We are rethinking our approach to email alerts and would like your
feedback.
Following an increase in real time data rates the loss of a large
percentage of our subscribers after the market meltdown, we were forced
to economize by dropping real time volume quotes in favor of delayed
volume. The result was a mixture of real time prices (updated every
minute) and volume data delayed by 20 minutes. Our subscriber level has
not yet recovered to the point where we can afford full real time
alerts so we are faced with two main problems with our alerts as they
currently stand:
- You will recall that our alerts require a volume projection.
After this change, we could no longer send out alerts as soon as the
markets opened so we started sending out alerts at 9:50 when volume
data was first available. Because most big price moves occur soon after
the open, this meant that many alerts were too late and too often a
significant price move in the opening minutes would not be notified
until 9:50. This problem is most noticeable with Zacks alerts which
tend to move up very quickly at the open.
- The volume projections are unreliable. If there is heavy volume
in the opening minutes, this is projected as being heavy volume
throughout the day and gives a false reading. Most alerts are not
confirmed because the volume target for the day was not met.
The first problem would be resolved if we monitored the markets as soon
as they opened and sent alerts based on price only. A jump above the
BoP would be immediately recognized and an alert issued. This would
result in a lot more alerts, however.
If we retain the requirement that volume should be part of teh alert,
we can resolve the unreliability of the projection by only sending an
alert when the breakout volume was actually met. This raises another
question which is what should the breakout volume be? We have
found that volume only becomes really significant when above 2.25 times
average daily volume but waiting until that level is met could mean a
significant delay in issuing an alert.
What do you think? Please let us know by completing our short survey.