Vasant,

I had a chance to speak today with a representative from Estima, the maker of RATS.  Evidently, our current license is as follows:

		Version:  RATS 4.0 (original license cost of $ 1,200.00)
		Max. No. of Users: 4

The following options outline the costs of upgrading the software:

Option 1

Version:  RATS 5.0
Users: Site license for Houston/unlimited

	RATS 5.0	$ 5,100.00
	CATS module	$ 1,200.00    	(cointegration module)
	X-11 module	$ 1,200.00    	(RATS implementation of Census Bureau's seasonal adjustment--aids in 			$ 7,500.00       	adjusting quarterly and monthly data as well as options for identifying 					trading days and holidays in time series) 

Option 2

Version:  RATS 5.0
Users: 100

	RATS 5.0	$ 4,500.00
	CATS module	$ 1,200.00
	X-11 module	$ 1,200.00
			$ 6,900.00

Option 3

Version: RATS 5.0
Users: 50

	RATS 5.0	$ 3,600.00
	CATS module	$ 1,200.00
	X-11 module	$ 1,200.00
			$ 6,000.00

Option 4

Version RATS 5.0
Users: 25

	RATS 5.0	$ 2,500.00
	CATS module	$ 1,100.00
	X-11 module	$ 1,100.00
			$ 4,700.00

Note that we currently have a number of users of RATS both within Research and throughout EGM (Equities, Freight, Fundamentals, Crude Products).  I would recommend, at a minimum, that we upgrade our license to 50 users with base RATS 5.0.  Cointegration can obviously be performed without the automated CATS module--I am not too certain of the utility of the X-11 module. 


Nelson