Bloomberg Terminal

The Bloomberg Terminal is a computer system that enables financial professionals to access the Bloomberg Professional service through which users can monitor and analyze real-time financial market data movements and place trades. The system also provides news, price quotes, and messaging across its proprietary secure network. Most large financial firms have subscriptions to the Bloomberg Professional service. Many exchanges charge their own additional fees for access to real time price feeds across the terminal. The same applies to various news organizations. All Bloomberg Terminals are leased in 2 year cycle, with leases based on how many displays are connected to each terminal. A subscription is around $US1500 per month. Most Bloomberg setups are either 2 or up to 4 displays.

Architecture

The terminal implements a client-server architecture with the server running on a multiprocessor UNIX platform. The client, used by the end users to interact with the system is a Windows application. End users can also make use of an extra service (Bloomberg Anywhere) that allows Web access to this Windows application via a Citrix client. There is also a WAP portal, BlackBerry application, Windows Mobile application, and iPhone application to allow mobile access. The server side of the terminal has been developed using mostly the Fortran and C programming languages. Recent years have seen a shift in focus towards C++, and embedded Javascript on both client and server side. Each server machine runs multiple instances of the server process. Using a proprietary form of context switching the servers keep track of the state of each end user, allowing consecutive interactions from a single user to be handled by different server processes. The Graphical User Interface (GUI) code is also proprietary.

Bloomberg Keyboard

In Michael Bloomberg's 1997 autobiography, a chapter titled "Computers for Virgins", he explained how the design of the terminal was slightly different from the standard IBM PC keyboard layout that was popular at that time. The keyboard layout was designed for traders and other market makers who had no previous computer experience. While the look and feel of the Bloomberg keyboard is very similar to the standard computer keyboard, there are several enhancements that help a user navigate through the system from the idea for a user friendly system when originally designed in the early 1980s

Commands for the keyboard are commonly referred to inside angle brackets. The keys were replaced from the technical name (i.e. F10) and the then standard beige color, opting for a user friendly name and a memoriable color, in this example for a lookup on an Index with a yellow key. Another worthy example, the "Esc" for most computer keyboards is referred to as red colored <CANCEL> key in the Bloomberg system, with the red to catch one's eye to stop a task. The "Enter" key is referred to as <GO> with a green color, derriving from the Monopoly game board, by passing "Go" and collecting $200 in a hope that the user could make money on the information he would find (hence the green key.)

Crucially, the Bloomberg keyboard includes a unique <MENU> key, which serves a similar function to the "back" button in an internet browser.

The yellow hot keys along the top of the keyboard are used to enter Market sectors, and must be used to allow the terminal to correctly identify a security.

• GOVT - Government (US Treasury and non-US Government securities)
• CORP - Corporate Debt
• MTGE - Mortgage Securities
• M-Mkt - Money market
• MUNI - Municipal Debt
• PFD - Preferred Shares
• EQUITY - Equity Shares
• COMDTY - Commodity Markets
• INDEX - Indices
• CURNCY - Currency Markets

For example, to call up Vodafone stock, one enters VOD LN <Equity><GO> Where VOD is the company's ticker, and LN is the venue code for London. Similarly, USDEUR<Curncy><GO> will bring up the US Dollar / Euro exchange rate. The Bloomberg Keyboard is heavy in comparison to a standard keyboard.

Bloomberg keys on a US Windows keyboard
CANCEL		HELP	GOVT	CORP	MTGE		M-MKT	MUNI	PFD	EQUITY		CMDTY	INDEX	CRNCY	CLIENT		PRINT	ScrLk	CONN DFLT
																	CMAND	HOME	BACK		€ /4	Sfr /8	¥ /32	£ /64
																	DEL	MENU	FWD		QUTE 1	QUTE 2	SRVYS	/16 1/2
																					RPRT 1	RPRT 2	NEWS
																		↑			MESSAGE	MEMO	MNTOR	GO
																	←	↓	→		PANEL		CODE

The Terminal, and related Products

Originally a self-contained operating system running on custom hardware - commonly referred to as a "Bloomberg Box" - the Bloomberg Terminal now functions as an application within the Windows environment. From a user's perspective, there are essentially 3 distinct levels to the system:

• The Core Terminal

This is the original system, consisting typically of 2 windows (some larger trading desks have 4), each containing a separate instance of the terminal command line. By entering tickers and functions, data can be displayed and programs run to analyze it. This seemingly large number of windows allows users to call up several entirely different sets of data, and compare it quickly; for those users who have more than one computer display, each terminal window can be assigned independently, creating, in effect, four terminals.

• Launchpad

Launchpad is a customizable display consisting of a number of smaller windows, called 'components', each of which dedicated to permanently displaying one set of data. A typical user would be a stockbroker who wishes to keep a list of 30 stocks visible at all times: Launchpad creates a small component which will show these prices constantly, saving the broker from having to check each stock independently in the terminal. It can be toggled on or off by hitting the <LPAD> key. Other functions, such as email inboxes, calculation tools and news tickers can be similarly displayed. The Instant Bloomberg messaging/chat tool is a Launchpad component, as are the chat windows it creates. To launch a normal function from the Bloomberg Terminal's 4 Screens into launchpad type LLP and press enter on the target screen you wish to turn into a launchpad item.

• Application Programming Interface

The final level of the Bloomberg system is the ability to export data from the Terminal to 3rd party applications, such as Microsoft Excel. A user might wish to use Bloomberg data from the terminal to create his or her own calculations; by exporting the live data into another program, they can build these formulae. Bloomberg supports this through a range of add-ins which are packaged with the terminal software.

Competitors

Leading competitors for electronic financial data provision include Morningstar Direct, FactSet Research Systems, Capital IQ, Thomson Reuters, Morgan Stanley, Jackson Terminal, PrivateRaise.com, Advantage Data Inc, Fidessa and Dow Jones.

See also

• Bloomberg L.P.

References

Bloomberg LP. 2001. Bloomberg Basic Manual.

External links

• Bloomberg Professional
• Bloomberg Terminal redesign