US Restricts Pre-Release of Economic Data to Thwart ‘Unfair’ Early Algo Access

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics has restricted the pre-release of Labor Dept. economic data announcements to prevent pre-loading of potentially market-moving data into accredited news organizations’ clients’ trading algorithms, giving them an unfair advantage. According to the Office of the Inspector General, these news organizations were “are able to profit from their presence in the lock-up by selling, to traders, high speed data feeds of economic data formatted for computerized algorithmic trading. Because these news organizations have pre-release access, they are able to pre-load the data … allowing their clients to get this information faster than the general public.”