Bloomberg is one of the world’s largest financial news services, and its founder, Mike Bloomberg, is one of the richest people in the world.
Much of the wealth he acquires comes from the Bloomberg Terminal, the indispensable computer software for many companies in the financial sector. If you work a corporate office job, chances are you may have even used it yourself.
So, what exactly does the Bloomberg Terminal do, and what makes it so powerful and precious to Wall Street professionals?
How the Bloomberg Terminal Came To Be
Before building the Bloomberg Terminal, Mike Bloomberg was a general partner at Salomon Brothers, an investment bank headquartered in New York.
After receiving a $10 million severance package in 1981, he invented a system that combined financial data, analytics, compliance, and relevant business and financial information services under one single computer software—the Bloomberg Terminal.
The Bloomberg Terminal officially made its debut in 1982, and the rest is history. Today, the Terminal is used by over 320,000 subscribers all around the world. It is estimated that the software itself is responsible for one-third of Bloomberg LP’s revenue. Aside from PC, the Bloomberg Terminal is also available on smartphones.
Who Uses The Bloomberg Terminal?
The Bloomberg Terminal is often described as a supercomputer that Wall Street professionals cannot live without. A Bloomberg Terminal subscription costs around $20,000 to $24,000 per year, but that does not stop its customer base from renewing their subscriptions because of how useful it is.
Traders, brokers, analysts, portfolio managers, investors, and executives are the Terminal’s main consumer base.
If you are a university student pursuing a course in finance or economics, you have probably been taught how to navigate its basic functions as well. This is because more higher education institutions are subscribing to the Terminal so that students can gain hands-on knowledge about financial markets.
What Does the Bloomberg Terminal Look Like?
The Bloomberg Terminal has an iconic interface that is easy to recognize: a full black screen and lines and lines of neon text in a font reminiscent of an old school 90s video game.
The Terminal also supplies its own computers for the optimum experience, called the Bloomberg 15-inch Compact Display Terminal. With native resolutions of 60Hz, 32-bit color, and 1024 x 768 (XGA) screens, the Compact Display Terminals offer high-quality display via an ergonomically designed computer stand. In a corporate setting, the Terminal runs on usually two, but sometimes four to six screens.
In terms of hardware, to use the Bloomberg Terminal, you need a Bloomberg-native PC-style keyboard called the Starboard, which on top of your regular QWERTY keys, contains red, blue, green, and yellow keys for specific functions.
Bloomberg Terminal Functions
Now, here are some of the Bloomberg Terminal’s most powerful functions.
The HELP button is perhaps the most useful key for those who are just starting out. If you have any questions about anything on the Terminal, just hit the key once, and a Bloomberg specialist will be there to start a live chat with you to solve your queries. Why bother Googling anymore?
If you have an internet connection, you are definitely no stranger to Bloomberg News. Users can simply type NEWS and hit enter to get the latest information on market trends, movements, and other relevant breaking news stories.
Once a Wall Street broker is briefed on the biggest news stories of the day, say they’d like to check up on a company’s stocks and financial performance on that day. No problem: shortcut keys such as BQ, GIP, and OMON provide real-time visual charts, data, quotes, trends, and forecasts about an equity option or a fund.
Want to export a visually pleasing graph from the Terminal into Excel? The Terminal itself is already well-incorporated with Microsoft Excel. Just hit DAPI on the Terminal. Those with advanced-level familiarity with the Terminal build spreadsheets that automatically update with the latest data each time the file is opened. Learn how to create self-updating Microsoft Excel charts here.
Those in the industry chat over Bloomberg Messaging, which is basically Facebook Messenger but on Bloomberg. It allows you to message anyone who is on the Terminal. This means that anyone in the industry can technically contact each other instantly. No more asking for someone else’s number or making inquiries about the best way to get in touch.
If you are trying to find out more about a well-known person in a specific industry, entering PEOP will allow you to browse through their credentials.
Bloomberg Map is essentially Google Maps, but more detailed and tailored to the finance industry.
Using geospatial data, the map presents users with a visualization of natural disasters unfolding worldwide, so commodity trackers are aware of the impacts of natural disasters on commodities such as oil and gold. To access the map, enter BMAP.
Work is done for the day. Let’s say our Wall Street broker is looking to have dinner at a fancy restaurant. Some would look up good places on Google or popular restaurant review apps. However, the Terminal can accomplish that with DINE, which shows users’ information and reviews about high-end restaurants nearby.
If our Wall Street broker wants to spend big but doesn’t know what to spend on, simply entering MLUX on the terminal will return with results on the best luxury items available for purchase online.
The Bloomberg Terminal
The Bloomberg Terminal is not just a financial data system. It’s also a social networking, shopping, and dining platform. Its biggest selling point is that it is an all-in-one service delivered with unbelievable speed and accuracy. No wonder those who use the Terminal cannot get enough of it.
If you have the chance to access the Terminal at school or work, do take full advantage of it and try entering the command keys above to see what pops out.