NEW YORK-Claflin Communications Inc., as a reseller for Paging Network Inc., has signed up more than 2,000 customers for its StockTips information service since the launch of the service in January.
The idea behind StockTips, as well as the infoQuotes service launched last month by PageMart Wireless Inc., Dallas, is using pagers to free diehard securities market watchers from the invisible shackles of their desktop computers.
Mike Wade, vice president of marketing for Claflin, contends that StockTips has two important features: real-time rather than time-delayed information transmission, and a linkage not only with the major stock exchanges in the United States, but also with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, where commodities are traded.
Claflin, headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, offers customers a choice of Motorola Inc. FLEX-brand or NEC Corp. pagers. Subscribers who commit to a one-year contract get a pager for $100, compared with the typical retail price of about $275, Wade said. The average monthly service usage package costs about $50, which includes 400 messages.
By fax, phone or Internet, customers can update their selection criteria daily. When those criteria are met, customers get paged, Wade said.
StockTips, developed by Steve Claflin, company president, monitors all the major stocks, options and futures markets, as well as headline news.
