What Every Investor “Should Know” About Investment Industry Technology

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Deborah was interviewed on ExperiencePros.com on KLZ 560 AM and here are some of the questions/answers/issues she discussed:

Why would/should we care about the technology behind our investments?

It is really easy to think that technology is like an on/off switch. It is either ON (working) or OFF (not working), and that all you need to concern yourself with, as a consumer, is that the company that handles your investments 1) knows what they are doing and 2) has uptime during market hours. If those two elements are covered then you don’t have anything to worry about. Right?

Not quite. While it should not be an expectation that you have a programming degree, and it would be inappropriate for you to have access to all of the proprietary code that is used at the firm, there is more to the technology that runs the investment tools than just the ON/OFF. Also, many times, the client/investor is talking to an investment advisor and it is not uncommon that they do not fully know whether or not the technology is working correctly at their firm. After all, if something is “broken” is it likely that the technology department “wants to” go running to the advisors who deal with clients and give them the “worst case scenario?” It is more likely that they will spend their time trying to fix it than to enlighten the advisors prematurely.

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But, the issue actually goes deeper than that, and really requires that the investment management team, upper management, and advisors truly understand the technology that is running their firm, and, it is not uncommon that they do not understand it because they have not had the opportunity to be educated to understand it and know what to expect.

How does this affect me, since I don’t use a Private firm for my investments?

If you invest money at all, you have the potential of having this issues. There are two primary categories of issues that come to mind, though there are plenty more, but that would go beyond this short article.

• Disaster Recovery / Business Continuity
• Portfolio Management

Both of these categories would be affected even if you are investing your money through another larger firm, neighbor, anyone. Eventually, that money is going to be affected by the existence (or non-existence) of a business continuity plan and the portfolio management software that handles your portfolio and client data reporting.

I don’t invest anything, should I really care about this topic?

It is my opinion that you should care about this topic, even if you do not invest anything at this point. While I am not licensed to give you information on HOW to invest, if you are reading this, you probably have some passing fancy and interest in investing. And, if that is the case, it is good for you to know potential pitfalls before you run into any trouble.

How do I know if I’m at risk?

Just as in life, there is always a risk of stubbing your toe, investing money has its own set of risks. If you are talking technology, the best thing that you can do is to be informed. I would expect anyone to go get a technology degree, and, as I mentioned earlier, even that would not entitle you to the information behind-the-scenes anyway. So, instead, arming yourself with the questions to ask your advisor and investment team, is a first step in the right direction to minimizing that particular risk, or at least knowing what you are up against.

What can I do, as a consumer, about this?

Ask Questions!

Keep in mind that it is very likely that the person you are speaking to (i.e. Your Financial or Investment Advisor) may not know the answers to these questions and may be sincerely answering what he or she understands to be the case. The best option, when it relates to technology, is to ask for the person in charge of technology. You do not want to speak to the technology support person, but the person who is actually responsible for the technology decisions, and is a technology person. That is very “key” in getting the answers that you are looking for, to protect your assets. There is no problem with having your advisor present, or anyone of your choosing, but you really want to go to the “source” when it comes to technology.

Portfolio Management

Here are some example questions to ask about Portfolio Management (Client Data):

1. How is the data recorded (automatic or manual)
2. Does the firm use Electronic Trading? If so, how is it reconciled?

Disaster Recovery

Here are some example questions to ask about Disaster Recovery:

1. Does the firm have a business continuity plan (BCP)?
2. How often is the business continuity plan updated
3. How often has the plan been tested?
4. What sort of things are covered by the BCP?
5. Is there a diagram/flow chart available to show how data is handled during a disaster?
6. When was the last time that the plan was audited by the SEC or an outside auditor?
7. Is there any requirement by the SEC for disclosure of technology-related issues?
8. KEY QUESTION: What are the results of the last BCP/DR Test?

Why is this one the most key? If the response is that everything tested well, like 100%, ask more questions! There should always be room for improvement, even if it is timing in the failover/failback, call tree, etc. If everything is “A Ok,” I would wonder if the firm was giving the full story and whether or not the person answering the question is truly “in the know.”

There are many more aspects of the technology behind the financial systems that should be of interest, great interest, to the consumer, but this is a good place to start.

For another article discussing some of the financial industry related issues that concern Deborah, and specifically relating to the technology that supports the industry, check out her article, Are The NASDAQ Systems up to it? at byapaar.com.

You can listen to the archived radio show at Radio Show Archive.

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All of the banter surrounding Facebook’s IPO has reminded me of what I’ve been “preaching” for years. And, repetitious as it may be in my mind, I’m wondering if anyone is listening.

