While the crowded landscape has
fragmented audiences, it has given the most
sophisticated and technology-savvy news consumers an
array of options that would have been inconceivable just
a few years ago. Americans who are active stock traders
and investors are perfectly positioned to take advantage
of these choices.
Active traders -- those who have
bought or sold stock within the last six months -- make
up only 15% of the population. But reflecting the extent
to which high-income Americans now participate in the
market, active traders comprise nearly half (45%) of all
of those with family incomes of $100,000 or more. Fully
nine-in-ten (89%) of those making at least $100,000 are
investors, though not as actively engaged.(1)
[(1) For this
section All Investors are defined as people who
own stocks or shares in a mutual fund. Active
Traders are defined as people who have traded
stocks within the past 6 months.]
Not surprisingly, active traders have
a strong interest in financial news. Fully eight-in-ten
(81%) get stock market updates at least once a week and
nearly half (45%) get this information on a daily basis.
By contrast, 59% of all investors get weekly market
updates and 25% check in daily. Among the public, 42%
get weekly updates and just 16% get stock information
every day.
But what may be most striking about
active investors is their extraordinary access to and
familiarity with the technological tools of the new
information environment. A few years ago, active
investors in search of news on the stock market would
have been limited to a handful of newspapers and
television programs; today, by far their leading source
for such information is the Internet.
Nearly half (45%) of active traders
turn first to the Internet for stock updates
and quotes, with television (24%) running a distant
second. By contrast, all investors and the public are
more inclined to rely on traditional media -- television
and newspapers -- for stock updates. The preferences of
all investors are divided among television (30%), the
Internet (28%) and newspapers (26%), while television is
clearly the public's main source for such news (at 37%).
Active traders are also more likely to
go online for investment advice. More than
one-third (35%) say they go online for information on
how and where to invest, compared to 19% who turn to
televison and 18% who use newspapers. An additional 12%
volunteered that they rely on a stock broker or a
financial adviser for this type of information.
Customized Financial News
Active traders not only go online for
financial news in greater numbers than all investors or
the general public, they also are more likely to possess
other communications tools such as cell phones and
pagers. While more than eight-in-ten (82%) active
investors own a home computer, 70% have a cell phone and
29% have a pager.
With access to a broad range of information technology,
active traders are able to tailor their financial news
to suit their personal needs and interests. For
instance, nearly six-in-ten (58%) active traders who go
online for stock updates have a customized online web
page that provides prices and other information on their
stock portfolio. Roughly one-third (34%) of all
investors who go online for market updates (and 25% of
all Internet users who go online for this purpose) have
such customized portfolios. Moreover, 15% of active
traders sometimes use cell phones, pagers or other
wireless devices for stock quotes and market updates.
Just 9% of all investors and 7% of the public use these
technologies to do so.
Access to technology -- and the wide
range of information sources -- helps to give active
investors considerable autonomy in making investment
decisions. Nearly two-thirds of this group (66%) say
they are extremely involved making those
decisions; fully nine-in-ten (94%) are at least somewhat
involved.
All investors and the public are also
personally involved in formulating investment strategies
-- but to a lesser degree than active traders. Just
under half of investors (49%) and the public (48%) say
they are extremely involved in making investment-related
decisions, while 17% of investors and 23% of the public
say they are uninvolved or are minimally involved in
making investment decisions.
CNBC Rated Highly
Active traders also turn to different
television outlets and newspapers for stock quotes and
investment advice, compared to all investors or the
public. Cable dwarfs broadcast news in the preferences
of those active traders who name television as their
main source for market updates.
Again among those active traders who
rely on TV for updates, nearly eight-in-ten (77%) say
they turn most often to cable outlets, against
14% who most frequently tune in to local or network
broadcast news. CNBC is the top choice of active
investors who identify television as their main source
(at 36%). The percentage of active investors who name
CNBC is more than double the percentages of those who
tune into local (7%) and network news (7%) combined.
Generally, investors and members of
the public who identify television as their main source
for market information turn most often to CNN or its
cable partner CNNfn (30% of all investors and 28% of the
public). But one-in-five (21%) investors and more than a
quarter of the public (26%) say they still turn to local
television news for stock updates.
Active traders also are more likely
than all investors and the public to tune into cable
outlets when they are seeking investment advice. Among
those who would go first to television for this type of
information, CNBC is named most often (at 31%), with
CNN/CNNfn second at 27%. All investors divide their
preferences between CNN/CNNfn (27%) and local news
(25%); the public does so as well, with 27% citing local
news and 25% naming CNN/CNNfn.
Among those who choose newspapers as
their primary source for stock market news, majorities
of active traders (53%), all investors (74%) and the
public (71%) turn first to their local papers for stock
updates. But fully one-quarter of active investors rely
on the Wall Street Journal, significantly more than all
investors (12%) or the public (15%).
Beyond Financial News
Active traders are heavy consumers of
news on many different subjects -- not just financial
news and advice -- and they get information from a
variety of sources. Despite their strong preference for
surfing the web for business-related news, the vast
majority of active investors have not abandoned
traditional media.
Active traders regularly tune into the
nightly network news programs at a slightly higher rate
(37%) than either all investors (33%) or the general
public (30%). Nearly six-in-ten active traders (59%)
regularly tune into local news programs, about the same
as all investors (58%) and the public (56%).
Nearly three-quarters (73%) of active
traders are regular newspaper readers, about the same as
all investors (69%) and somewhat more than the public
(62%). Nearly six-in-ten active investors (58%) say they
read a newspaper yesterday, compared with 53%
of all investors and 46% of the public.
Beyond financial news, active traders are most
interested in following news on science and technology,
as well as sports. Nearly one-third (32%) follow news on
science and technology very closely, while 22% of all
investors and 18% of the public say the same. Active
traders also have relatively high interest in
international news (23% following it very closely). But
stories on crime and religion have less appeal to active
investors than they do to the public.
Internet Takes a Modest
Toll
For a minority of active traders,
however, the availability of news on the Internet has
cut into their consumption of news from other media --
especially newspapers. While most (58%) say there has
been no change in their overall news consumption since
they started getting news online, about one-in-five are
going to other news sources less often. Nearly half
(46%) of active traders who have cut their use of
traditional media since going online say they are
reading newspapers less often, while 40% watch
television news less.
Still, the vast majority of active
traders are fairly content with the news offerings of
the traditional media. More than three-quarters (78%)
say they are satisfied with TV news programming, about
the same as all investors and the general public. An
overwhelming majority (92%) of active traders say they
get at least some enjoyment out of keeping up with the
news, compared to 91% of all investors and 85% of the
public. Four-in-five (80%) active investors disagree
with the idea that the news is less important than it
once was.
Perhaps most important, while many
active investors opt for customized, online financial
information, they have little interest in tailoring all
news in that manner. Nearly seven-in-ten (68%) active
investors prefer to get general information about
important events -- about the same percentage as all
investors (71%) and the public (67%) -- while 26% would
rather have news mostly about their interests.
Reports by the Pew
Research Center - "For The People&
the press" - They are an independent opinion
research group, sponsored by The
Pew Charitable Trusts, that studies public attitudes
toward the press, politics and public policy issues. The
Center's main purpose is to serve as a forum for ideas
on the media and public policy through its research...
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