Bloomberg Finance

If you currently work in the financial industry or aspire to it, you have probably heard of a Bloomberg terminal. This beginner’s guide to Bloomberg introduces you to one of the industry’s most widely used sources of real-time financial information. Aimed at new Bloomberg users, this guide provides an overview of using a Bloomberg terminal. If you are a more experienced user or would like to go into more detail about Bloomberg’s capabilities after reading this guide, please keep an eye out for the Advanced Guide to Bloomberg.

In this basic guide, we’ll explore how to sign up, install, and access Bloomberg. We will then proceed to basic navigation of the Bloomberg system. Navigating Bloomberg is unique in that the system uses a special keyboard with some keys that are different from those on a “normal” keyboard. Therefore, the navigation section of this guide is important for newbies. Now that we’ve got those basics down, we’ll then discuss some of the market and news monitoring features available on Bloomberg. The remainder of the tutorial provides information on analyzing securities as well as some tips and tricks to get the most out of this remarkable machine.

THE CENTRAL THESIS

• The Bloomberg Terminal has been an indispensable data and information system for financial professionals for decades.
• Once standalone terminals, subscribers can now download and run Bloomberg software on a PC or Mac.
• Today’s terminal offers a wealth of news and headlines, real-time quotes in numerous markets, tools for fundamental and technical analysis, economic research and more.

Installation and Access

There are two ways to get started with Bloomberg. The first is to subscribe to the Bloomberg service. You can do this by contacting them (general contact number is (212) 318-2000).¹ The representative you speak to can then take details of what you are looking for and someone from the sales team can get in touch with you. Prices and contract terms are individual for each user and will be discussed when the sales team contacts you.

However, keep in mind that Bloomberg is an expensive system and having your own terminal may not be practical for all users. If you choose to subscribe to your own service, Bloomberg can help you install the software over the phone or visit you and help with the installation.² Note: The software can be installed on most PCs or Macs, but the company provides you with a special keyboard for navigating the system.

The second method to access Bloomberg is to find a public facility that has a Bloomberg terminal. Many larger libraries and universities have one, so this is a good place to start looking.³

The disadvantage of this approach is that you cannot customize the system and you have to share it with other users. However, for many users, these disadvantages can be outweighed by the cost savings over subscribing to the system as an individual.

Once you’ve accessed the system, the next trick is figuring out how to navigate. A good place to start would be to either schedule a visit from a Bloomberg customer service representative or to call customer service for assistance. Bloomberg is usually pretty good at providing tech support and assistance, and a representative should be able to get you started on using the terminal.