In light of the play-by-play discussion of the Facebook fiasco, as shared with us by writer Rodrigo Campos’ Business Insider article: Here’s How NASDAQ Screwed Up The Facebook, I’m thinking there may be a few more people who have open ears.

Play by play is right! This is concerning, on several levels, to say the least. I’m here to talk about the technology piece and measures that seem to be missing, in identifying issues before they occur.  

As an IT specialist in the financial industry, having experience in creating conduits between portfolio data and Bloomberg portfolio uploads, integrating Reuters systems, as well as electronic trading platforms, for data and accurate trading systems, by the millisecond, I can say, I’m not surprised by the fiasco.

The Problem

For a long time, the view into the “systems” side of trading has had me concerned. Oh, there are experts out there, and hey, I pat you on the back! But, I have noticed how much attention is spent auditing trading compliance aspect, and yet, there doesn’t seem to be as much attention to the technology side of the trading.

Granted, I have only been through a few audits, officially, compared to my counterparts, but I have noticed a common thread with outside auditors, including the Securities and Exchange Commission. It seems that there are no “technology specialists” sent in for those audits.  It is my belief that that is needed!

I have a “wish list” of the basics for the auditors. This isn’t going really deep, like it should, but just the basics.  Why so basic?  We can’t delve too deep into the identification of the technology issues if we don’t, first, have the basics covered.  So, let’s address those.

Need to Know: Basic Technology

Oh, I think they “think” that they may know technology. But, I have found the auditors to be lacking in the area of knowledge of technology that would help them to identify problems BEFORE they happen.

There was a time when an auditor had difficulty opening his email.  I wanted to be kind, so I thought I’d help the guy out. Well, he didn’t want to admit that he needed help, so instead, he called his help desk. Mind you, instead of auditing, we are taking up time calling our auditor-help-desk-central here. And, He still couldn’t figure it out, and for whatever reason, his company help desk was unable to get him past his difficulty. By the way, I had already identified his issue, the training that he would need, and would have been able to help him out in less than 15 minutes.  Instead, he asked me to take a 30 minute workaround for him, spending my time to accommodate his lack of knowledge, as well as the audit firm’s lack of knowledge, not including the wasted time he had already spent trying to solve something related to basic email checking.

Why do I I tell you this story? I am relaying this story to illustrate how important it is to have the basic technology covered before the audit.  Please auditors, send at least one technology-capable person with the team, for the basic technology things, like checking email. We, as clients, and professionals in the trading industry don’t have time to wait for you to learn what should have been covered, on your own time, before you walked through our doors to audit us.

Need to Know: Who To Talk To

It is not unusual for an auditor to think that looking at a server room qualifies as seeing that a disaster recovery plan works. Excuse me, but seeing that the power is on means that our trading systems backbone is working well? Forget the disaster recovery part of the equation, I would hate to think that the safety of our money, as investors, and that the knowledge of what trading is occurring when, and how, and whether or not the trades are going through at all is based on a little green LED light! 

So, when the auditor comes into an office, they need to know who to talk to. My recommendation is that the auditor speak to the person in charge of technology, not the secretary or even the CEO, but straight to the source. If the company does not have a technology specialist, ask them to call in their IT contractor, or whoever handles their servers. If they don’t have anyone, they need to find someone! The auditor should ask them who they call if their systems go down. Let’s hope the company has enough sense to employ not only a technology specialist, but a financial industry technology specialist. If the company does not have such a person, the auditor should make note of it and check back for a follow-up audit with the company. Despite the great selling tactics of the CEO, it is unlikely that he or she really knows how the systems work for trading platforms, and worse yet, a good-looking server room does not mean that data is safe, let alone traversing the systems accurately.

Need to Know: What is Behind the Black Curtain

Probably one of the most frustrating things is how easy it would be to hide things from auditors. Assuming that an audit company or SEC sends in people who understand basic technology (like checking their email) and they ask for the right person to talk to (financial industry technology specialist), are they sure they are getting it straight?

There may be two reasons that something, technology-wise, is hidden:

• The technologist doesn’t have a full understanding of the financial industry and/or technology to support it and has made an “honest” mistake, that, if not corrected would be detrimental.
• The technologist does know what he or she is doing, but has hidden it, or “talked around it” so that it is not readily disclosed. This may not be technically dishonest, but it could still be devastating in a systems failure.

