How to build a scalable derivatives risk & pricing platform using open source software March 30, 2007
Posted by James Webster in : software, finance , 6 commentsJust some brief thoughts on how a selection of open-source software might be used to build a architecture stack supporting a derivatives risk & pricing platform, a common system found on derivatives trading floors.
- QuantLib: A popular quantitative finance library implemented in C++ with multiple language bindings. It would provide a good base upon which to build more exotic (and proprietary) models. There are a number of commercial toolkits available as well.
- Hadoop: A Java implementation of Google’s MapReduce algorithm. Hadoop would support horizontal distribution across a server grid of the pricing calculations implemented by QuantLib within a Monte Carlo method framework. A commercial alternative (although much broader in scope) would be DataSynapse. Also have a look at the recently released IBM alphaWorks MapReduce Tools for Eclipse.
- OpenTick: You have to pay the exchange fees for the data but otherwise OpenTick provides an open API for accessing real-time and historical ticks for a broad range of US exchanges and ECNs.
- Ehcache: Although Hadoop includes a Distributed File System it is geared towards large files. A better solution for ensuring the prices received and the figures calculated are updated across the server grid would be a distributed cache. Ehcache has had basic distributed caching for a while now. A commercial alternative would be Tangosol Coherence.
- Esper: Event stream processing (aka complex event processing) is becoming a big part of trading systems. Plugging an ESP toolkit into our stack might provide a way to support algorithmic trading or identification of arbitrage opportunities. There are many commercial players vying for success in this market.
- Amazon EC2: And finally, as a deployment option why build your own grid of servers when you can rent one? There is already a HOWTO for running Hadoop on EC2. One drawback to using EC2 is the current lack of support for IP multicast, but I suspect this will change one they are able to effectively firewall off multicast packets from separate EC2 domains. Another drawback that may be harder to overcome is the latency arising from the Internet links between OpenTick, Amazon EC2 and the trading workstations that ultimately receive the output of this platform.
Whether some of the open-source alternatives I have suggested are appropriate substitutes for their commercial brethern is highly debatable. Nevertheless the commoditization of software continues.
Kiva revisited March 21, 2007
Posted by James Webster in : finance , add a commentSince my first post about Kiva, I have committed myself to contributing to one new loan per month. Recently Kiva added projects in the South Pacific to their list of entrepreneur seeking microcredit. The entrepreneur that I contributed capital to this month lives in Samoa and Jim Young, trustee of microfinance organisation South Pacific Business Development, added the following comment:
Thank you for your Kiva loan to the business person in Samoa. I am on the Board of South Pacific Business Development (SPBD), the Samoan based microfinance institution which will administer your loan.
My wife and I just returned from our 1st trip to Samoa where we spent 2 days meeting with all the members of the staff and clients. There are 16 full time employees who are energetic and dedicated to helping our clients help themselves and their families. We also attended 3 village meetings where we met with the entrepreneurs and saw some of their businesses. It is amazing to see the impact these businesses are having on their life.
It is great to hear messages like this and find out that these initiatives are really working!
A few other microfinance links that I have come across since first talking about Kiva;
- The MIX Market: a ‘global information exchange for the microfinance industry. The MIX Market strives to facilitate exchange and investment flows, promote transparency and improve reporting standards in the microfinance industry’. For example, SPBD’s entry reveals they are rated ‘4 out of 5 diamonds’; MIX Market’s scheme for classifying microfinance funds/organisations by transparency & disclosure.
- Mifos, or Microfinance Open Source: An open platform to support the operations of microfinance organisations built on a fairly standard Java stack. Supported by the Grameen Foundation. See also the SourceForge page and the wiki.
If you are able to read this blog then it might be within your means to contribute $25USD towards a loan for an entrepreneur that is seeking to grow a sustainable business, who would otherwise be cut off from capital. If you can contribute, I encourage you to do so!
Will they take an AXE to liquidity at the ASX? March 11, 2007
Posted by James Webster in : finance , 1 comment so farAustralia’s first ECN (which I previously discussed) has been given a name; AXE ECN.
Professor Larry Harris talks about the externalities that face those seeking to set up competitive markets in Trading & Exchanges. The primary barrier is the order flow externality which is a network externality (aka the network effect). The more people that use a market (or any system for that matter) the greater benefit it has for its existing participants and the more attractive it becomes to potential participants. Conversely a new competitor has a significant battle to fight if it wants to win customers; significant incentives need to be offered to use the new market to overcome the effects of the network externality.
In the case of the new Aussie ECN, it may be much less of an issue. The NZX has entered a joint venture with sell-side firms such as ‘Citigroup, CommSec, Goldman Sachs JBWere, Macquarie Securities and Merrill Lynch’ (from the AXE ECN press release) to set up the new ECN. One might suppose that they may divert a significant portion of their order flow from the ASX to AXE ECN instead, moving liquidity from one market to another. If they do this, I expect that ASIC will be very interested in whether best execution is being obtained for client orders; the question of whether the best price has been obtained by the broker on behalf of the client.
Interesting times for equity trading in Australia!