star dust
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Post by star dust on Aug 26, 2014 9:01:54 GMT
I have noticed in the last few weeks/ months that the Markets Volume data seemed to be stealthily disappearing, and is now down to reporting only last month's lent volume. Did RateSetter make any announcement about this, or has it migrated somewhere else on the site? I used to use it as a very rough guide to possible lending speed when setting rates, although it did seem to have got increasingly unreliable. RS seem to be getting less transparent these days.
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baldpate
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Post by baldpate on Aug 26, 2014 9:31:55 GMT
I pointed this out to RS last week, because I thought it was a software bug. This is the reply I received
"This information was removed recently as the figures were being calculated based on old methods, which were no longer accurate for how we are currently lending.
A management decision was taken to remove these figures and provide only those which are accurate. We may be looking to reinstate these figures and provide further volume information as well, depending on feedback from our lenders."
The usual corporate hooey.
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c88dnf
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Post by c88dnf on Aug 26, 2014 12:26:29 GMT
I pointed this out to RS last week, because I thought it was a software bug. This is the reply I received "This information was removed recently as the figures were being calculated based on old methods, which were no longer accurate for how we are currently lending. A management decision was taken to remove these figures and provide only those which are accurate. We may be looking to reinstate these figures and provide further volume information as well, depending on feedback from our lenders." The usual corporate hooey. RS really can't win, can they? Users of this Forum have prevoiously complained that the data in the volume statistics is inaccurate and castigated RS when they didn't remove the data immediately. Now they've taken it away and given a perfectly reasonable answer, they're in the wrong for the exact opposite reason! In any case, you can still look at the amount loaned in the past 30 days in the market of your choice, divide by a number of your choosing and get a pretty fair idea of how much money is likley to shift on a daily basis (though not, of course, what addiitional money may be deposited). Or is that too hard?
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star dust
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Post by star dust on Aug 26, 2014 15:15:33 GMT
I don't visit the RS board that much, but I did do a quick trawl through to see if it had been mentioned already, and didn't find anything. AFAIK I want an at a glance figure, I do not want to spend time working out how many weekends / bank holidays there were in the last 30 days (or whatever it is) and make sure I'm trending the figures to pick up any unusual/ sudden movements, I just want a next / past 24 hours to get a rough idea whether to put money on a slightly higher or lower rate or withdraw it altogether.
If RS are offering to re-instate a more realistic / reliable figure, then I for one would like to take them up on it.
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c88dnf
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Post by c88dnf on Aug 26, 2014 19:29:35 GMT
AFAIK I want an at a glance figure, I do not want to spend time working out how many weekends / bank holidays there were in the last 30 days (or whatever it is) and make sure I'm trending the figures to pick up any unusual/ sudden movements, I just want a next / past 24 hours to get a rough idea whether to put money on a slightly higher or lower rate or withdraw it altogether. Which is exactly what RS formerly provided and were criticised for giving misleading data! Let's think this through. Let's say RS take the supplied 30 day data and turn it into an average working day figure for the past 30 days. Does that help you? Or is it the trend that's of interest, in which case the working days bit is irrelevant? For example in the 5 years market, the average 30-day volume has dropped about £1 million over the past few weeks. I (very) roughly translate that into a daily sales volume (assuming every day has sales) moving from roughly £350k to £320k. The problem is that the real numbers will bounce around day-to-day for all manner of reasons, not least whether the lenders whose loans have been OKed decide to take them. It is - indeed has to be - rough and ready estimation. IMHO trying to base your lending on 24 hours immediately past or ahead is going to lead to disappointment and/or frustration.
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baldpate
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Post by baldpate on Aug 26, 2014 19:38:51 GMT
RS really can't win, can they? No they can't - not if they do things this way! I haven't complained, since I wasn't even aware that the figures were misleading. A couple of months ago I spoke by phone to a RS representative, seeking an explanation of a couple aspects of the (now missing) data; I got the explanation, and at no point was it suggested that the figures were incorrect/misleading. The professional way to deal with this would have been to give notice on the website that the figures were no longer valid and would shortly be removed - or even to remove, replacing them with a notice explaining the reason. Better still, replace them seamlessly with a correct calculation.
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star dust
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Post by star dust on Aug 26, 2014 20:45:41 GMT
AFAIK I want an at a glance figure, I do not want to spend time working out how many weekends / bank holidays there were in the last 30 days (or whatever it is) and make sure I'm trending the figures to pick up any unusual/ sudden movements, I just want a next / past 24 hours to get a rough idea whether to put money on a slightly higher or lower rate or withdraw it altogether. Which is exactly what RS formerly provided and were criticised for giving misleading data! Let's think this through. Let's say RS take the supplied 30 day data and turn it into an average working day figure for the past 30 days. Does that help you? Or is it the trend that's of interest, in which case the working days bit is irrelevant? For example in the 5 years market, the average 30-day volume has dropped about £1 million over the past few weeks. I (very) roughly translate that into a daily sales volume (assuming every day has sales) moving from roughly £350k to £320k. The problem is that the real numbers will bounce around day-to-day for all manner of reasons, not least whether the lenders whose loans have been OKed decide to take them. It is - indeed has to be - rough and ready estimation. IMHO trying to base your lending on 24 hours immediately past or ahead is going to lead to disappointment and/or frustration. As in baldpate case I hadn’t complained about the figures and wasn’t aware there had been any complaints either. I think you have also missed the point that I do not want to spend my time working out a ‘replacement’ for the information that has been withdrawn. RS are the people best placed to provide any such figures which as I was trying to point out are not necessarily that straightforward, or discernible from 30 day figures as you had earlier suggested. Don’t presume you know all about someone’s investment strategy from one post, sorry to disillusion you but in nearly three years lending at RS I am neither disappointed nor frustrated.
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