Traders are using Twitter to make decisions on buying and
selling shares.
Trading software maker Streambase is enabling traders to link
its
complex
event monitoring (CEP) software to Twitter through an adaptor
to help it receive information from the microblogging website to
help it make decisions on buying and selling shares.
The software can connect a trading system to Twitter to help it
monitor what is being said about certain companies and get a mood
for the market. Automatic trading systems make decisions on buying
or selling stock based partly on
data from news services.
Streambase said a number of its clients are already using the
software.
With millions of messages sent on Twitter every day, the
software has to work at extremely high speed. CEP software, which
is used throughout the share trading sector, is ideal.
Mark Palmer, CEO of
Streambase, said: "We are
seeing business applications that ingest Twitter message content,
frequency, patterns, hashtag use, and so on, and then transmit
Twitter messages. For example, trading systems or operations
support can use Twitter direct messaging to alert users of trading
opportunities or system problems."
PJ Di Giammarino, CEO at financial services think-tank JWG-IT,
said computerised trading systems already use news services to help
them make decisions. "Twitter would just be another one. People
would have to tag and understand the information to help them make
decisions."
But Bob McDowall, analyst at Towergroup, said regulation is
required for this type of activity.
"Streambase have connected their trading support technology
monitor on twitter.com for price sensitive information- a somewhat
irresponsible application that can deliver all sorts of rumours to
the markets," he said. "These sites should be regulated if they are
being used to access this frivolous and notoriously unreliable form
of data collection."