Friday May 9 2008
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FT Alphaville is a free daily news and commentary service giving financial market professionals the information they need, when they need it. Focusing on M&A activity, fund raising and the core financial sector, including the private equity and hedge fund industries, Alphaville has three components:

• The 6.00 AM Cut, a morning briefing note published right at the beginning of the working day in the UK and Europe. Designed primarily for our readers on the move, this email service provides a quick and accessible digest of key financial news and analysis from the FT and other publications.
• Rolling news and commentary through the UK and European trading day posted at FT.com/alphaville. From 7.30am in London, readers get quick alerts on important breaking news, guidance on where to go for quality comment and analysis, and timely notification of crucial FT.com content. The service includes a report on activity in the rapidly evolving Credit Default Swap market, which appears on the site each day at noon, along with our daily People column, detailing key appointments each day in the financial sector.
• Markets Live, a real-time markets commentary service using modern messaging technology to provide near-instant views on which assets are moving, and why. This service begins daily at 11am, London time.

The Alphaville editorial team is headed by Paul Murphy, an award-winning financial journalist who has spent almost two decades commenting on financial sector developments and breaking large takeover news.The editorial thinking underpinning this complementary service from FT.com is that in a world where market professionals are inundated with information there is a pressing need to edit and filter, and hopefully sow a few ideas along the way.

To receive the free 6.00 AM Cut, which is delivered each morning by email, readers are asked to complete our short registration process. Readers who wish to post comments, either alongside blog posts or as part of the Markets Live discussion, must also be registered.

Other features of Alphaville include:

• Live prices for major stock indices, currency pairs and commodities, using data supplied by City Index, the spread-betting company. (Unfortunately, due to legal constraints, this service is not available in the US.)
• An innovative Index Cloud, highlighting key names in the news. Readers can click on any name to bring up a short index of relevant content.
• Full RSS service, compatible with all major RSS readers.
• Dedicated search function for Alphaville, along with the full FT.com search and quotes service.

We are constantly working to upgrade the functionality of Alphaville. If you have suggestions on how we might improve the service please share them with us at alphaville@ft.com.We welcome feedback, and positively encourage news tips and story ideas. Email the editorial team or telephone +44 (0)20 7873 4776.