Day Trading & Forex Forum

LION63

How I miss those days..... less information but more money. Now it is a jungle and only the strong survive. The rip off brokers have been replaced by highway robbers charging ridiculous prices for data, charts etc.

As Mikeyuk and Racer rightly point out, the higher your costs, the more capital you require and the more difficult it becomes to make profits. For the individual trader, a Bloomberg terminal is a non starter. For most traders, ADVFN or Money.AM meet their requirements and they are more cost effective. The next level is probably ESignal, Sharescope and Synergy.

wiseass

i realise this is a very old thread however perhaps someone could add something new.

i currently watch bloomberg onine @ http://www.mmdfactory.com/internet_t...omberg_tv.html

Now i'm not sure how delayed this server is but i was wondering if anyone has a better (quicker) feed ??

green11

for an individual day trader bloomberg is not cost effective really.

Only when you start to deal with larger amounts of cash do you really need it - the biggest funds in the city use stuff like bloomberg, so an individual trader could probably make do with something a little bit cheaper, as long as it isnt giving a delayed feed.

having said that. bloomberg is brilliant if you have the cash.

cycleidentifier

Wow! Thats really expensive. Sounds like only the big boys can afford that.

Cycleidentifer

GammaJammer

The reason Bloomberg isn't suitable for the home trader isn't entirely about cost. It's also because what you are paying for is an absolute ton of analytics and functionality that most of the pros don't even use, let alone a retail trader. I'm not talking about a few charts here - I'm talking bond portfolio valuation models etc etc. So far beyond the scope of what the vast majority of people posting here will ever need that it isn't even worth listing the types of thing I'm talking about.

I would much rather have a Reuters terminal than my Bloomberg one personally, but that's an issue I won't be able to address until the new year unfortunately. Might end up with both, but then I'll need 2 more screens and a bigger desk ;-)

GJ

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"That which doesn't kill me makes me stronger"

RichieE

I previously worked at Bloomberg, here is my tuppence worth. Bloomberg has a completely different business model to competitors like Reuters. Bloomberg will charge you a large monthly fee (highest cost is approx $1700 USD per month for an individual user) but gives you everything with no additional cost. This includes functionality for fund managers, salesman, investment bankers, corporate finance department etc. However, Reuters will charge you only about $500 USD for the basic package but you will find that lots of things will be extras, I've heard reports that clients even being charged extra for news and graphing (however I'm never seen this personally so take that with a pinch of salt unless someone confirms it).That is very true. Bloomberg is actually marketed as a professional tool. The reason is simple, servicing the professional market is a lot more profitable than the retail market.Everyone has their favourite system. It's a lot to do with what your personal needs, each system has it's strengths and weaknesses. In my experience, many clients do actually have both...

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RichieE
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GammaJammer

I'm an old school FX trader. Bloomberg has made in-roads into this market in recent years but I still prefer the look and feel of Reuters. Plus I'm heartily sick of the political issues that affect time and sales data delivery. Bloomberg's (not so) hidden agendas I can do without. If I hear one more account rep ten years my jounior trying to extol the virtues of a price feed when I already know far more than him about where it comes from and what's wrong with it I'll scweam and scweam and scweam

Plus the helpdesk aren't my fave people either. But then again they're not much better at Reuters. Problem is I only ever need to use them when I have something complex or arcane that I need, so I guess I'm hoping for too much when the issues rarely get sorted to my satisfaction.

Rant over

GJ

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"That which doesn't kill me makes me stronger"

RichieE

That would explain a lot With FX there isn't much you can add to a system apart from faster news feeds.Bloomberg's traditional method of getting over the 'look and feel' objections is to throw some programming at it to replicate a screen and have some 21 yr old grads customise it for you.I can't comment on a public forum without inviting problems...That's the Bloomberg 'nag' sales technique... it does wear your down...
Again... helpdesks at Bloomberg are usually staffed by 21 year old grads straight out of university. So you can't expect too much....Don't worry.... heard it all before!!!

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RichieE
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