Opinion
Who Can You Trust?
Listening to the non-stop news on how the banking industry continues to hemorrhage billions of dollars on toxic debt, and the occasional $35,000 commode, I wonder what this will mean for technological innovation on Wall Street.
Trade Secrets
Shocking revelations broke last week that the US National Security Agency systematically spied on news organizations and collected data on ordinary citizens under the veil of national security. The amount of data alleged to have been collected is…
The Rise of the Boutiques
Nature truly abhors a vacuum and so do the markets. While Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit tolls the official death knell of the "supermarket model" for financial institutions as he cleaves his firm into Citigroup and Citi Holdings, many firms and vendors are…
Get on Your Bike and Buy a House... or Two
They say an Englishman's home is his castle. They also say that home is where the heart is. But over the past year, we've seen an awful lot of hearts broken and castles under seige-all for that symbol of success and security, a home of one's own.
The Added Value of Greening IT
Farmers know if they look after their land, it will look after them. Financial technologists need to adopt a similar approach as they nurture their silicon crops. As soon as recession struck, however, too many lost interest in ‘green IT', with its…
Filling Clara's Shoes
At press time, the business press was reporting that the London Stock Exchange (LSE) has sped up its search for a new CEO. According to the Financial Times , exchange insiders are looking for an outside candidate from a brokerage or technology firm to…
Will the Changes of 2008 Drive Innovation in 2009?
Welcome to 2009, which will be the Chinese year of the ox. Last year, of course, will be remembered as the year of the MTF.
Low-Latency Messaging 101
Designing consistently low-latency messaging isn't just about outright speed-to gain the biggest payoff, firms must also examine loss, monitoring, applications and more. By Mark Mahowald, founder and president, 29West
Starting the Year Right
It's that time of year again when we squint at ourselves in the bathroom mirror and promise that we'll shed those layers of winter insulation in time for the start of the swimsuit season, get more organized in our personal and professional lives and stop…
2008 is Dead; Long Live 2009
If proof were needed that people are keen to forget last year, with all of its crises and collapses, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 108 points on Dec. 31, the highest percentage rise on a year's last day of trading since 1974. But with 2008…
A Bold Resolution
EDITOR'S LETTER
Buy Side Bolsters Controls
OPEN PLATFORM
Intelligence + Governance = Survival
Financial organizations are slowly recognizing that a dedicated commitment to data quality is essential to ensuring accurate risk planning and business process returns, says Harte-Hanks Trillium Software's Ed Wrazen
Editor's Letter - What's in a name?
Seeing the financial services industry is so fond of acronyms, here's one that describes the state of the hedge fund industry: FUBAR (Fouled Up Beyond All Repair). It's not particularly refined, but few would argue that it's not pertinent.
Insults and injuries
Hedge fund and investment managers could have had a better start to 2009, but that apparently isn't on the cards for the industry.
The party's over
One of the by-products of the ongoing global financial meltdown is the likely cessation of self-regulation for buy-side institutions.
Idiosyncrasies of counterparty risk
Out of all the skeletons now hanging (thankfully) in the 2008 closet - from Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns to Jérôme Kerviel, Samuel Israel III and, of course, Bernard Madoff - one lesson should have been universally learnt: when you're investing money…
That Was The Year That Was
If you're reading this on the date of publication (only three shopping days left ‘til Christmas!), then you're either a big fan of Inside Market Data , or you're stuck at your job trying to balance your firm's budgets with its data needs for next year,…
So Long to All That
Like most in the industry, I'm glad that 2008 is finally winding down. Although I'm not eagerly awaiting 2009, I believe most of us are well braced for the coming annus horribilis . Money can be made as a bull or a bear, but it's the uncertainty that is…
The Secret Is Knowing Where to Look
It's perhaps not the most appropriate film to be thinking of during the holiday season, but I can't seem to get Monty Python's Life of Brian out of my head. I'm thinking specifically of when Eric Idle sings, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" at…
Making Measurement Work, Making Ends Meet
This week, Inside Market Data contains a special report on the importance of low-latency market data in today's modern trading environment. Yet in the same issue, we detail the problems at latency monitoring software vendor Trading Metrics, which is…
Are We Ready for Low-Tech Terrorism?
Over this past Thanksgiving holiday, instead of watching the traditional football games, my eyes were glued to the cable news networks and the horrible events that unfolded on the other side of the planet in Mumbai.