Research has become more important

The number was, however, rising at a fast rate and thought likely to continue to grow.

But almost a year on, there is much more caution among active investors.

Paul Lubbock from online broker DLJ Direct says: "Investors are looking more carefully at the shares they go into and they are using the kind of research available on web sites, in terms of share price graphs, company research and director dealings, which allow them to make a valid investment decision."

There was a sharp rise in the value of shares traded on the internet a year ago.

In the last quarter of 1999, �1.48bn worth of shares were traded online - a sum which increased to �3.12bn in the first three months of 2000.

In the three months following the March 2000 slump in technology shares, the value of online deals fell to �2.23bn, picking up slightly to �2.4bn in the third quarter.

Online brokers such as DLJ Direct say that, far from trading every day, their average customer deals in shares 20 times a year.

And, with current volatility in the stock market, it is not how often you deal that counts, but the research investors have done beforehand, the company says.

In the changing investment landscape, the old rules of buying shares in a company and holding onto them for the longer term are over - at least according to some observers.

Now, they say, investors will have to learn a new skill.

"The fact that stock markets have become more volatile is really an indication to many investors that, rather than simply buying and holding shares, they should try and master the most difficult discipline in investment - which is actually knowing when to sell," advises Jeremy Batstone of Natwest Stockbrokers.

A US-influenced rise in the stock market in London is likely to mean more investors come back into the market.

But they are unlikely to have forgotten the lessons of last spring.

The days of treating a share certificate like a gambling chip may be not be about to return... just yet.