That's a doubling in online accounts since the beginning of 1999, but only half of the 20 million accounts expected to be open by 2003. About 120 Internet sites offer trading capabilities. Online traders already have real muscle in a number of stocks. It's not that trading stocks with a computer is inherently evil, like merger accounting or daytime television. But switching from a broker to the Internet is not the same as switching from Pepsi to Coke.
Online traders trade more.
According to Dataquest, customers double their trades once they go online. More than half of online traders average between six and 30 trades a month. The surge in online volume is more than a natural evolution of the stock market. Market volume overall is rising at rates reflecting speculative fever. Forget the mania-style valuations of Internet stocks.