Event Driven Investing: How to Monitor Web Data – Before it Hits the News
By Emily Fenton
Updated November 20, 2024
Introduction
An event-driven strategy exploits the tendency of a company's stock price to fluctuate during a period of change.
But your investment research shouldn't be limited to industry staples, like Bloomberg and MorningStar Direct. There are many Bloomberg terminal alternatives, for example, that you can integrate into your investment process, to collect additional data and make more informed decisions.
Website change monitoring tools are a commonly used strategy to capitalize on events online. Investment professionals use these tracking tools because they can automatically monitor developments from any niche source on the web, and get real-time alerts of events-driven opportunities.
Used by over half of the United States' top ten multi-platform hedge funds, Visualping is the leading website monitoring tool investors use to monitor events, from anywhere online. When an update occurs on a web page an investor is tracking, Visualping sends them a real-time alert of the web data change.
What is Event Driven Investing?
Event driven investing is an investment strategy for profiting from events that impact financial markets. Investors keep an eye on regulatory changes, acquisitions, mergers, and bankruptcies and, by taking action fast, they capitalize on short-term price fluctuations that result from these events.
Event driven investing is most often used by private equity or hedge funds because it requires in-depth market expertise to analyze corporate events for successful execution. By reacting to and predicting notable events affecting market variations, investors are able to generate alpha and make profit for their firm.
Investors who use event driven investing often rely on teams of research analysts and data specialists who are experts in researching corporate actions, as well as analyzing the events to determine the effect of the action on a company's stock price.
Examples of corporate events include restructurings, mergers/acquisitions, bankruptcy, spinoffs, takeovers, and others. Such analysis includes, among other things, a look at the current regulatory environment, possible synergies from mergers or acquisitions, and a new price target after the action has taken place.
A decision is then made about how to invest, based on the current stock price versus the likely price of the stock after the action takes place. If the analysis is correct, the strategy will likely make money. How to Monitor Web Data Before it Hits the News
Every Hedge Fund’s Secret Weapon: Web Monitoring Tools
Monitoring web data, and knowing as soon as an update has occurred, is a vital aspect of events-driven investing. Real-time data provides timely information about market trends, investment opportunities, and potential risks. By tracking and staying on top of this data, investors can formulate effective strategies that lead to higher returns in the stock market and other investment avenues.
As such, investment professionals often incorporate website trackers in their research and investing strategy.
These tools collect data from your selected web sources, such as news websites, financial news platforms, regulatory filings, industry-specific forums and social media. They automate the process of checking the sources for updates. When there’s a change, the web data monitoring tool notifies the investment manager of the update.
With Visualping, the investor receives a real-time email alert that includes a screenshot of the web page change. The changes are highlighted in the screenshot, so they’re easy to spot. It also includes a link to the original web source, so they can easily view the update in the context of the original web source.
Want to build your own data feed with web data alerts?
Why Web Monitoring Tools are Handy for Events-Driven Investing
Automatic research processes
Web monitoring tools allow you to gather all the data efficiently, and in a timely way.
Event-driven investing often involves detailed research and analysis. Investors closely monitor the events and their impact on a business, like legal proceedings, earnings releases, mergers and acquisitions. The research helps the investor understand the event’s potential impact on a company’s fundamentals and stock price.
Events-driven investing requires a good understanding of financial markets, legal matters, and regulatory environments.
There is also a timing factor. Predicting the timing of these events accurately is difficult. If you’re manually rechecking sources to see if there’s an update, the investors’ timing may be off and they don’t take immediate action to take advantage of the stock mispricing.
Gathering this research manually is inefficient and takes time.
Real-time Alerts, so you can act fast
The investor also needs to know certain updates right away, so they can take action fast.
Website change monitoring tools automatically monitor web data for you, saving you from having to manually check web sources for changes, and they can even track web pages in real-time, so you can keep up with timely updates.
When you identify a potential market-moving event, act swiftly to take advantage of the opportunity or mitigate risks. Develop a clear plan for your investment actions.
Versatility in what you can track
Web monitoring tools allow you to get notified on information that can be as niche and specific as you want, unlike news sources, which often don’t cover that are niche enough. Check out our blog post on some of the top web sources to track for better investments.
How to Monitor Events Online with Visualping
Step-By-Step Tutorial
Investment professionals can elevate their pipeline with Visualping.
Visualping automatically monitors any specific sources you want online, and sends you real-time data alerts when there’s a change. Investors can stay on top of developments from a niche source to more easily take advantage of events-driven opportunities.
Here’s how to get setup.
Step 1: Access Visualping’s Homepage and copy and paste any URL in the Search Field
Open your web browser and visit the Visualping homepage. From the web page that contains the web data you want to track, copy the URL from the address bar. Paste this URL into the provided search field on the Visualping homepage to display the viewfinder which allows you to select the specific section you want to track.
Step 2: Select the Section of the Page to be Monitored
Choose the specific area of the webpage that you are interested in monitoring for events-driven investing. You can also utilize advanced settings to receive alerts when specific keywords appear on the page.
Step 3: Determine the Monitoring Frequency
Indicate the frequency at which Visualping should check the page for updates. You can set the interval anywhere between five minutes and one month, depending on your preferences. This enables you to receive notifications at your desired convenience.
Step 4: Provide your Email for Notification Delivery
To receive notifications regarding any changes on the monitored page, you need to provide Visualping with an email address. Input an active email address that you frequently check to ensure timely receipt of each notification.
That’s a Wrap
Catch Events Online Before they Hit the News
An event-driven strategy exploits the tendency of a company's stock price to fluctuate during a period of change. Website change monitoring tools are a commonly used strategy to capitalize on events online.
Used by over half of the world’s top hedge funds, Visualping is the leading website monitoring tool investors use to monitor events, from anywhere online. When an update occurs on a web page an investor is tracking, Visualping sends them a real-time alert of the web data change.
Don’t hesitate to contact us for more information, or to get started on our 14-day free trial.
Want to uncover leading market signals?
Monitor any web source online, and get notified of market-moving events, with Visualping.
Emily Fenton
Emily is the Product Marketing Manager at Visualping. She has a degree in English Literature and a Masters in Management. When she’s not researching and writing about all things Visualping, she loves exploring new restaurants, playing guitar and petting her cats