CEP is intelligent software that is essentially the next step in algorithmic trading – it sifts through market events looking for possible patterns and acts on them. A recent study into banks’ IT spending patterns by consultancy Aite Group, suggested that while  budgets as a whole were likely to shrink by 5%, CEP investment remains on an upward trajectory. 36% of respondents to the survey intended to spend more on CEP this year than in 2008. Adam Honore, senior analyst at Aite and author of the report, says: “We’re still bullish on the potential for CEP across financial services. Once one group successfully deploys a CEP application,  word spreads and more technology groups look at CEP to help solve their issues.”