"E-Bonds, Licensed to Kill".

• Author: Greifer, Nicholas

The Economist, January 15, 2000, pp. 73-74.

This article discusses the near-term outlook for trading bonds on the Internet. Whereas Internet trading of equities has taken off (25 percent of stock shares now trade on the Internet), less than 1 percent bonds are traded that way. The article predicts that this will change because of the strong economics of Internet trading. Moreover, organizations like Freddie Mac, the World Bank, Fannie Mae, the City of Pittsburgh, and other state and local governments are partnering with vendors to set up the infrastructure to carry out Internet trades. The article notes, however, that "human traders" still will be heavily involved in executing on-line trades, since they will still...