Trader Daily: The Tip Sheet by Chris Gillick and Michael Martin
The Tip Sheet
By: Chris Gillick , Michael Martin
September 2008
Killer Distiller
A trader could gorge himself to death on financial news, the daily volume of which has, in the last few years, ballooned to Robert Earl Hughes proportions. If you’ve been struggling to solve the proverbial conundrum of how to take a sip from a fire hose without having your lips blasted off, a new Web-based info aggregator called SkyGrid (skygrid.com; subscriptions start at $500 a month) just might be the solution. Backed by VC shop Draper Fisher Jurvetson, SkyGrid has developed search-based algorithms to pull and color-correlate media sentiments on thousands of U.S. stocks and ADRs while assessing the reputation of the source. With a click, traders can instantly ascertain a reasonable sense of sentiment and get a handle on whether it’s changing, for better or worse. It’s constantly updated and delivered in real time. The three-year old company’s clients include a smattering of large hedge funds, several of which are run by men rich enough to fill entire stadiums with $14-an-hour temps who perpetually scan wires and periodicals. (Except now, of course, they don’t have to. But they could!)