“Client demand drove this acquisition. We believe this acquisition will make our customers more efficient in their trading,” says Brian Hyndman, senior vice president at Nasdaq OMX Global Data, about the exchange group’s December 19 acquisition of the business of RapiData, a provider of low-latency, machine-readable economic news.
RapiData provided low-latency economic news, covering more than three dozen U.S. economic indicators and other economic data, including statistics from the U.S. government’s Departments of Labor, Treasury and Commerce.
Because the news is delivered in a structured, machine readable format, it can be fed readily into automated trading systems. Says Hyndman: ” Potential beneficiaries include trading firms that incorporate macroeconomic news into their trading algorithms, conventional traders who use machine-readable news to manage risk, and institutional investors who seek long-range strategies, liquidity opportunities and target investments.”
The news feed is currently delivered via UDP multicast to data centres operated by Equinix in Chicago, the NY Metro area and Washington, D.C. Hyndman says that Nasdaq plans to review RapiData’s delivery technology to ensure the fastest possible delivery and to expand its reach. Co-locating at the exchange’s Carteret, NJ data centre is a “possibility.”
RapiData’s business was acquired from SourceMedia’s Bond Buyer unit. No RapiData employees are joining Nasdaq as a result, although the operation will continue to rely on Bond Buyer’s access to the U.S. government’s highly-regulated press rooms to generate the statistics in as timely a manner as possible.
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