The `do-it-yourself' framework Online share trading offers retail investors the three benefits of transparency, access and efficiency. Paperwork diminishes significantly, and no more painful trips to your broker to check if everything's in order. Online trading has made it possible to universalise access to retail investors. This was earlier very difficult, as the cost of servicing often-outweighed transaction volumes. Online brokerage ranges between 0.05-0.20 per cent of the value of transactions for non-delivery-based trades, and between 0.25-0.95 per cent for delivery-based trades. Once major investments in online infrastructure are over and done with - and with the economies of scale coming into play - it is expected that brokerage rates would head further downwards. Then there's always a flip side: Transaction velocity is crucial. And more often than not, connections are lousy. There's also a degree of investor skepticism about online payment and settlement mechanisms in spite of all the encryption andfirewalling brought into play. Time and technology will soon assuage these concerns, which hark back to the `physical' days.

It's `hats off' to the investor We've come to a stage where advances in technology have significantly empowered the retail investor fraternity. Access to online trading and latest financial happenings, apart from quotes and unbiased investment analyses, all consolidate into a value-added product mix in tandem with evolving markets that are freer and fairer. The Net result: An inquisitive, informed and demanding investor. Today's investor is more involved in managing his or her assets and analysing a vast array of investment options. Technology and today's enabled investor have, in turn, driven competition, resulting in reduced costs of trading, transparency in dealings, and pricing info that is accurate and real-time. More and more investors now want to know how their trades are executed, and whether they have received the best possible price. Critical components of execution quality include the prices at which orders were executed as well as the speed of execution. The quality of execution, in turn, hingeson efficient order routing. We owe this to our investor fraternity.

On to some threat perception Domestic funds, foreign institutional investors and operators comprise the three main market constituents. And all three include term investors as well as opportunists in their pecking order. Some, for instance, hitch their fate with what the FIIs are up to. All this spells spurting volumes. But nobody gives a damn about the resultant volatility. And some, not all, offer free investment advice over the Net to lure rookie investors with misleading information. Prices of scrips can also be influenced to the advantage of vested interests, courtesy the Net. Unlike in the US, stockbrokers out here willingly (or under the force of circumstance) assume the role of `advisors', sans the neutral, non-vested stance. So, how does all this impinge on the ordinary guy's ordinary dreams.

That dream stone-and-wood cottage in the suburbs with a Maruti 800 parked outside. Or that dream vacation in Khajjiar? Or the bigger dreams that he has for his happy-go-lucky son and hard-working daughter?Welcome dear newcomer, but... Don't get taken in by paid-for media hype or nerdspeak.

Homework's important, don't skip it. Check bona fides. Seek out and ask registered members. Compare notes on margins, brokerage rates. But most importantly, think carefully about the type, size and frequency of trades that you'll be into before opting for an online service provider. Do you get to place limit orders, for instance? What about off-market hours? And is there immediate reinvestment of hour sales proceeds, if you so desire? Or do you have to wait out the usual T+5? Most importantly, does your online broker have what it takes to handle an upsurge in trading activity?Goes without saying that it's becoming easier to trade online, but it's also becoming easier to lose your money! So, carefully does it...Having said all that It all boils down to investor confidence. This, to my mind, is a function of investor education, streamlined and user-friendly systems, transparency, efficiency and personalised service. All this assumes the cent restage, which is illuminated by technology and choreographed by well-meaning, decipherable and implementable regulation. Allow me to sign-off with this: it is my firm conviction that greed no longer drives the world. We can only move ahead by facilitating each other and making each other's dreams come true.

Gagan Banga is, chief marketing officer, IndiaBulls.com