Are Free Real Time Quotes on the Way?

Michael Covel reports:

The New York Stock Exchange plans a pilot program later this year that could bring real-time stock-price data to millions of Internet users. The NYSE Group Inc. unit was expected to file a proposal with the Securities and Exchange Commission today. If the proposal is approved by the federal regulator, NYSE will sell to Web sites for $100,000 a month the ability to publish trade prices on the NYSE with virtually no delay. Web site operators including Google Inc. and General Electric Co.'s CNBC, have both agreed to provide their data to users without charge, if the plan is approved, and NYSE has also held discussions with several other Internet providers such as Yahoo Inc., said people familiar with the matter.

It appears information is going to get cheaper.