Increasingly, these markets are yielding to direct access by individuals. At the most basic level, a plain online brokerage account gives the individual investor more agility in buying and selling stocks. The trend toward individual empowerment is a work in progress, bringing average investors into the inner circle of Wall Street and other markets previously reserved for professionals. Through sophisticated information streams, dedicated direct-access trading platforms, the emergence of new stock exchanges, and individual access to initial public offerings, online brokers appear determined to give you the most direct market access for your buck. Ten years ago, most people bought mutual funds, individual stocks, and bonds, then held them for a long time.
Many people still take that steady approach to building wealth.
But part of the investment revolution is about choices, and you now have more investment product choices than ever before. If your online broker doesn't carry the type of investment you're looking for, you can open a second account at another that does. Individual investors can even trade futures and foreign currencies online, unheard of five years ago. Just as every coin has two sides, every positive has a negative. Online investing, with its new freedom and personal empowerment, is a virtual frontier, and all exploration carries risks.