Bloomberg

[roxy potter]

Hey guys, First time poster here.

I'm looking to access Bloomberg as a private user. Is such a thing possible? I've looked at the Bloomberg website, but can't really find an answer. Is there a version you can get for your laptop or whatever, and if so, is it expensive?

Thanks for your help

 

[dealer911]

Hey guys, First time poster here.

I'm looking to access Bloomberg as a private user. Is such a thing possible? I've looked at the Bloomberg website, but can't really find an answer. Is there a version you can get for your laptop or whatever, and if so, is it expensive?

Thanks for your help

you will need b.berg proffessional - it is very expensive - i think around 2k per month depending on what exchanges you are connected to - you can access it from any computer.

 

[GammaJammer]

Yeah it's something like that. SO what you need to do is be very certain of what you actually need it for. What are you planning to do that needs a Bloomberg terminal.

Bear in mind that for example I trade all products in FX - spot, forward, swaps, options (vanilla and exotic) NDFs etc, and I don't probably use more than 0.1% of bloomberg's functionality. And the majority of what I do use I could probably find somewhere else (charts, spot pricing, news, chat, generic pricing for other instruments e.g. oil, equities etc). Even exotic options (bloomberg vol feeds aren't all that great anyway).

The simple fact is 99.99% of retail traders have absolutely no need to pay for all that functionality. If you're a multi asset portfolio manager needing to run assorted complicated analytics then surem it's a good tool. But for someone who is punting cable off a five minute chart or whatever, it really isn't necessary.

So let us know what you're going to use it for and we can see if there are any cheaper, or even free tools that might be more suitable...

Hope that helps

GJ

 

[The Artist]

You may be able to get a free-trial for a month if you manage to show enough potential as a future buyer to their sales people.
That way, if you have the cash to purchase the license in the first place (license which is attached to a lovely 2-yr contract ), you can check it out for yourself!

 

[GammaJammer]

Not much use without the knowledge to use it. And I don't think you get much in the way of decent sales rep coverage unless they think you're a decent prospect.

 

[The Artist]

I was just trying to be nice.
Of course there's little chance you can get anything out of Bloomberg in 30days if you have never seen the platform before. And unless he/she is a retired entrepreneur, heir(ess) to the family fortune, or a private wealth manager, there's no way a rep will dish out a free trial.

 

[GammaJammer]

Oh I'd have thought someone resourceful could get a free trial out of them actually, it's just that for someone without a markets background I'd have thought a month isn't long to evaluate. Just navigating around it for the first time if you're new is interesting enough, leave alone figuring out if it's actually directly useable for you..

 

[arabianights]

free trial is almost guaranteed, yup

 

[The Artist]

Guaranteed? Interesting.

 

[arabianights]

almost

 

[A Dashing Blade]

you will need b.berg proffessional - it is very expensive - i think around 2k per month depending on what exchanges you are connected to . . .

Just had mine renewed (Bloomberg Anywhere) , min 2 year contract, no exchange fees (ie plain vanilla), circa £23k.

 

[GammaJammer]

23k for what - 2 years? (so just under 1k / month)?

 

[GammaJammer]

Btw does anyone else have a problem with the stupid bloody biometric reader? My B-Unit drives me nuts.

 

[arabianights]

but you do have unusually hairy hands

 

[gooseman]

Everyone else seems to but I don't. Index finger is the way forward-don't use your thumb.

 

[A Dashing Blade]

23k for what - 2 years? (so just under 1k / month)?

Yup.

 

[GammaJammer]

Everyone else seems to but I don't. Index finger is the way forward-don't use your thumb.

Ah - well that's what I've used on the keyboard at work and it does seem to work far far better. The only reason I used the thumb on the B-Unit was because of the indentation that you line your digit up with (it's basically thumb sized / shaped so I not unreasonably assumed it would be easier to consistently 'hit the mark' that way).

I'm averaging something like 15 attempts every time before I log in. Insane. I don't log in all that often from home these days, and I have it on my phone which only needs a B-Unit code once every so often (usually just my password as long as I haven't rebooted the phone) but by that very definition, if I AM logging on from home it's because I really need to. So it's a total pain in the aris really.

 

[gooseman]

are you one of these lumps with great big hands that just mashes your palm into the b-unit? can't be good when 'nimbly' tapping in your notional