Watch the market at MarketWatch.com
Jinfo Blog

By Gary Price

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While you usually think of fee-based services when you think of Dow Jones, it’s worth noting that the increasingly powerful and easy to use MarketWatch business/finance news portal is completely free to the user/searcher.

This powerful portal is one I’ve been using for years. Why do I like it? The reasons are numerous. For example, when you’re looking at a summary page for a particular company you not only find what you would expect (the most current stock price) but also quick and easy access to info like executive pay, historical quotes, analyst sentiment, and continuously updating charts . Recently, MarketWatch added several new features that are worth noting. Again, all of this is available at no charge and without having to register to take advantage of.

First, you’ll find a new service usually only found when using expensive news services. Now, MarketWatch “streams” news headlines (you don’t have to refresh the page) directly to your browser. You can find them on the homepage or via the new NewsViewer. Note how easy -- just a click -- to limit your Newsviewer “feed” to any combination of top stories, real-time headlines, commentary, and video, and more including content from The Wall Street Journal and news releases. You can also find a summary of a story by simply cursing over the posted headline. Finally, when reviewing headlines that mention a company you also see that company’s current stock price without having to click to a new page.

Next, MarketWatch recently enhanced the look of market charts feature. Charts now contain streaming real-time data. The market chart visible on the homepage can now be expanded by simply clicking on it. Check out this example of the expanded chart for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Finally, MarketWatch has expanded their international business coverage with increased details of markets in emerging countries as well as Europe, Latin American, and Asia.
In a time when research budgets are tight it’s always good to know that already impressive free research tools are constantly improving.

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