Reuters's Art And Telerate's Teletrac Lead Parade Of New Microcomputer Quote Systems

Reuters and Telerate, the leviathans of decentralized market data, have each announced their next-generation graphics/analytics microcomputer terminals (MTR, January 1986). At this point the devices are somewhat crude and very different from each other, but it is clear that within a few years both will converge toward a common level of functionality.

In a nutshell, the Advanced Reuter Terminal (ART) is a PC-AT clone using Microsoft Windows to provide high-resolution charting of foreign exchange data and access to the Reuter Monitor service. Telerate's Teletrac comprises a proprietary terminal and software acquired last year when Telerate bought Compu Trac (MTR, October 1985). It provides sophisticated charting and analytics of cash and futures data in foreign exchange and government treasuries.

Telerate says Teletrac is available for immediate delivery -- as soon as the customer's satellite dish can be installed. The Advanced Reuter Terminal is scheduled for release July 14th.

Money market technicians who've been awaiting a workstation to fulfill their fantasies should be prepared to wait a little longer. While ART and Teletrac are significant first steps -- and do look pretty -- neither is close to providing the kind of function that futures traders have come to take for granted. Telerate and Reuters acknowledge that the best is yet to come.

What is also significant about the new terminals is what they are forcing their parent firms to do. Reuters, long known for its reliance on vertical integration, has for the first time designed a system around off-the-shelf hardware. And to support money market analytics, Telerate for the first time has had to go back and reconstruct historical databases.

And both companies, with networks designed for vast page-based interactive services, have had to fudge a bit to get their data into a digital form that can drive their new terminals. Both flagship services now contain unreadable "pages" of jumbled characters -- pages created specifically for ART and Teletrac. (26947 is one such on Telerate.)

Perhaps the best way to understand ART and Teletrac is to look at them side-by-side. Here's a rundown of what they are, what they aren't, and where they may be going:

Hardware: The basic ART is an NCR PC8 with a 20 Mbyte hard disk, 640 RAM plus an STB Rio Grande extended memory board with 896K, EGA graphics card, NEC Multisynch monitor, and mouse. A custom keyboard will also be available.

Teletrac is a 68000-based Compu Trac D with dual 3 1/2-inch floppies, 1 Mbyte RAM, and NEC Multisynch monitor. A monochrome implementation is also available. Telerate promises a hard disk version soon.

Software: ART runs under Microsoft Windows, but in a closed format with Reuters-defined window positions and functions. "We like to keep it sort of shrink-wrapped," says market manager Ron Owens. The system will eventually support some third-party software, including -- when released -- the Windows version of Microsoft's Excel integrated spreadsheet. "We do plan to publish a third-party applications access protocol," says Owens. Sources say specialized graphics programs like Marketview and Master Chartist are early candidates.

Teletrac is similar to Compu Trac's Trade Plan software, using a proprietary operating system with windowing.

Data Delivery: ART is connected directly to the Reuter Monitor network. Reuters promises LAN capability early next year. Teletrac is deliverable by satellite or leased line, but not via the flagship Telerate network. No LAN capability is planned.

Available Databases: ART provides access to the entire Reuter Monitor database, including news. Access to the dealing system will be available in late 1987.

Teletrac offers access only to a subset of the satellite service database, namely the chartable prices. "If you want to have the broader view of all the Telerate numeric data, even what's on the broadcast, we do not allow you to see that on Teletrac right now," says Rick Snape, vice president, product marketing.

Real-Time Charting: ART can chart prices on 30 currencies in real time. Users can also substitute source pages of their choice, such as individual contributors, says Owens.

Teletrac can chart cash and Chicago futures in foreign exchange and government treasuries. In addition, "there are a number of people on the Telerate network that already do some technical analysis, says Snape. "It would not be unreasonable to assume that some of those people will be putting on the standard Telerate network optional services that will do analytics that can only be performed by Teletrac."

Historical Data: ART can directly retrieve charts covering time periods ranging from the past 24 hours to the past year. Teletrac retrieves historical data via I.P. Sharp, some of which can be stored locally on disk. Telerate is in the process of compiling its historical database and promises data "on all Teletrac items going back to the beginning of 1985," says Snape.

Analytics: ART provides no analytics, but Reuters plans to offer this capability eventually. Teletrac provides a wide range of standard or user-defined analytics.

Price: Reuters charges $1,250/month for the complete ART system. Teletrac is $960/month for color, $795 for monochrome, with additional charges for futures data.

The Outlook: Side by side today ART and Teletrac look to be very different systems, but there is no question that they are headed for the same destination. And they have complementary strengths and weaknesses:

-- ART's strengths are in its use of industry standard hardware and software, its access to the complete Reuters database, and its ease of retrieval of historical data. Teletrac's weaknesses are in its dependence on a proprietary architecture, its lack of access to the complete Telerate database, and its slow retrieval of historical data not stored locally.

-- Teletrac's strengths are the breadth of its chartable data, its analytic capability, and its 4800 bits/second network speed. ART's weaknesses are its narrower range of chartable data, its lack of analytic capability, and its slower 1800 bits/second interactive network.

The differences will become less distinct with time. Telerate and Reuters are both going after the same customer, and it is only natural for their products to converge. "In pure product terms that's right," says Reuters spokesperson Mike Reilly. "But what you have to look at is the database behind it. What you'll find is that at the time when they would converge on pure hardware terms [Reuters] will then have a database access that's many times larger than what Telerate brings."

"We've looked at ART now very, very closely," says Telerate's Snape, "and we're most confident."