6.2. Charting Galaxies of Financial Information
Opportunity abounds for Codexa's financial information applications. The world financial securities markets are huge, and participants have a voracious appetite for information that might give them an edge. In 1999, for example, almost 500 billion shares were traded on all U.S. exchanges, and the U.S. represented more than half of equity trading value globally, according to the Securities Industry Association 2000 Factbook. Underlying this trading activity is the analysis of a huge volume of information affecting companies' securities around the world. Gathering, integrating and synthesizing this information can overwhelm even the most-seasoned financial experts.
Accurate, current information is the ally of the professional trader, analyst, and investor. Financial institutions realize tremendous benefits by being the first to see and understand information regarding such factors as mergers and acquisitions, major events in related industries, hiring/firing of executives, and important product announcements. Prevalidating this information relative to source, relevancy, or other criteria adds even greater value. As of this publication, Codexa covers the Wilshire 5,000, an index that tracks approximately the top 7,200 traded companies in the United States and provides an online “first-alert” service about factors affecting these equities. Codexa intends to synthesize information in various languages from sources around the globe and to expand its coverage to companies on exchanges around the world.
To meet these opportunities, the Codexa Service's architecture has to support “big bang” demand. The application must start with explosive growth and keep expanding in multiple directions. Codexa must gather and analyze data from a diverse array of sources, extracting the useful information from the noise, and alerting clients to its existence in real time—delivering it via many channels, including Web browsers, Wireless Access Protocol (WAP), Java applications, and bulk data delivery. The architecture has to be robust enough to process huge amounts of financial data and flexible enough to support the heterogeneous mix of data sources and delivery channels.
Financial information derives its value from its immediacy. The greater the volatility in financial markets, the greater the demand for information to keep pace. The Codexa Service must be always available, always current, and fully performant even under peak loads. Finally, the Codexa Service must integrate with a wide and growing base of Web-based applications for investing and trading.