Q&A

I am a private investor who sometimes dips a toe into the Irish stock market. I am looking for an online service from which I can download each day in order to chart the progress of all the stocks quoted on the Irish Stock Exchange. Can you point me in the right direction?

Mr R.M.B., email

As someone who is only a recent convert to the Internet, I find the whole thing a hit-and-miss process, with the added disadvantage of having no central reference point for guidance.

Having said that, there are several companies which operate an online presence to a greater or lesser degree. At the outset, it is important to say that what follows does not pretend to be an exhaustive list and some of the notable absentees may be found somewhere on the Internet. It just does not happen to be somewhere I have tracked down.

The most important absentee appears to be the Irish Stock Exchange itself, which has no presence on the World Wide Web as yet. The exchange tells me it is developing a site at present but faces greater regulatory and legal constraints than some of its member companies. As a result, investors looking for information on its constituent companies and their performances must rely on sites provided by private companies which are members of the exchange.

Each of the big four stockbroking firms offers an Internet service of one sort or another. Davy Stockbrokers can be found at www.davy.ie not that it will be a lot of use to you at the moment. The site mostly comprises publicity about the firm itself and its various publications. The firm tells me it is on the verge of providing stock information, hopefully on a 20-minute basis, but with a certain time lag. Final details are being hammered out. Goodbody (www.goodbody.ie) goes one step further and tempts visitors to its home page with a link to "Irish Equity Prices". Unfortunately, when one tries to access the page, all that is available is an imposing notice saying the page is under construction. Still, it might be a useful link to have for the future.

After the false hopes of the big two, it is a consolation to access NCB on

www.ncb.ie which offers a full list of the previous day's closing prices. Although I have not delved fully into the site, it also promises price performance over one day, one week and one month with similar data for the ISEQ as a whole. Its drawback is that the prices are only updated once a day and, on the basis of my unscientific survey, that seems to take place several hours after the markets have closed. As with its rivals, I understand NCB is actively looking at raising its profile on the Web soon. ABN-Amro, the parent company of Riada, is certainly on the Internet at www.abnamro.nl. Unfortunately, the Irish stockbroking arm is lagging behind its peers with no stock information on the Web at this time. By far the most efficient site I have yet found is that of BCP Stockbrokers (www.bcp.ie). It offers Irish share prices and overall figures for the index which are updated four times a day. It offers short cuts, via a quick quote system, to the stock of interest and gives some information about the listed companies, together with investment reports.

Interestingly, the BCP site was the only one to feature online dealing in shares although that element is only in trial mode.

Of the other members of the Irish Stock Exchange, only Bloxham appears to have an Internet presence. However, that only lists its offices and the services they provide, as yet.

One other link which might be of use is the brokers' directory, listing members of the London Stock Exchange. It can be found at www.auric.demon.co.uk/memberlist.htm and includes those companies operating in Ireland as well as providing details of the services provided and how they can be reached on the Web or otherwise.

Send your queries to Q&A, Business This Week, 10-15 D'Olier St, Dublin 2, or email to dcoyle@irish-times.ie.