The Blog of James: What application is your latency concern? (Poll Results)
We asked what application most concerns you with respect to latency. The results are in! And, without a doubt the most obvious answer to the question was…
… “Algorithmic Trading” at 54 percent of respondents. Add to that the 12 percent that answered SOR (Smart Order Routing) and a third of you are clearly more interested in the trade then anything else.
But, we’ll have to step back for a moment and understand what is “Algorithmic Trading” versus “Smart Order Routing”? I’ve had many conversations with people who are knowledgeable on the subject as well as those that just toss the words about because they sound good. This was clarified when the poll question was posted (see the poll posting) so we have to take it at face value that those people that chose “Algorithmic Trading” are indeed interested in deciding which securities to buy and sell and not deciding when and where to process them. See A-Team’s own Algorithmic Trading Directory to see what products are available centered around the concepts of algo trading and smart order routing. Next time, we might have to ask a question that lumps AT with SOR just because it’s getting more and more difficult to tell them apart.
Although, 23 percent of you chose CEP (Complex Event Processing) so maybe nine-tenths of you are deal-making oriented. That’s outstanding! CEP has many uses beyond just orchestrating or supporting a deal (thank goodness) but most low-latency people in the financial services space tend to think of it as “advanced” market data processing coupled with market data processing (and good for them!). I see CEP as a tool outside of algorithmic trading - but that isn’t really of interest here. Please comment - what is of interest to you with regards to CEP?
A handful chose “Risk analysis/Valuations” and “Other” - and it wouldn’t be surprising to learn that these calculations are being done in support of some advanced decision making in support of (or barring) a trade. But maybe I’m wrong?
Hey all - thanks for participating in these polls! If there is something you are dying to know, please Contact Us or me directly.
