i think it's a locked down software system that provides near real time data on in various financial markets around the world. the reason why this is useful is alot of stock info you find online is 5 -15 minutes old.. which is kind of useless if you need to buy and sell in realtime.
Ask HN: What is so great about Bloomberg Terminal?
41–50 of 232 posts
Re: Ask HN: What is so great about Bloomberg Terminal?
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
Voting up on the Bloomberg Chat. Most of the people in Finance do not really use other functions but due to network effects, most people get 'connected' via Bloomberg Chat.
Please explain what Bloomberg chat is, and how you find people via it.
It's like MSN Messenger or AOL, except that the identities of people on it are guaranteed, and things said on it are effectively contracts. Reuters operate a similar system. There are others too but no-one uses them.
Re: Ask HN: What is so great about Bloomberg Terminal?
#43You are looking at this from a computer engineer's point of view (perhaps). However if you look at it from the world of finance, access to a data broker with up to date(seconds) information where you can also chat with major bank traders and hedge funds the package is very complete. Data brokers. Not a regular thing in comp.sci, but very much so in the world of finance.
I don't think you've answered the question of why custom hardware is required. All of the information resources and channels you mention could be accessed from more common hardware.
Apart from the keyboard, a present day Bloomberg is just a common PC and monitor.
Re: Ask HN: What is so great about Bloomberg Terminal?
#44Re: Ask HN: What is so great about Bloomberg Terminal?
#45it's everything: - news articles - squawk - economic data releases - historical and live market data - asset pricing - charts and analytics - click trading - trade execution and transaction cost analysis - trade order management and post trade processing - portfolio and risk management - alerts - chat - mail - Excel integration - amazing stuff like DINE , FLY , and POSH (lol) there's probably a ton more stuff that i…
> DINE, FLY, and POSH
Can you ... can you order takeout from a Bloomberg terminal?
Re: Ask HN: What is so great about Bloomberg Terminal?
#46UCF has a great tutorial video on the Bloomberg terminal. It is an hour and 7 minutes long, but watch it and you will see why it's the standard in finance. The data/news feed is great and UX is optimized for speed, dense display of information, and filtering.
Re: Ask HN: What is so great about Bloomberg Terminal?
#47Does anyone here know how difficult it would be for BBL to change their GUI? I am using the terminal quite often, but I wish it would be more EIKON like.
Re: Ask HN: What is so great about Bloomberg Terminal?
#48it's everything: - news articles - squawk - economic data releases - historical and live market data - asset pricing - charts and analytics - click trading - trade execution and transaction cost analysis - trade order management and post trade processing - portfolio and risk management - alerts - chat - mail - Excel integration - amazing stuff like DINE , FLY , and POSH (lol) there's probably a ton more stuff that i…
> DINE , FLY , and POSH Can you ... can you order takeout from a Bloomberg terminal?
bloomberg has a history of muscling in on post-trade services with various degrees of success.
I doubt food delivery falls within their expertise or even scope of compliance, in the same way you still can't buy flight tickets from fly, but if they want to do it, if they ever do, seamless has no choice but to take them seriously.
Re: Ask HN: What is so great about Bloomberg Terminal?
#49it's everything: - news articles - squawk - economic data releases - historical and live market data - asset pricing - charts and analytics - click trading - trade execution and transaction cost analysis - trade order management and post trade processing - portfolio and risk management - alerts - chat - mail - Excel integration - amazing stuff like DINE , FLY , and POSH (lol) there's probably a ton more stuff that i…
> DINE , FLY , and POSH Can you ... can you order takeout from a Bloomberg terminal?
"FLY and DINE give you flight schedules and restaurant listings and reviews."
"POSH, a Craigslist for the wealthy"
https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-coolest-functions-on-Bloo...
Banking software also use this type of codes to reach different functions: post a cheque, take a draft, print an account statement, update customer record, loan balance/amortisation/payback history; in short, they do everything with short 3-4-5 letter keywords. This type of system has very high learning curve ("Hey Alex, what's the keyword for locker rent arrears list?"); but it is a joy to watch competent people operate the program to get things done.
Many business software also work this way (SAP ERP/Oracle Financials), but none of them are likely to be as fast as Bloomberg though. AutoCAD also has some commands like this (like Emacs'/Vim's ex/M-x prompt? ":"/"M-x"). I wish other consumer software also allowed access to screens/dialog boxes and functions in this direct manner without having to click menus and buttons a thousand times.
Re: Ask HN: What is so great about Bloomberg Terminal?
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
Please explain what Bloomberg chat is, and how you find people via it.
It's like MSN Messenger or AOL, except that the identities of people on it are guaranteed, and things said on it are effectively contracts. Reuters operate a similar system. There are others too but no-one uses them.
Weirdly, AOL has a bunch of clients on wall street that pay for AIM corporate accounts.