There are a number of financial service sites on the Web, and BigCharts is a worthy addition to this burgeoning market. In fact, this site is a strong contender to be your sole source of business and market information on the Web.
According to the site, BigCharts is “the world’s most comprehensive and easy‐to‐use investment research Web site, providing access to professional‐level research tools such as interactive charts, quotes, industry analysis, intraday stock screeners, as well as market news and commentary”. So what exactly does that mean? The main page provides you with a great starting point with charts on the Dow and the NASDAQ markets. Recent business news then fills the remainder of the page, and this is updated continuously throughout the day. Simple navigation tabs allow you to select from the various services provided such as quotes, news, industries, markets, historical quotes and BigReports.
Additionally, there is a search box where you can type in a symbol and select from quick chart or interactive chart. These charts are quite similar but do have a few subtle differences. The interactive chart allows you to save your chart to a list of favorites. It also provides a link to the Morningstar reports for a mutual fund or to analyst information and filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a stock. Output can be either “printer‐friendly” or via e‐mail. The quick chart is a basic chart with recent pricing information without the links to the other information provided on the interactive chart. One unique item that helps set BigCharts apart from the competition is historical quotes. This allows searching on the price of a stock or mutual fund back to January 1985. While many other sites may give you the last week of prices or so, no others go back that far. This feature alone may be enough for you to consider BigCharts for all your investment and business information needs.
Since BigCharts is brought to you by CBS, you will see a fair amount of advertising supporting CBS television programming. However, all the advertising is fairly unobtrusive and does not pose any difficulty in reading the screens. The site is well designed, quick to load and visually pleasing. The charts are easy to customize and format to suit a wide variety of needs. The site is also updated continuously throughout the day to keep you up to date in the dynamic world of business and investing. In summary, for a quick and detailed overview of the financial marketplace, consider using BigCharts. Highly recommended.
