WSJ.com to offer free stock center on web site

The Wall Street Journal announced Monday that it will offer a free markets data center on its WSJ.com web site beginning Jan. 2.

Based on the announcement, it seems as if the Journal can be headed in two ways: It wants to take readers away from newspapers that have dropped market information from its printed paper, or it plans to do the same.

This site will provide extensive markets information and easy ways for users to put data into context. Features include quick scanning and charting capability of stocks and indexes; integrated access to market-moving headlines; and email delivery of key market information including the Journal’s closely watched Money Rates. A tour of the new Markets Data Center is available at www.wsj.com/mdctour.

The online Markets Data Center was developed in tandem with the redesign of the print Journal scheduled to debut on Jan. 2. The newly designed print Journal will provide top stocks listings and new value-added statistics that graphically communicate information and analysis. Each day for free, via the online Markets Data Center, users can screen more than 5,500 issues that trade on the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq and American Stock Exchange.

“The online Markets Data Center is the new destination for monitoring the markets,� said L. Gordon Crovitz, executive vice president, Dow Jones & Co. and publisher, The Wall Street Journal. “Our aim is to help users extract the most financial information and insight with the greatest efficiency and convenience,� he said in the release.

Read more here.