martin@ism780.UUCP (08/17/84)
#N:ism780:14000003:000:364 ism780!martin Aug 16 10:30:00 1984 Does anybody know anything about these supposedly real-time data services available for commodity and stock quotes? I'm referring to companies like Market Information Inc, out of Omaha Nebraska. For about $300 per month, they say they can send you *current* market data via satellite dish right into your personal computer. martin smith, INTERACTIVE Systems
kiessig@idi.UUCP (Rick Kiessig) (08/18/84)
There's a place out here in Silicon Valley that also
sells "real-time" stock data. It's called Quotron. They sell
a cute little hand-held reciver with LCD display, on which you
can watch your favorite stock/bond/option/commodity price. No
15 minute delay. The information is broadcast over the air,
so you don't have to have any special wires run into your house,
or anything like that. I don't think they have an RS-232 converter
yet, but that seems eminently possible (they were looking for
UNIX people at the Salt Lake City conference, if that tells
you anything). I think they're in San Mateo (area code 415),
and they also might have an 800 number, if you're interested.
Now here's the BIG catch. the equipment to receive this
information is not too expensive (on the order of $300). So far
so good. The problem is that the various stock exchanges charge
really outrageous fees if you get the information without it
being 15-or-more-minutes delayed. Each exchange has it's own
fee. New York, American, OTC, Chicago, etc. They also have
a one-time sign-up fee. They seem to run in the area of $15/month
or more, per exchange. And Quotron has a service fee on top
of the exchange fees. I think it came out to $100/mo. for three
exchanges. I think I'll stick to calling my broker when I need info....
--
Rick Kiessig
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Phone: 408-996-2399piety@hplabs.UUCP (Bob Piety) (08/20/84)
For those interested, the Quotron real-time stock data is transmitted on KQED FM (~89Mhz) on a subcarrier (SCA-type like background music). While it is quite simple to build an SCA adapter and drive and RS-232 line (4800baud), it is quite difficult to decrypt the data, since I'm sure they don't send it un-encrypted. Bob