It is beyond the scope of this article to explain all the ways that an auditor could be fooled, whether intentionally or unintentionally, by the hidden technology secrets behind the black curtain, but suffice it to say that it easier than a snap of the fingers to fool the auditors, especially if they do not follow the first two wish list items, above, with having a basic knowledge and talking to the right person.

My recommendation is to have the auditors employ an IT specialist of their own who not only understands technology, but specifically, trading systems and how data transverses throughout the systems, including security, performance, disaster recovery, DR testing, to name a very few. This IT specialist does not have to be present at one company for the entire length of the audit, but can be a part of several teams of auditors, fulfilling this very specific role in a targetted and thorough capacity.

If NASDAQ had ensured that they had such a team of IT Specialists on board to test the capacity of trades, and then tested for MORE capacity, preparing correctly for Facebook’s IPO, would they have had the millisecond delays that tumbled on top of each other, trying to play catch-up, after the fact, and costing companies millions of dollars? Hey, I’m all for my own advice if it only saves a few thousands dollars, let alone millions!  How about you?

Stock trading can be a very profitable venture. In fact, earnings are almost unlimited. Trading stocks from home is a way to make money with a high degree of flexibility. You can work in your spare time, while holding down a full-time job, or even work from home, while raising your children.

Many individuals enjoy the freedom of being able to work full or part time and even to earn money while they are on vacation. Stock trading is also an excellent choice for individuals with disabilities or older people who are less mobile, and for whom working from home is the best option.

Until the advent of the internet, it was difficult to trade stocks if you were not a professional in the commodities and stock industry. Now, anyone can easily educate him or herself on the process of trading, and complete transactions online from home. The only equipment that you will need is a laptop or desktop computer with internet access. If you do have a laptop, you’ll be able to do your work from any location that offers wireless internet, even your favorite coffee shop.

No more are the days when the only way to trade stocks was to go to a stock broker, who could easily charge huge commissions for every transaction completed. For those who weren’t interested in, or able to, trade large numbers of stocks, it was nearly impossible to pay these huge fees. Now, stock firms have found that it is far cheaper to do business via the internet, and the fees for doing business with them has dropped accordingly.

In this day and age, you can research and invest in any number of publicly offered stocks. Just because you didn’t go to school to be a trader doesn’t mean that you aren’t able to make investment decisions on your own. In fact, you might just find that you have that special aptitude for investing, and an intuition about stocks that simply cannot be taught in business school.

The key to investing in the stock market on your own is to turn yourself into an informed investor. You can research most stocks online and draw your own conclusions. It’s amazing how quickly you can make money when the market is moving in your direction. Sometimes you will gain hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars in just a few short moments.

There is no certain kind of education or experience that determines who would be good at trading stocks. It is mostly a matter of being determined and willing to learn about how the stock market operates.

I wrote an article a while back, Investment Banking and Chemical MA.

I was reading through my articles and noticed that the Valence Group is a chemical advisory. But what is a chemical advisory, and more importantly, how does that relate to chemical mergers and acquisitions, and specifically, investments?

We already know that the Valence Group is a a chemical investment bank, so how does that work, with being a chemical advisory?

I spent some times on their site, to answer this question and it really is quite simple. They advise people on the transactions, whether you are the investor, the company acquiring, or the company being acquired, the Valence Group has expertise.

Now, I’m sure some of you are wondering how much a company would know about the industry, “I mean, after all, they are basically ‘bankers.'”

No, not exactly. When a person spends enough time in an industry, they gain expertise in that industry. Now, I’m guessing that there is more to it than that with the Valence Group, but even if the exposure to the industry is minimal, once someone enters into an industry, diligently, they can’t help but acquire knowledge, at least, by osmosis of being in that industry.

Let me put it to you this way. I have been in technology for more years that I would like to admit to you. However, I came to the financial industry six years ago and now I am an expert in the area of financial industry technology, because I understand the industry enough to know what is best as far as technology. I am only one person on the “team” and there are others who come with a different background, to add to that mix. Does that mean that I want to be the trader? No, but I want to support the trader in helping him or her to be the best trader possible using my knowledge of technology.

In the same way, the Valence group, specializing in mergers and acquisitions in the chemical industry have become experts in their field of being qualified to serve in an independent advisory capacity on boards related to chemicals and materials, and M&A.

Disclaimer: For SEC purposes, please let me remind you that I am not licensed in the area of offering you any investment advice. Not only that, but I am not personally knowledgeable in the area of giving investment advice. So, please, do your due diligence for your sake and do not rely on me to point you to the “sure thing” as far as your money goes. I can give you advice on how to build an information technology infrastructure that will support your investment firm in the most efficient, SEC-compliant manner (for a price, of course), and I can recommend which personal computer you may want to buy, but, I am *not* an investment banker. I just like working with them. 🙂

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The definition of a market trend is simply the movement within a financial market over a period of time.  Using varying forms of technical analysis, market trends are recognized in order to help predict price in response to the course of the market.  There are three types of market trends:  secular trends, primary trends, and secondary trends.

