In the area of information collection and dissemination, Mr. Stokes feels that the Internet and various news groups are doing a good job of providing market information, and thus lessening the need for middlemen. I agree that there is a lot of market information on the web. As I have suggested before, the information that is available is raw. It has not been screened for completeness or accuracy. Each report is usually focused on a single element.
Information overload is rampant.
The information may be good enough for long term projects and background research, but technology must make at least one, possibly two more steps before brokers join the dinosaurs. The gauntlet that Mr. Stokes laid down for shipbrokers in the 21st Century, to initiate projects, and to provide more analytical services as well as financing when needed, is one that many have already taken up. It is my opinion that historically NY brokers have been discouraged by most local shipowners from providing more than information collection services. The Owners treated more imaginative efforts by brokers as intrusions into their business. Those projects that have been successfully initiated by shipbrokers have most often been focused at the shipper, buyer or charterer.