With stocks being worth smaller amounts, there were much more share holders than previously (CNBC). With more and more access to the Internet, trades between investors and the general population became much more popular, and more and more individuals became involved with the stock market. .
As stocks transitioned to online for trade, the stock market increased with the change of the way stocks were traded. With the increase of online trade, many more Americans began investing in the stock market. In 1990, 20% of the nation was investing in stocks, compared to 5% investing the decade before (Stock Trading Warrior). With the rise of online trading beginning in the late 80s and early 90s, the increase in investors is directly related to the rise in online trading. In the 1990s, the stock market's presence online became much more prominent, and online trading companies saw huge increases in revenue and members. Popular trading firm E*Trade saw a large increase in revenue between the years 1992 and 1994. In 1992, the bottom line for E*Trade was $850,000. That bottom line increased to $11 million in 1994, earning E*Trade the title of fastest growing company of that year. Not far behind, clocking in at second in 1994, was TD Ameritrade, another well known stock trading organizations (Stock Trading Warrior). Not only did E*Trade see an increase in revenue, more importantly, they have had a huge increase in members since 1994. In 1994, E*Trade had just over 20,000 accounts registered. Today, E*Trade has over 4.8 million accounts registered (Metz). Online stocks are more widespread throughout the country and the world than their predecessor. For that reason, the market has expanded tremendously and has led to more and more people becoming involved with the stock trade.
Another large stock trading business, TD Ameritrade, has seen big increases in the numbers they have recorded since the 1990s. In 1991, the company was just under 100 trades per day.