Secular trends are movements in a particular direction and are characterized as an occurrence that of which are neither cyclical nor seasonal and exists over an extended period of time, usually five to 25 years.

Primary trends are supported throughout the entire financial market, not only segments or sectors, and usually have a duration of a year or greater.

Secondary trends are short term directions in price within a primary trend.  Secondary trends usually last for a few weeks up to a few months.

Within these trends, sectors of the market or the entire market can be classified as showing signs of being either bearish or bullish, meaning the price of securities are rising or falling and will continue to so over a period of time.

Bull Market

In times of a bull market, security prices, once again, in certain sectors or as a whole, are increasing and/or expecting to increase and also show signs of increasing at a more rapid rate than the historic average.

If a market or the market is bullish, investors gain confidence that the prices of securities will continue to rise over an extended period of time and will invest.  Bull markets often occur at times of economic recovery or economic boom and the psychology of investors plays an intricate role in the market.

In order for a market or the market to be classified as a true bull market, technical analysts need to state that there is a rise in the value of the market of at least 20 percent.

Bear Market

In times of a bear market, security prices are decreasing and/or expecting to decrease and also show signs of decreasing at a more rapid rate than the historic average.  In order for a market to be considered bare, opposite of a bull market, prices fall by 20 percent or more.

During times of decline, investor psychology turns to fear and pessimism and traders lose confidence in the market.  Bear markets slow the market down entirely by becoming the driving force behind unemployment and inflation.

What Bullish/Bearish Means for Traders

During a bull market, there is a low supply of securities and a high demand for securities.  Because prices are on the rise, few traders are willing to sell their stocks and share prices rise even further.   The opposite is true for a bear market.  Traders are not in competition due to the effects of a bear market (unemployment and inflation).  But, for some, a bear market, is the perfect time to buy because prices are low and when signs of rising prices show, traders jump at the opportunity to make a higher profit.

Whether the market is bullish or bearish, a key piece of information to remember when investing is buy undervalued and sell overvalued.  If company is strong, ethical, and lead my bright managers and the stock is undervalued, it can be assumed that the share price will rise over time with the company and profits will increase.

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I don’t remember the date. Oh, I should remember the date. Was it St. Patrick’s Day? The details of the date are so obscure now, but that Monday, itself, is far from obscure.

It was the year 2008 and it was the day that the great company, a seeming pillar to the essence of life on Wall Street, ceased to exist. Oh, I know, I am probably giving Bear Stearns more credit than they deserve, as far as historical significance (did I just use the word, “historical” in reference to Bear Stearns?!), but isn’t this similar to an artist, when they die, and their art because even more beautiful when the loss of the artist is fully realized? Just think about the loss of Whitney Houston, recently, and you know what I mean, about an emphasis on loss! Similarly, when I found out my aunt died, I realized I should have called her more often. That is our human nature and we tend to mourn our losses, sometimes more than we appreciate them when they are not a loss.

I realize that Bear Stearns was not a personal as the death of my aunt, and they didn’t hit the core of my soul in the way that Whitney Houston did, with her music and her very self, however, it was personal, and that day was, nonetheless, significant in the fiber of the tapestry called life, being very real.

2012 and the DJIA 13000

I was so excited last week, when the Dow Jones industrial Average (DJIA) peaked above 13000. I know, it wasn’t much, but it was significant and it was the first time since 2008, and, well, I felt like a high school cheerleader over the whole thing! That event got me got me reminiscing about the years since and the year 2008.

A Bleak 2008 Morning

That morning, I came into work as normal, sat down, ready to meet the day, ready for the market to open. It wasn’t very long before the buzz was through the office. Being in Los Angeles, the traders were rearing to go and ready for the market open in New York, but it wasn’t like the office was full, yet, that early in the morning. It was a surreal moment when you could almost hear a pin drop, yet it seemed to scream loudly in the ear, “Bear Stearns is gone!”

Just the week before, I had called up a friend of mine at Bear Stearns and we were going to get together for lunch. Oh, we had it on our calendar every week but it seemed that both of us were always so busy that we would put it off for the next week and when we did hook up for lunch it seemed to be a trip to the Farmer’s Market, on the designated day when they set up in the area, and eating lunch as we walked back to the office. We were only a couple of floors apart in this building. Our company had a lot of connections with Bear Stearns, as our custodian, and it seemed like we were a younger sibling. So, that morning, of all things that popped into my head, I thought about my friend and our lunch date!

