Lorenzo V.
They don't understand the data, present it and then use it in a misleading way
I like that they are trying to bring more transparency to markets, however; They present data in a way that is materially misleading because the don't understand the data. The classic example is FINRA daily short sale volume. They don't understand what it is, display it without a clear explanation of what it is, and then use it in their other calculations that results in just incorrect conclusions.
Response from FintelFeb 1, 2023
Hi Lorenzo, I am the Founder / CEO of Fintel, and I serve as the de-facto product manager for Fintel and all the data products. I'm sorry to hear that you felt misled by some of our data. You've made three claims in this review and I will try to address them each in turn. First, you claim that we "don't understand what it is." As I mentioned earlier, I am the product manager here. I have about 15 years of experience handling financial data, I have fielded hundreds of questions about the data, and - if I have questions - I have colleagues at the NYSE, NASDAQ, CBOE, and FINRA - yes that FINRA - that I can contact. You and I have never met, so it's unclear how you can come to the conclusion that I or anybody at the company don't understand what FINRA short sale volume is. You have provided no evidence to support this claim, and I can assure you that it is false. Second, you claim that we display FINRA short sale volume without a clear explanation of what it is. This is absolutely false. We display it in raw form - just as it is displayed at the FINRA site, with a very clear explanation. Additionally - right on the spot where we display the short sale volume - we provide a link to the FINRA white paper titled "Understanding Short Sale Volume Data on FINRA’s Website." I don't know how much more clear one can get. Again, you have provided no evidence to support your claim, but anybody that actually looks at the web site can clearly see the explanations we have provided and learn more. Third, you state that we "use it in their other calculations that just results in just incorrect conclusions." As the product manager for all our calculations, I can tell you definitively that the only other data point derived from the FINRA Short Volume is the FINRA Short Volume Ratio. As we explain on the site, this is the FINRA Short Volume divided by the total FINRA Volume. This is just another helpful, value-added data point that we provide, and we do not provide any "conclusions" drawn from this data. You have provided no evidence that this data is used in any other calculations that result in "incorrect conclusions." In fact, there are none. This claim, like the others, is false. Fintel has been in operation for over seven years. As I mentioned earlier, I have fielded hundreds of queries about the data. You are the first person that has ever claimed to be misled by the FINRA short volume data. That said, we are always looking for ways to improve the product. Many of our best improvements have come from suggestions from our users. If you have some concrete, constructive, ideas about how we can improve the site, we are always interested in listening to them and I would encourage you to submit them via our customer service channels. However, this review makes a number of categorically false claims - without providing any evidence - and I would like to encourage you to delete it.