Listed software company Solution 6 has launched a share market information site for Australia and New Zealand, which it plans to rebrand for portals and Internet media companies under an ASP agreement.
The site, named StockNess Monster.com, was developed by Iguana, a New Zealand-based developer Solution 6 recently purchased.
The essential point of difference between StockNessMonster and previous share market information sites is the Iguana division focuses on displaying the information in a user-friendly, graphical fashion rather than relying on large chunks of text. Adan Rands, Iguana project leader, said the information on StockNessMonster is live.
"Most of the information is presented graphically instead of in text, to give you a sense of direction in the market," he said. "This way, you can get a good indication of direction at a glance so you don't have to sit there adding things up."
While advertising will be the revenue source for covering the cost of running the site, Solution 6 will also sell it on to brokers and media companies as a fully developed, hosted and completely rebranded service with the look and feel of the company. "The user won't even know it was developed by Iguana," Rand said.
The Iguana division had already provided a similar service for the New Zealand Herald, named Stockwatch, which is the equivalent of Fairfax's "Trading Room".
Under these agreements, customers pay a flat fee plus an additional per-quote charge to Solution 6.
"In Australia, we've only just begun negotiations for these deals," he said. "In New Zealand, we've pretty much got [customers] covered."
And the odd name for the site? StockNessMonster is based on a sock puppet character named Stocky, which smiles when the market is up and frowns when it's down, amongst other things. But there is a more logical explanation.
"Stocky came about because we couldn't find a domain name with the word stock in it," said Rands. "One of our developers here came up with the site name, and for a bit of fun, she also came up with Stocky."www.stocknessmonster.com
