Quincy Data Adds to Low-Latency Microwave Service

Quincy Data, a sourcer of market data from exchanges, announced it is expanding distribution services through ultra-low-latency microwave networks to major trading centers in Illinois, New Jersey, the UK, and Frankfurt, Germany.

Quincy Data launched at the end of 2012 with data from four CME exchanges and added Nasdaq ETFs in 2013, explains COO Jim Considine. "Now we're doing our next big addition: equity and energy futures from Cermak in Chicago, provided by the ICE exchange, and E-speed Treasury data sourced at Carteret, N.J."

The energy portfolio at the ICE is very robust, he explains, and of much interest to traders at the CME in Aurora, Ill. Further, the equity industries at ICE include the Russell 2000 futures, a well known benchmark for mutual funds. As early as this week, the ICE will also be integrating MSCI indices into the equity platform.

Cash treasuries create one of the world's largest markets, the instruments of which trade largely in New York and New Jersey, although the future contracts associated with them are in Aurora. "That's an important corridor for a very large market," notes Considine. According to Quincy's website, the connection takes less than 4.05 milliseconds one-way between Carteret and Aurora.

Democratizing data
Microwave data in financial services has grown meaningfully in electronic trading. It was once the exclusive domain of the well established firms that could afford to build their own networks for millions of dollars. This flexing of dollar power to acquire information in advance of competition was a point of controversy in the recently popular book, Flash Boys by Michael Lewis.

"Quincy came along as a provider of service to spread cost of that network across market participants, and therefore making the benefit of low-latency data much more widely available," says Considine. "We are in business to democratize access to what was formerly the exclusive domain of the bigger firms and make it accessible to very small industry participants."

In the US, the universe of small and midsized traders in co-location with the exchanges is reported to be around 200 firms.

European expansion
Quincy currently offers the fastest commercial delivery of CME data to London and to Frankfurt, and is now licensed to distribute data from Eurex out of Frankfurt. "We have plans to send that to London, New Jersey, and Illinois," says Considine. Quincy also plans to add other US and EU exchanges, including LIFFE.