Editors letter
Opening Cross: This Year’s Data Oscars Are Gonna Be Monster!
The latest big-budget Godzilla movie, which has just opened in the US may be unlikely to pick up any awards at next year’s Oscars, but is still my most-anticipated movie of 2014. I don’t consider myself at the mega-geek level of sci-fi aficionados (I…
The Problem with Programming: "There's No Good Code"
I'll admit it: From time to time I submit to bouts of jealousy. I try to be happy for other people's success and content with my own station in life, but I'm also hyper-competitive, which I try to mask with charm and an air of nonchalance.
One Small Step for Esma
In his Association for Financial Markets in Europe (Afme) conference keynote speech last week, Steven Maijoor, the European Securities Markets Authority (Esma) chair took to the stage, and told those present that the legislative phase of European market…
Kilburn's Corner: The Devil's in the Detail
Every three months at Inside Market Data, we report on the quarterly financial results of the world's stock exchanges. This time round, I had the not-so-enviable task of wading through the marketing spiel in the announcements to dig out the only piece of…
Options? In Texas? Play That Again For Me ...
Tim reflects on his recent trip to Austin and the Options Industry Conference, and introduces next month's cover profile, the first of its kind for the magazine.
The Cost of Credit
Features from this month's issue lead coverage for the first week of May.
Opening Cross: Testing Times? Consider Lifelong Data Learning
From the day we are born until the day we die, there are always opportunities to learn something new. Once upon a time, your learning largely ended whenever you left school, and training meant learning how not to get killed or maimed by whatever…
May 2014: Regulators’ Arbitrary Line in the Sand
The high-frequency trading debate is raging, thanks to Michael Lewis' Flash Boys. But Victor says the answer is not to rely on regulations to ensure fairness.
Opening Cross: Innovation Isn’t Just About Being Faster; It’s About Being Smarter and Better
The recent furor over high-frequency trading prompted by Michael Lewis’ book Flash Boys has led many to think that the only source of innovation in financial markets is making things faster, so that some kind of banker-sandman phantom can steal Granny’s…
Divine HFT Providence?
Public investors are about as important as institutional clients come for buy-side shops. Tim wonders what we should make of the class-action civil suit brought this week by one of them—the City of Providence, Rhode Island—alleging high-frequency…
Rain, Snow and Architecture
Natas coverage and European regulatory efforts lead this week's coverage.
Moving Mission-Critical Functions to the Cloud
Anthony believes that more firms are moving mission critical functions to the cloud. As they do, though, it's important to note that there's a major difference between a public and private cloud.
Curing What Ails US Equities: More 'Law and Order,' Less 'X-Files'
Tim consults a pair of lobbyists for their take on the Flash Boys kerfuffle and straightforward microstructure improvements that can be made today. In the process, he also fits in two hopelessly dated television references.
Exploring the Buy Side in Japan
Anthony previews two events that will unfold over the coming two weeks.
Where We’re Going, We Don’t Need Roads
The tumult over Flash Boys continues to lead coverage, along with Fatca.
What Do You Mean, Rigged?
The book "Flash Boys" has proven to be something of a tipping point against high-frequency traders. But are the markets really rigged against the retail investor?
April 2014: When It Comes to IBOR, a Stitch in Time ...
IBOR adoption is ramping up on the buy side, but some firms have not made their move, which Victor says could cost them in the long run.
Who Watches? Not the Watchers, Apparently
The CFTC’s data dilemma leads this week’s coverage.
A New Voice
Anthony discusses the evolution of the Waters Cover Profile and previews the April issue.
The Customer is Always Vaguely Identifiable
Further pushes into KYC and the expanding use of social tech lead this week’s coverage.