The NASDAQ exchange stated this week that it has started providing real-time quotes to traders by means of a collection of partners, comprising Google and CNBC. The quotes would be free on Google Finance, according to Matthew Simmons, a Google "market data gnome," stated in a blog post.

Normally, quotes are late by several minutes in free services such as Google, with only for-pay services providing the real-time quotes, which brokerages are privy to. The holdup could mean that smaller investors cannot actually act in response as fast to trends in a stock price, costing them money.

"This is an important, and in many ways, overdue development in the U.S. securities markets," stated Adena Friedman, Executive Vice President, NASDAQ OMX, in a statement. "With universal access to the Internet and the real-time nature of the web, investors need real time data, and now they don't have to pay for it, thanks to CNBC, Google, The Wall Street Journal Digital Network and Xignite."

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