Is there some reason for the investor to prefer the data from Hemscott to the data available from S&P via OPS? I would expect this to be a FAQ, but I don't see it discussed anywhere. Is Hemscott more accurate, or available for more stocks?
We intend for the StockCentral data to be as good as the OPS data. We hope that we can make it better!
"Accuracy" probably isn't an issue, because data is either right or wrong. But, there are some areas of judgement that go into producing a set of data. Normalization -- where EPS and other data are adjusted to represent the ongoing company's activities are one area. We will also have institutional and insider ownership in our data files. Some people find that attractive.
Right now, we're in the "beta" phase of the data project. That means that efforts are being devoted to making the data complete and correct.
Support will also be an issue. I hope that we can be quite responsive to problems (they ALWAYS happen) and open in reporting not only problems but also their solutions.
"Soon" ... and I hope that's a matter of weeks and not months ... we'll be out of beta, and we'll leave it for consumers to decided whether or not we've been successful.
And you are right, FAQs about the data are important, and we're working on them!