Wednesday - June 24, 2009

Hedge fund managers betting Twitter will give them an edge in rapid trading.

I don’t think I have ever posted anything from the financial pages before.
I know I should keep up with things but to tell you the truth, I just don’t read the financial pages too often. In fact, hardly ever.
Wasn’t always thus. I used to faithfully read the IBD, my first port of call in finance and stocks etc. It was always a pretty good source too.
And of course the WSJ.  As time went on and after we moved here though, I seemed to lose interest and there has been so many other things to occupy my time, I just ignore it now. 
However, my wife reads the financial pages here every day, and she brought this story to my attention.

I deemed it interesting enough to share and hope you find it so too.  I don’t wanna bore anyone.  Sometimes it’s hard to know exactly where the line is when I choose a story to share.  Kinda like pot luck and hope for the best.

Anyway ... whodda thought that the CIA would be in Venture Capital?

Hedge fund managers are turning to Twitter in an attempt to steal a march on their rivals.

By Richard Tyler, Enterprise Editor
Finance page, The telegraph

Traders are using software developed by US-based technology StreamBase to monitor “tweets” for price sensitive information.

The software plugs into Algorithm-based automated trading platforms that have been used by traders for years. But rather than searching Reuters or Bloomberg the software now scans Twitter.com.

Streambase – whose client base includes Royal Bank of Canada and London-based hedge fund BlueCrest Capital Management – was commissioned to develop the software by several “unnamed” clients.

The software allows traders to take into account “event-based” information published on Twitter in their automated equity, bond and foreign exchange trading.

The company, whose investors include Inqtel, Central Intelligence Agency’s venture capital arm, claims it could give traders an edge when deciding whether to trade on breaking news, like terrorist attacks and natural disasters, rather than waiting for the information to be filtered through providers like Reuters Thomson or Bloomberg.

Nasir Zubairi, a former product manager for algorithmic trading and foreign exchange e-commerce at Royal Bank of Scotland, said the City would be looking at websites like Twitter.com as a useful market information “broadcast tool”.

“Markets tend to buy on rumour and sell on facts,” he said.

SOURCE

Not just markets either.  Anyone speculating and or investing should be buying on rumor and selling on facts.
Learned that at Wade Cooke’s knee. In a manner of speaking.

Oh hey, speaking of books, (well I am now) if you have any interest in the markets, even just a little bit, grab hold of a book if still in print called,
The Wall Street Money Machine.  True, its outta date by now but even so the information in that book is still very good.

Posted by peiper     on 06/24/2009 at 11:08 AM   
Filed Under: • Finance and Investing •  
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