Stephen Pinner, managing director of City Deal, explains: “We don’t expect it to be a big seller straight away, but as PCs become more common it will be more useful, with other services also being traded over the PC hook.” Mr Pinner says back-up facilities are as important as the trading itself.”Infotrade does allow you to review your portfolio, and you can do your own research. The service will gradually expand to cover other big stock exchanges, and provide more historic information. The Infotrade package will also automatically update share portfolio records held on home PCs.For the regular investor the cost is modest, at pounds 25 to join and pounds 10 a month, and software purchase at pounds 70. Users need a modern IBM-compatible PC, with Windows software, fast modem and CD-ROM drive.Peter Horne, chief executive of Infotrade, says: “This is the first move Mitsubishi Electric is making into the on-line services industry.

Three brokers, City Deal, ShareLink and Stocktrade, have signed up with Infotrade to offer execution-only share trading. Infotrade, a division of Mitsubishi Corporation, is a business information supplier which sees its future as the computer doorkeeper to a range of personal finance services, including banking and insurance, and also share trading backed up by comprehensive information on company performance that it claims is almost as good as that available to analysts.
Users can obtain immediate information on current prices, as well as a two-year price history, two-year result forecasts, and three-year histories of results, for all quoted companies. But punters need not wait until then to trade electronically, with several of the large brokers already offering facilities to trade by home PC or via a multimedia kiosk. The Stock Exchange enters the 21st Century next month, when it implements the Crest electronic share trading and settlement system.

As well as new issues and the largest companies, the City is trying to attract a growing slice of the listings of overseas utilities and privatisations. Investment in emerging markets for capital growth is all the rage. Before long, however, we could see a whole new sector of the stock market in London where shares can be traded directly in companies in those markets.. The Exchange, as part of its profile-raising around the world, is making overtures to many developing countries about its capital-raising abilities.Led by Mr Abell, it is courting a list of rapidly industrialising nations including Korea, Indonesia, South Africa, India and Vietnam. This includes the Chinese financial regulations, economic conditions, differences in accounting standards, as well as exchange rate fluctuations with a currency as tightly regulated as the Chinese yuan.For the foreseeable future, it will remain better to restrict investment in Chinese companies to the more conventional route of investment trusts, unit trusts and other funds Later on, all this could change. There is just too much information needed which is not readily available or accessible. China is now one of the world’s top five oil and gas producers, It has significant capacity in minerals, chemicals, agricultural production, machine tools, electronic equipment and is the number one textile and footwear manufacturer.Mark Abell, international marketing manager of the Exchange, says: “Only the top quality companies will be interested and of these, only those with top quality management will seek access to London”.While private investors will be interested in the first Chinese companies to list here, they might be best advised to leave them to the professionals.