Citicorp Investment Bank Launches 'Streetsense' IBM-PC Market Data, Order Entry System

Citicorp seems to have adopted both a "build" and a "buy" strategy in the quote business. In the shadow of its Quotron acquisition, the Citi has released "Streetsense," a IBM PC-based quote and order entry system aimed at portfolio managers and small regional brokers.

While Quotron is operated as part of Citicorp's information business, Streetsense is offered by Citicorp Investment Bank, and the lines of reporting authority for the two services do not merge until they reach chairman John Reed. Streetsense doesn't consider it and Quotron to be competitors. "It's possible but we don't anticipate a lot of that," says Kenneth Cirillo, director of sales and marketing, although there is "some natural overlap because when people look for systems they look all over the map."

As a PC-based quote system, Streetsense shares many features with competitors like PC Quote and Lotus Signal. It can display quotes on up to 54 symbols in one window, or expanded quotes on up to 35 symbols in another. An alert window provides visual and audible signals when one of up to 300 selections hits a predefined limit. A portfolio window allows real-time portfolio evaluation or option strategy calculation.

One feature, however, separates Streetsense from the rest of the low end quote systems. Because it maintains a two-way data link to Citicorp's host, Streetsense offers immediate order entry through an affiliated broker. Two brokers are now signed up, says Cirillo. One is Citicorp's own Newbridge Securities and the other is Herzog, Heine, Geduld, Inc. "The other thing that we're positioning ourselves for," he says, "is the automation of all of the executions through the exchanges."

The combination of online order entry capability and real-time market data also positions Streetsense to become the first PC package to automate the trading function. "It's one small step away from that," says Cirillo. With that in mind, his group has already "done some R&D work with some artificial intelligence systems."

The first step might be to connect the Streetsense limit monitor to its order entry system. If a limit were hit, the trade window would automatically open and a predesignated trade would be displayed, with only a "yes" or "no" required from the user. "You display all the information and you just allow the customer to confirm before it goes off on its merry way," says Cirillo. "That's the natural first step, and then when people achieve a comfort level with that then maybe you have an option where it could go on its merry way or you could turn that off locally -- so you decide whether you want the intervention or not."

Streetsense is priced at $475/month plus exchange fees and communications charges. Market data comprise equities, options, and mutual funds, and Dow Jones News/Retrieval scrolling headlines will be added by year's end.