Market Intelligence (MARKINT) is a course addressing an emerging “INT” that provides information different from that of more traditional sources of intelligence such as SIGINT or HUMINT.

Using entirely open source information from the global capital and commodities markets, MARKINT can be used to create intelligence on the intentions of state and non-state actors. The global markets might be considered to be the most efficient aggregators of information and forecasts. This is so because the price of a security can be driven by both insider information and by expert analysis, since the act of buying or selling a security changes its price. Patterns in such price movements across industry sectors and geographical regions can be used to infer forward-looking expectations regarding the probabilities of certain events or responses to events. For example, a terrorist confidant might execute certain transactions that signal knowledge of an upcoming terrorist attack. Or a major bank might take advantage of its unique access in a given country to accurately access a given geopolitical situation and to make market bets designed to profit from it resolution.
In addition, the vulnerability of the financial infrastructure to economic or financial warfare and how the markets might provide warnings of such attacks will be discussed.

This course is intended to provide attendees with no professional financial expertise insight into the workings of the global capital markets, and with a basic understanding of how they provide unique intelligence that might be fused with other information for maximum sense-making.

Case studies of China-Taiwan, Iran, Venezuela and other events will be used to illustrate the practical applications of MARKINT. 

Course Objectives:
Upon completion of this course, participants will have a better understanding of an innovative and cutting-edge approach to intelligence collection. They will have learned novel techniques to gather valuable information from the global capital and commodities markets that are outside the realms of their intended uses.  They will better understand how such information might be fused with that gathered via other intelligence methods to enrich and make more accurate analysis and sense-making efforts.

Who Should Attend: Those interested in better understanding the global markets and how they might be used to provide independent sources of intelligence.
Length of Course: One (1) day
Instructor: Christina Ray

Submit your registration request form here.