Nasdaq OMX acquired machine-readable news company RapiData, getting Nasdaq into the business of providing trading firms with the latest government and economic news.
RapiData delivers economic indictors directly to market participants as soon as the data becomes available, so firms can incorporate macroeconomic news into their trading strategies.
Brian Hyndman, senior vice president for Nasdaq OMX global data products, said RapiData’s offerings would be a welcome addition to Nasdaq’s existing lineup of data products and services.
"What I want to do is take our expertise here at Nasdaq and bring in our network of engineers to make sure it’s the fastest in the industry going forward," Hyndman said. "We’ll be focused on making sure it is low-latency."
Currently, RapiData has access to more than three dozen U.S. economic indicators and other economic data, including a wide variety of statistics from the Departments of Labor, Treasury and Commerce.
Hyndman said that based on client demand the service could add other data types, such as corporate earnings, unstructured news events and possibly even social networking information.
Thomson Reuters, Bloomberg and Dow Jones all offer their own versions of machine-readable news feeds. Clients of the systems include high-frequency traders, but also more long-term investors, including firms trading futures and options.
