12 An Era of Creative Destruction floor-trading world, the only way to receive market information was by either calling the broker or reading newspapers and trade journals, but the informa- tion was limited and stale. Things today have changed dramatically. Anyone with a PC and Internet connectivity can access the market information for exchanges around the globe in real time. The digital revolution has allowed financial markets to access, store, and process more information than they ever could in the floor-trading days. The wealth of information available today has transformed the way financial markets utilize this information. It has allowed trading firms to redefine their trading strategies and trading styles. It has created a level playing field between the trading community and the general public. TheDecadethatChangedtheFinancialWorld Much of the 1990s was a prosperous decade for the world economy. More commonly referred to as the dot-com era, it was a time of unprecedented growth in technology. Today the term dot-com is remembered for the dot-com bust, the eventual collapse of the speculative bubble, but it is the source of many of the positive technological advances that continue to have a profound impact on the world. The 1980s saw the birth of some well-known companies such as Microsoft,