When the reality of what happened finally hit me, I called her up and realized that even she didn’t know the impending news when she left work that Friday before. Being in management at Bear Stearns, I would have thought that she would have had an inkling. That made the whole situation seem even more surreal and the “What is happening to us” foreboding feeling that comes with confusing news and the confusing times that wear about to beset us.

If we fast forward, we got a little accustomed to news like this, with the Lehman Brothers and other institutions and newsworthy events in the financial and economic arena. I guess you could say we became a little numb to it, notwithstanding a surge of emotion during the revelation of the Madoff Ponzi scheme. It seemed that all of us would breathe a sigh of relief that it “wasn’t us” each morning when market would open and hope that was still the case tomorrow.

Hope For the Future?

What about hope? What about the future? Well, time will tell. There certainly are different theories, but, looking back, there wasn’t much we could do to change it and, as they say, hindsight is always 20/20. But, I am a person with hope and like to think it can’t get much worse – can it?

Am I excited about the market improvements last week? You can better your bottom dollar! But, that feeling is tempered with memories (after I finish jumping for joy!)…

I will never forget the day that Bear Stearns took its last breath and we entered into uncertain times in our economy… I hope for a bright tomorrow.

Some basic concepts to consider, for those new to investing…

As the 2011 faded away into the past, with it faded away some other uncertainties. Like, with the advent of the New Year (2012), the US stocks. once again gained some certainty as a profitable investment option. The main thing that the investors count on is the ROI or the Return on Investment. Based on the ROI factor, the investors go in for large investments – in the hope of large returns. Along with the ROI, it is equally important for you to consider about the safety of the investment vehicle and the time till which you will be required to wait to get back the returns. So, which are the other investments along with the stocks which can be considered to be good in 2012?

Investments in 2012

You will have to decide on the best investment options based on the rule of thumb. Thus you are supposed to get back at least the money which you had invested. So, based on this rule the investment options that can be considered to be profitable for this year are:

• Stocks and bonds – The year 2012 is considered to be a good with regards to investments in the stocks of certain companies. It is safe to invest with the “blue chip” companies like Disney, IBM and so on who are not supposed to lose much on the market front. But, in order to earn greater ROI from stock investment, it is important for you to have a clear idea on the way the stock market works.
• You can also invest money in the stock mutual funds. These are bets for those who are new to investment and have little money for investment. The risk with the stock mutual funds is that it is pool of different stocks of various companies. The transaction fees too are not a thing of concern for the investors.
  You can also try out bond investments in 2012. Bonds mostly work in the same way as the Certificate of Deposits or CDs. You will be required to deposit the money for a fixed time and then earn benefits on that. In this year, you can invest in the US savings bond and the corporate or municipal bonds.
• Bank accounts and funds – You can invest your money in the different savings accounts. This is simple form of investment which helps you to get good returns. There are different types of accounts and funds. You can put your money in the saving accounts, checking accounts and so on. In addition, you can also invest your money in the income funds and the different kinds of aggressive growth funds. There are also the options for you to invest in the foreign funds and the index funds.

So, there are the three main options in which you can start investing your money for this year. In addition to this, you will also have to keep in mind that in order to save and invest, you will be required to maintain a low debt level and lower your expenditure. Only if you can have low debt levels, you will be able to direct the money towards investment.

I admit it. I get excited when people start talking about “hedge funds” and especially when they mention “disaster recovery” or “business continuity.” But, I admit that I am a geek in those areas.

For years I have been hearing about “penny stocks” and have wondered, at least mildly, what they were.

So, I started where I start many times, with Wikipedia.

Wikipedia did a pretty good job, but I found that a better description could be found here: What is a Penny Stock?

So, whereas I am more accustomed to the “big stocks” that are traded on Wall Street, the penny stocks are a way to invest, but for those smaller stock prices. The tricky part is ensuring that you do not find a scam. Wikipedia does do a pretty good job highlighting the risks of scams, etc. in novice terms, so that the beginner can get a basic concept for the concern. That said, it is still up to the buyer and the old adage, “Buyer beware!”

Many web sites offer their list of penny stocks to watch and this is a good way to get an idea of what type of stocks are comprised in that penny stock category.

So, this is a teaser to get you going on penny stocks, if that is where you are headed, but by all means, don’t take my word for it, but do your own diligent research and take what I started in this article to the next step.