The Bloomberg Terminal is a computer system used frequently by financial professionals. This system is offered by Bloomberg L.P., a privately held company offering financial software. Bloomberg L.P. is a major player in the financial data market, making approximately one-third of the total revenue in this market with an annual income of $6.9 billion.

Bloomberg Terminal Basics

The Bloomberg Terminal allows financial professional to analyze and monitor financial market data movements in real-time, place trades, review price quotes, and access current financial news. All Bloomberg Terminals are leased from Bloomberg L.P. in two year increments. To use the Bloomberg Terminal effectively, most users must have between two and four monitors set up.

The Bloomberg Terminal is accompanied by the Bloomberg keyboard. This sturdy keyboard has eleven yellow hot keys along the top. These hot keys are used to enter market sectors and to allow the Bloomberg Terminal to identify a security correctly. The Bloomberg keyboard possesses some other relatively minor differences from a traditional keyboard. For example, instead of the “Esc” key as found on a traditional keyboard, the Bloomberg keyboard has a red “Cancel” key. Instead of an “Enter” key as found on a traditional keyboard, the Bloomberg keyboard has a green “Go” key.

Why Use a Bloomberg Terminal?

The Bloomberg Terminal provides all of the information a financial professional working with investments needs to maintain a current knowledgebase and navigate the financial realm. Although other similar products are available on the market, such as Morningstar Direct, Fidessa, and FactSet Research Systems, none are as widely used as the Bloomberg Terminal. This is probably because it allows financial professionals to enter tickers and functions, allowing data to be displayed and analyzed.

The Bloomberg Terminal can be customized to a financial professional’s needs. For example, if he only needs basic information, he can set up two monitors and analyze stock trends and news. On the other hand, if he needs in-depth information, he can set up all four monitors and review more information, place trades, and set up programs to continually analyze information.

Up-to-date information is a necessity for financial professionals, especially those working in the stock market. This information is provided by Bloomberg Terminal’s Launchpad feature. The Launchpad is a display consisting of several smaller windows, each of which displays a set of data on a particular stock. The Launchpad saves a stockbroker from having to check each stock independently within the terminal, allowing him to save time and make fast decisions.