With the stock market sinking to levels not seen since 1997, traffic to various financial news and investment sites are skyrocketing. More than six million surfers, or nearly 8 per cent of the internet population, visited a financial news site this past week, jumping 22 per cent, according to online measurement service Nielsen NetRatings.As the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped to a five-year low on July 24, surfers logged on to obtain the latest financial news and monitor their stock portfolios, NetRatings said. For the week ending July 28, Business Week traffic surged 68 per cent from those accessing the internet at home, NetRatings said. Forbes jumped 45 per cent, attracting 269,000 visitors. Traffic to Bloomberg.com grew 32 per cent to 231,000 surfers while Smartmoney surged 30 percent to 332,000. MSN Money, meanwhile, jumped 26 per cent in traffic to nearly 2.3 million visitors, according to NetRatings. Traffic to online stock trading sites also surged, growing 6 per cent from the previous week to 2.1 million surfers. Traffic to the US Department of Treasury site soared. New Line Cinema traffic jumped 62 per cent, with viewers logging on to the ‘Austin Powers’ site. The film debuted last weekend.
