No Boundaries: Financial Markets in Motion: Visualization Challenge First Prize Winner
Peter J. Phillips, Elizabeth Wu · 2009
Description of data used: Data supplied by SIRCA (http://data.sirca.org.au/visualisation_challenge_data.csv.zip). The data consisted of a Reuters Information Code (RIC) that identifies the companies in the data, which make up the Dow30 of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA). The DJIA is also provided in the dataset. For each of these companies, information is recorded on Quotes, Trades and News events. These are recorded by a date and time. For the Quotes, a Bid and Ask price is provided. For the Trades, a Price is provided (a trade occurs where the Bid and Ask price match). For the News events, a Headline is provided. Data Analysis: For our submission we chose to analyze the ways in which the price and volume of trades are affected by the quantity and type of news events that occurred during the given time period. Visualization Technique Applied: We chose to visualize this data by creating a dashboard in Excel. Each of the components are dynamically updated from a external database, so we can see the activity occurring over the entire time period in the given dataset, in just a few minutes. Our first component is an interactive bubble chart that we use to illustrate the influence of news events on stock trades (change in stock price and volume). An analyst can select one or more companies and compare their behavior. A radar chart is used to indicate the frequency particular words appear in news headlines that occur during the given time period. The radar chart provides summary of the type of news that is occurring by distinguishing between positive, negative and neutral words. Finally a column graph shows the number of news events that have occurred for each company prior to the current date and the total so far for the current date and time. This illustrates what news events are occurring and to which companies. An analyst might use this to select companies to show in the interactive bubble chart. Main Insights Gained: Through our visualization it is clear that following October 1st, 2008, many components of the Dow 30 headed into a steady decline in price. Increases in news events in particular lead to an increase in trade volume. It also appears that following the initial decline in prices, the decline continued and appeared to be fueled by continual media coverage of the negative news relating to the financial crisis. We also noticed through our visualization that an increase in news events often leads to an increase in the volume of trades. This occurs regardless of the type of words used in the news event. From the bar chart we can see that there is also a particular news focus on large banks such as Citibank and the Bank of America and the investment bank JP Morgan prior to and on October 1st. It is difficult to tell from the limited data if this is a usual occurrence or an indication of events that were to follow. However, we notice that as the crisis sets in on October 2nd, the high number of news events extends beyond banks to also include automotive manufacturer General Motors. This is perhaps an indication of one company that proved to be quite vulnerable to changes in the financial markets.