You are looking at this from a computer engineer's point of view (perhaps). However if you look at it from the world of finance, access to a data broker with up to date(seconds) information where you can also chat with major bank traders and hedge funds the package is very complete.
Data brokers. Not a regular thing in comp.sci, but very much so in the world of finance.
I don't think you've answered the question of why custom hardware is required. All of the information resources and channels you mention could be accessed from more common hardware.
Data brokers. Not a regular thing in comp.sci, but very much so in the world of finance.