A Roaring Bull Market Led by Technology
The 1990s turned out to be the longest U.S. economic expansion since the 1960s. Low unemployment, low interest and inflation rates, and the elimination of the federal budget deficit fed into a decade of rapid growth.
The “dot-com” or “tech bubble” (which spanned from 1997 to 2000) boosted U.S. stock markets to all-time highs. Technology stocks, in particular, posted record profits, and Wall Street pulled in $10 trillion in profits over the decade, creating new wealth in many individual and institutional stock portfolios. That roaring bull market was fueled by $100 billion in initial public offerings of new technology stocks and web-based companies—such as Yahoo, eBay, and Amazon. The DJIA closed the decade at all-time highs, up 320% over 10 years.
Technology also became very personal in the 1990s, with the invention of the internet, or World Wide Web; the first touch screen personal device (the Palm Pilot); and the first text message. The new “information superhighway” revolutionized the way we communicate and do business, producing hundreds of e-commerce–based companies that over the course of the decade were embraced by nearly 300 million internet users.
Leading the Online Investing Movement
At William O’Neil + Company, we stayed ahead of the curve in the 1990s, leveraging the latest technological advances to make investing faster and more efficient. In the first step toward a full transition from print to digital delivery of services, we launched William O’Neil Direct Access (WONDA) in October 1994, a Microsoft Windows–based platform for our Datagraphs print-book service for institutional investors. The move online expanded the capabilities of an already powerful investing tool, with daily, weekly, and monthly pricing, historical archives, screening capabilities, access to Industry Groups and interactive analytical tools, and the ability to create and maintain portfolios—all in one location. Always looking to advance our service, intra-day pricing and First Call earnings estimates were added shortly after WONDA’s initial launch to give investors the most up-to-date information available.
“The innovative entrepreneurial companies with the best quality
new products that serve people's needs are always the top stock market winners.”
— William J. O’Neil, How to Make Money in Stocks
As the markets climbed, the number of retail investors—and the number of subscriptions to our retail Daily Graphs service—skyrocketed. Capitalizing on the fast-paced internet trend, in 1997 we began developing a web-based version of Daily Graphs that would provide retail investors with institutional-quality stock information more quickly. In April 1998, after 12 months of beta testing, Daily Graphs Online (DGO) was launched, reaching a whole new audience of individual investors.