ISEC 250 Stock Market Computer

AN EARLY STOCK MARKET COMPUTER FOR THE SMALL INVESTOR

The ISEC 250 was the brainchild of Fredrik J. Ranney, a technologist and serial entrepreneur who introduced the ISEC 250 to the world in 1966-1967. The ISEC 250 was a solid state electronic analog computer with one function: to assess the risks associated with buying or selling stocks. The ISEC 250 achieved this goal by considering a stock's current price in relation to its historical average price, prior earnings and earnings growth rate, its market trend, and the state of the market as a whole.

As an analog computer, the ISEC 250 was adept at the mathematical modeling of variable quantities using defined parameters, such as would be useful for stock market analysis. Although the actual results of the ISEC 250 would have been individual to each user, the August 1966 issue of Computers and Automation noted that, "First year testing, which established a model fund for analysis, resulted in profits of 44 percent, excluding commissions and reinvestment of profits." Ranney was also quoted as stating that:

"We consider the first year's testing results and its 44 percent profit margin remarkable. The small investor now has at his command a sophisticated computer that enables him to re-evaluate his holdings on a daily basis, not at fixed intervals as is usually the case."

Subscribers to the ISEC Investment Advisory Service received weekly Data Input Sheets to help them calibrate their machines to current market conditions on more than 2,000 stocks, to be used in conjunction with the stock prices printed in the daily newspaper.