble lets you see and access related news, market reports, video and other information (some of which is restricted to trading members, but much of it is freely available).[imgclear]
Highly interactive graphs
Tracking performance on Edge is impressively interactive, letting you mouse over and see exact figures for a particular date, like in the graph above. As you can see, JB stocks have been on the up and up, riding on a 45% rise in net profit last financial year despite the economic downturn.
Social networking features
This is an Australian first. Most people make investment decisions based on tips from friends, family and colleagues. Edge makes the most of this by allowing you to interact Facebook-style with investors you know. You can view their portfolios (shown as a proportional representation, not a total value, for privacy reasons) if they agree, and you can similarly open yours to others. You can also check out the most viewed and most held stocks across the entire Edge community.
Live market information when you buy or sell
If you do decide to jump in and place a trade, it’s a three-step process and Edge provides a live market view from start to finish. This is particularly useful if your decision is based on a trend that could reverse without warning.
See it for yourself at Macquarie Edge.
Disclosure: Macquarie Edge is a current sponsor of Kotaku.
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