The key to the trading room is its information gathering capabilities, which is centered on a complex system of technology. The data that power the center are provided directly by Thomson Financial, a real-time market data provider, delivering information from over 125 exchanges and sources worldwide. Market coverage includes equities, options, futures, commodities, foreign exchange, currency analysis, and news. Connection to Thomson is via the Internet and live data is fed into the 26 workstations in the trading room. The data are made available to users through specialized software developed by Thomson called Thomson One, a comprehensive software package providing all the tools necessary to interpret, analyze and monitor financial market information. Features include unlimited custom programmable quote pages, time-of-sale, intraday and historical charting, an online historical symbol directory, back office access, and other special services.
Because a comprehensive understanding of the market also requires observation of the securities that are often overlooked, such as closed-end funds, in addition to Thomson One, the trading room boasts another innovative software package by Thomson Financial called FundEdge, a sophisticated closed-end research tool used to present timely data for both market and NAV performance on over 500 closed-end funds and over 100 indices. The funds can be selected and sorted on over 100 different criteria including fund objective, fees and expenses, fund performance and volatility, premium/discount, distributions, and more. The software also provides a means for comparing funds, investment objectives, and indices.
Finally, the trading room also provides Research Insight, with which students can access fundamental and market data on over 70,000 active and inactive securities and build data sorting modules for in-depth research and investment strategies. With the click of a mouse, the students have a better understanding of the data reported by companies by accessing supplemental data through robust base statements with detailed item breakouts and the flexibility to switch between any of 180 currencies during their analysis.