Opening Cross: At the End of the Day, It’s All Data
Data isn't just prices; it's unstructured text, charts, sentiment scores, and even analysis of photographs.
![max-bowie max-bowie](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_750_463/public/import/IMG/807/101807/max-bowie-incisivemedia-color.jpg.webp?h=ee12d8fd&itok=FIjEj0Li)
What I’m getting at is the changing nature of what we classify as market data. No longer is market data necessarily data from a market, like an exchange or a broker price. Now it includes synthetic prices created to serve the function of a reference price, such as Interactive Data’s Continuous Evaluated Pricing service, which the vendor has just made available via its Consolidated Feed.
Market data also incorporates all kinds of technical signals and analytics, such as those provided by technical analysis software vendor Updata, which has begun offering data from Toronto-based economic data aggregator Quandl as a source for its analytics.
And in today’s era of social media analysis and crowdsourcing of data, market data also encompasses signals derived from social media, such as those created by Market Prophit, which—with S&P Dow Jones Indices as calculation agent and Bloomberg distributing the data—has created an index based on analysis of social media chatter. Like many new datasets, this is really a case of revamping an existing data source like an index by introducing a novel new methodology, just as how Estimize has revamped old-school estimates with a new crowdsourced approach.
And this is far from the least traditional datasets that we now recognize as market data: in the same way that latency figures became an important input to trade routing decisions, network security information such as that provided by Redscan—which has partnered with data consultancy Cordatum to help increase its sales penetration of financial markets—is likely to become an equally important signal about the health of a company’s network, or perhaps a counterparty’s or supplier’s infrastructure.
Meanwhile, TickerTags, a startup provider of tags covering mentions of companies or keywords on social media that just closed a round of seed funding, is preparing to launch its online platform for monitoring social media chatter for recognized keyword “tags” that could be indicative of a market-moving change relating to a company or its products.
Having moved from structured price data to unstructured text and sentiment, there’s still another level of data that’s even harder to derive, but potentially just as useful—visual data that needs to be interpreted by the human eye, then requires computers to be trained to recognize trends or changes on photographs. For example, companies like Genscape rely on a combination of physical monitoring with visual analysis of power stations or oil fields, while others use photographs of how low freight tankers sit in the water to draw conclusions about their cargo. And similarly, Orbital Insight, which recently hired Eze Software sales veteran AJ DeRosa to boost its presence among financial firms, uses satellite imagery to estimate data about store sales, crop yields and building projects. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but reverse-engineering that level of value out of a picture is a complex and no doubt expensive process.
But ultimately, these vendors, like TickerTags, are “creating new forms of financial data,” says TickerTags co-founder and chief executive Chris Camillo, who adds that the kinds of data scientists required to perform these tasks don’t come cheap. Of course, no one expects data to come cheap; they just want it to deliver value, which is what all these new types of data aim to achieve.
Only users who have a paid subscription or are part of a corporate subscription are able to print or copy content.
To access these options, along with all other subscription benefits, please contact info@waterstechnology.com or view our subscription options here: http://subscriptions.waterstechnology.com/subscribe
You are currently unable to print this content. Please contact info@waterstechnology.com to find out more.
You are currently unable to copy this content. Please contact info@waterstechnology.com to find out more.
Copyright Infopro Digital Limited. All rights reserved.
As outlined in our terms and conditions, https://www.infopro-digital.com/terms-and-conditions/subscriptions/ (point 2.4), printing is limited to a single copy.
If you would like to purchase additional rights please email info@waterstechnology.com
Copyright Infopro Digital Limited. All rights reserved.
You may share this content using our article tools. As outlined in our terms and conditions, https://www.infopro-digital.com/terms-and-conditions/subscriptions/ (clause 2.4), an Authorised User may only make one copy of the materials for their own personal use. You must also comply with the restrictions in clause 2.5.
If you would like to purchase additional rights please email info@waterstechnology.com
More on Emerging Technologies
Once a blockchain cheerleader, Axoni changes its playbook
The fintech, whose origins can be traced back to the genesis of capital markets’ complicated flirtation with DLT, has largely ditched the tech as the foundation of its data synchronization offering, opting for more familiar territory.
The IMD Wrap: Quality drivers—the sticks and carrots accelerating the data quality race
Like a Formula One Grand Prix, data management is a race that can be won or lost. And just as each race is part of a larger F1 championship that pays large sums of TV money to the winning team, winning or losing one race can contribute to winning or losing an endgame with much more at stake.
This Week: Clear Street, Hudson River Trading/Google Cloud, Alveo and more
A summary of the latest financial technology news.
Start-up uses ‘Magic’ to democratize access to AI for hedge funds
Spun out of Brevan Howard five years ago, SigTech hopes its new no-code generative AI offering can help smaller buy-siders even the odds with AI models.
JP Morgan touts DLT, tokens for collateral management
Distributed-ledger technology could make moving non-cash collateral more efficient, said managing director Toks Oyebode during an Isda conference on Thursday.
Waters Wrap: The changing definition and perception of blockchain
Anthony says that questions of definition and perception are killing DLT projects in the capital markets—oh, and a lack of proven implementations.
This Week: IPC extends Google Cloud partnership, BlackRock/AIA, DTCC and more
A summary of the latest financial technology news.
Waters Wavelength Podcast: Deutsche Bank’s Boon-Hiong Chan
Boon-Hiong Chan from Deutsche Bank joins the podcast to talk about blockchain interoperability.