Stock Market On-line is the order of the day. It means trading in the stock market without having to directly go to the exchange or to the broker's premises. Advancements in information technology has brought with it phenomenal changes in the stock market trading.

In earlier days the brokers went to the stock exchange floor and place their clients' order. But now through the help of the satellite the broker can have his own trading system from his desired place. This system is known as VSAT system. In turn they also give connection to their clients through Internet for performing on-line stock trading. In case of Stock Market On-line, the client could avail the stock market from any place he wants provided he has a computer with an Internet connection.

Stock Market On-line involves trading via Internet in the personalized computers of the investors. Here the transaction costs are generally lower due to lower brokerages and the transactions are faster than the off-line ones. Stock Market On-line also facilitates the investors to access stock tips, investment advices, technical graphs, etc.

For accessing the stock market on-line an investor has to open an on-line trading account with a stock market broker-dealer. The investor could place orders by his own from his own PC provided it has Internet facility in it. There is also a facility of compiling one's preferred shares for investment in an on-line Stock Watch. This helps an investor to keep a watch on his investments and their comparative progress. Thus it enables an investor to keep an efficient track on his portfolio.

On a real time basis stock market on-line provides Best Buy and Sell Order, Placing Buy/Sell Order, Volume of Trade, Traded Value, Day's High, Day's Low, Change of price of the stock from last day (both in absolute and percentage terms), 52 week High and Low, Stock Tips, Graphs and Charts.

Generally, in Stock Market On-line the stock certificates of the investors are held in a nominee account by the broker. With every execution of orders the documents first goes to the nominee account of the broker and in turn it is being forwarded by him to the investor. Dividends and profits accrued by an investor first goes to the nominee bank account and then to the client's account. Some of the brokers in Stock Market On-line give their clients the facility of holding stock certificates in their own name. The main advantage of this facility is that it is not mandatory to square up the open position through the same broker he took that position through. Here the dividend and profit is directly sent to the investor in the form of a cheque. Documents (takeover announcements, proposals related to restructuring, etc.) are directly sent to the investor via post.

In this electronic form of trading, the shares are not in the physical form for their inconvenience to handle. So, they are now converted to dematerialized form. So, one investor does not have to worry about the safety of the physical shares because the bought shares get transferred to the respective D-mat account.

Stock Market On-line has revolutionized the Stock Market Trading where an investor can access the Stock Trading Terminal and can also execute own orders from his own PC provided he has Internet facility. This has facilitated most of the traders who are too busy to go to the exchange or to their broker's premises. Stock Market On-line has helped to increase the participation of investors and consequently mopped up the volume of trade in the bourses, which has brought liquidity with itself, liquidity, being the most coveted feature of any stock exchange.