Installing and managing many separate products from different vendors is an annoyance we no longer have to suffer. But you have to experience the excitement, the sinking disappointment, and the gnawing tension of trading and managing a portfolio to understand what makes the financial markets tick. The Department of Economics at Free University, Amsterdam has brought to life this fascinating world for its students and faculty. Students and faculty can then access this data to create imaginary portfolios and follow market movements.
Portfolio management is an important component of many courses the department offers.
Being able to substantiate and test theories with real examples makes it much easier for students to understand financial concepts. The data warehouse, based on DB2 for AIX, has already become an indispensable source of information. Until a few years ago, data vendors, teletext services, and newspapers were the only source students could tap for market data. However, they could get only limited information from these sources. Besides, data vendors usually charge more than most students can afford.