ARN

Stock markets in 'data meltdown' threat

Can platforms cope with billions of network messages a day?

High speed electronic stock exchanges around the world face a possible data meltdown, as trading volumes grow exponentially with computers doing most of the selling and buying.

The grim prediction comes as regulators voice concerns about the exponential growth of data, with 61 percent of share trading reportedly now computerised.

Mark van Rugt, head of sales at electronic trading technology firm RealTime Systems, told the Financial Times: "If a position is blowing up so fast without the exchange or clearing firm able to react or reverse positions, the firm itself could be in danger as well."

It was "absolutely possible to bring an exchange to breaking point", according to Frederic Ponzo, managing partner at consultancy GreySpark Partners, speaking to the newspaper. A disaster could take place, he said, through algorithmic messages being sent at "such a rate the exchange can't cope".

A 'technological arms race', as traders and stock exchanges spend millions of pounds on microsecond messaging, is increasingly being blamed for driving the data explosion.

Nominations for the 2012 ARN IT Industry Awards open on Tuesday, June 12.

More about: etwork

Comments

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
Users posting comments agree to the ARN comments policy.
Login or register to link comments to your user profile, or you may also post a comment without being logged in.
Related Coverage
Related Whitepapers
Latest Stories
Community Comments
Tags: business
rhs_login_lockGet exclusive access to ARN's news, research and invitation only events.
ARN Distributor Directory
Find distributors by name | vendor | location
Channel Deals
/deals/transition-systems-australia/2010-11-15_345_new-wan-optimisation-available
Transition Systems Australia

NEW. WAN Optimisation Available.

More details »
ARN Vendor Directory
Find vendors by name | category

iAsset is a channel management ecosystem that automates all major aspects of the entire sales,marketing and service process, including data tracking, integrated learning, knowledge management and product lifecycle management.