IBM Unveils Options Trading System Prototype

IBM has unveiled a prototype of the fastest automated options trading system.

Scientists at IBM Research worked in collaboration with TD Securities on the system, which during testing was capable of handling data 21 times the speed of Options Price Reporting Authority (OPRA).

Using IBM’s InfoSphere Streams and Blue Gene/P supercomputer, the team created a stream processing system for rapid analysis of live streaming data from almost unlimited sources.

In a statement, Rizwan Khalfan, chief information officer at TD Securities, said, “In the constantly evolving electronic marketplace, innovative technology solutions to better manage high volumes of real time information are a significant competitive edge.”

The project is part of IBM’s First-Of-A-Kind (FOAK) program, which teams IBM scientists with clients to explore emerging technologies and solving real world business problems.

Nagui Halim, chief scientist of the Stream Computing Project at IBM, said, “TD Securities could potentially use the new system to analyze and act on information before their competitors can finish ingesting and analyzing, effectively blinding the competition to its actions.”