Keeping abreast of the latest breaking financial and business news is now easier and less expensive through the launch of a new news alert system from PR Newswire.

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"NewsPrompt™," as the new service is called, is an online tool that alerts users minute-by-minute to the availability of news from more than 18,000 sources including the television stations CNBC and Bloomberg TV; online news sites such as Financial Times and the Washington Post; national and international newswires such as Reuters and AFX; and regulatory news filed through the Securities and Exchange Commission's EDGAR database. Through the use of an unobtrusive tool bar located at the bottom of a computer screen, NewsPrompt delivers alerts on breaking news and links to full-text articles from around the world, based upon pre-determined criteria and keywords set up by the user.

"NewsPrompt is an easy-to-use, inexpensive means of tracking fast-breaking news and complete stories that affect a company, its competitors, partners and entire industries, alerting investors as news becomes available," said Dave Armon, chief operating officer, PR Newswire.

Powered by cutting-edge technology developed by The Relegence Corporation, a Manhattan-based company which services major institutions within the financial services market, "NewsPrompt puts an invaluable tool in the hands of individual investors managing their own portfolios, as well as professional portfolio managers. It enables them to react minute-to-minute to changes in the news and have the opportunity to hear about potentially market-moving developments as they are broadcast," according to Armon.

"The combination of Relegence's technology and PR Newswire's expertise and reputation in its market makes this an exciting partnership for us," added Steve Fadem, president and chief operating officer of Relegence.

Systems with this speed of delivery and breadth of coverage are often much more expensive and assumed to be available only to major financial institutions. PR Newswire is enabling the individual investor to have access to the same type of service used on equity desks around the world.

In early testing, users cited breadth of content, ease of use, flexibility, speed of alert systems, broadcast coverage, and cost- effectiveness as the benefits of PR Newswire's new service.

NewsPrompt collects the news based upon specific data and keywords -- company name, stock symbol, subject or phrase -- assigned by the user. As a story runs over any of the thousands of NewsPrompt sources, the user is alerted to the headline and can link directly from the tool bar to full-text articles on the sources' sites, depending upon the selected terms of the user. The articles can be viewed either by time sequence, subject, event or news source; a relevancy meter allows users to filter articles even further. When mentions of a company or subject appear on CNBC or Bloomberg TV, a Windows Media Player will automatically open on the desktop to show the live coverage.

To date, major institutional investors and investment banks have used the Relegence technology as a means to get fast, comprehensive and reliable information on companies and industry segments they follow.

About PR Newswire

Now in its 50th year, PR Newswire Association LLC (http://www.prnewswire.com/) provides electronic distribution, targeting, measurement, translation and broadcast services on behalf of some 40,000 corporate, government, association, labor, non-profit, and other customers worldwide who seek to reach a variety of critical audiences including the news media, the investment community, government decision-makers, and the general public with their up-to-the-minute, full-text news developments. Established in 1954, PR Newswire has offices in 14 countries and routinely sends its customers' news to outlets in 135 countries and in 30 languages. Utilizing the latest in communications technology, PR Newswire content is considered a mainstay among news reporters, investors and individuals who seek breaking news from the source. PR Newswire's leading brands include ProfNet(SM), eWatch™, Online MEDIAtlas™ and MultiVu™. PR Newswire is a subsidiary of United Business Media plc of London.

About Relegence Corporation

Headquartered in New York, Relegence Corporation is the leading intelligence automation company, putting real-time news and information into the hands of end-users as soon as it is published. Relegence's intelligence gathering and analysis solutions and technologies are already in use at many of the world's premier financial services institutions and Global 2000 companies.

For more information on NewsPrompt, please contact Ira Krawitz at 800.832.5522 or 212.596.1540 or ira.krawitz@prnewswire.com.

SOURCE: PR Newswire Association LLC