Bloomberg Help Guide
If you need more assistance, speak to a research librarian or email: business@libraries.cul.columbia.edu
The Business and Economics Library has four Bloomberg terminals. Printing is available from Ninja Stations.
You may reserve time on a Bloomberg workstation by using the signup notebook located on the service counter near the printer for slots of ½ hour each. [You may sign up for 2 hours per day.] If you are more than ten minutes late, you may lose your time slot. Please be considerate to other users.
Note: In the online and printed help documentation, Bloomberg refers to particular keys on the special keyboard by putting them in angle brackets: <EQUITY>. Whenever you see a command in angle brackets in this handout or in Bloomberg documentation, press that particular key.
Navigation | Where's Help | Downloading from Bloomberg | Emailing/Printing from Bloomberg |Opening an Excel spreadsheet | Company Search | Company Financials
Financial Analysis | Stock Prices | Finding Options | Comparative Return Analysis | Total Return Analysis
Historical Beta | Analyst Recommendations | Corporate Bonds Government Bonds| Exchange Rates
Spot and Forward Rates | Company News | Graphing | League Tables | M&A Analysis | Yield Curves
Fair Market Curve Indices | Forward Curve Analysis | Futures
Navigation
Yellow Market Sector Keys
<CMDTY>: Commodities, futures, options, spot rates
<CORP>: Corporate Debt
<CRNCY>: Spots, futures, options on over 100 currencies
<EQUITY>: ADRs, mutual funds, rights, stocks, options, warrants
<GOVT>: Worldwide sovereign and agency securities
<INDEX>: World financial markets, economic indices.
<M-MKT>: Continuously issued and short-term dated paper
<MTGE>: Mortgage-backed security pass-throughs
<MUNI>: U.S. municipality issued debt
Green Action Keys
GO: Activates all commands
MENU: Go back one level
PAGE UP/PAGE DOWN: Navigate between pages
Tip: Use the Cancel key to start over
Where's Help?
At the cursor prompt at the top of the screen enter your term and hit the <HELP> key.
Example: Beta <HELP> Choose from the results screen for more information on your topic.
Sector Help
SECTOR KEY <GO> then <HELP>
Example: <CMDTY> <GO> then <HELP> (The help key can be used at any screen or menu level)
Instant Message with Bloomberg
Type IB HELP <GO> or Hit the <HELP> key twice and type your question.
Downloading from Bloomberg
Open Microsoft Excel, click on Bloomberg from the menu and choose Import Data. For more information about using this feature enter BBXL <GO> at the terminal.
Emailing from Bloomberg
Enter GRAB <GO>
This will email the screen to you as a screen shot.
To email data that you copied and pasted into Excel, save the file to the My Documents folder. Enter PFM <GO>. Click on Compose.
Printing from Bloomberg
To print from Bloomberg hit the green Print key at the top right of the keyboard. Your print job will be sent to printer 130H. To change printer settings, right click any where on the screen and choose Print Setup.
Opening an Excel Spreadsheet from USB drive
Open Excel
- Click on Open documents and type e:\ in the file name field
Search by Company Name
Type company name at cursor prompt and hit the <HELP> key
Example: Dell Inc <HELP> <GO>
Search by Ticker Symbol
Find the ticker symbol for the company:
Hit the <EQUITY> key, then enter TK <GO>
Enter the company name <GO>
If you know the ticker symbol for the company go directly by entering:
Ticker Symbol <EQUITY> <GO>
Company Financials
Enter Ticker Symbol <EQUITY> <GO>
Then choose 9) Fundamentals and Earnings Analysis OR go directly by entering:
Ticker Symbol <EQUITY> CH1 <GO> for a Financial Summary
Ticker Symbol <EQUITY> CH2 <GO> for Income Statements
Ticker Symbol <EQUITY> CH3 <GO> for Balance Sheets
Ticker Symbol <EQUITY> EE <GO> for Earning Estimates
Ticker Symbol <EQUITY> HE <GO> for a Price/Earnings Ratio Table
Tip: For definitions and information on calculations in a company's financial statement type FDO <GO>
Financial Analysis
Enter Ticker Symbol <EQUITY> <GO>
Then choose 9) Fundamentals and Earnings Analysis and then 1) Financial Analysis OR go directly by entering:
Ticker Symbol <EQUITY> FA <GO>
Historical Stock Prices
Enter:
Ticker Symbol <EQUITY> <GO>, then choose 4) Historical Prices OR go directly by entering:
Ticker Symbol <EQUITY> HP <GO> for Historical Prices
Ticker Symbol <EQUITY> GP <GO> for a Historical Price Graph with Volume
Finding Options
Enter:
Ticker Symbol <EQUITY> <GO> then choose 6) Options, Warrants and Contracts OR go directly by entering:
Ticker Symbol <EQUITY> OMON <GO> (OMON = Option Monitor. This will provide all current and future Calls and Puts for the equity.)
Comparative Return Analysis
Compare the stock price, returns and dividends of two equities:
Enter: Ticker Symbol <EQUITY> Ticker Symbol <EQUITY> COMP <GO>
Total Return Analysis
For an Equity:
Ticker Symbol <EQUITY> <GO> then choose 10) Relative Performance/Total Return OR go directly by entering:
Ticker Symbol <EQUITY> TRA <GO>
For an Index:
Index Symbol <INDEX> <GO> then choose 10) Relative Performance/Total Return OR go directly by entering:
Index Symbol <INDEX> TRA <GO>
Historical Beta
Enter:
Ticker Symbol <EQUITY> <GO> then choose 11) Risk/Volatility Analysis OR go directly by entering:
Ticker Symbol <EQUITY> BETA
Analyst Recommendations
Enter:
Ticker Symbol <EQUITY> <GO> then choose 7) News/Research/Chat OR go directly by entering:
Ticker Symbol <EQUITY> ANR <GO>
Finding Corporate Bonds
Search by Issuer:
Ticker Symbol <CORP> <GO> (This will list all bonds issued by the equity. Choose a specific bond for more information.)
To search for specific bond:
Ticker Symbol Coupon Rate Maturity <CORP> <GO>
Example: IBM 5.4 01/26/09 <CORP> <GO>
Finding Government Bonds
Enter: WB <GO> for a listing of major government bonds around the world
To find US Treasury Bonds directly enter:
CT10 <GOVT> <GO> for the 10 year bond or CT5 <GOVT> <GO> for the 5 year (This formula can be used for any US benchmark bond)
To find the 3 month T-Bill enter: CB3 <GOVT> <GO>
For US Generic Bonds enter:
USGG5YR <INDEX> <GO> for the 5 year or USGG10YR <INDEX> <GO> (This formula can be used for any US generic bond)
Exchange Rates
For Exchange Rates by region enter:
<CRNCY> TKC <GO>
For World Currency Rates enter:
<CRNCY> WCR <GO>
Spot and Forward Rates
For Spot and Forward Rates enter:
<CRNCY> FRD <GO>
Company News
Enter Ticker Symbol <EQUITY> <GO> then choose 7) News/Research/Chat OR go directly by entering:
Ticker Symbol <EQUITY> CN <GO>
Using the Graphing Function
Enter:
G <GO> then choose 1 <GO> to create a new graph. Follow instructions to set-up a graph.
League Tables [for Equity or Bond deals]
Enter:
LEAG <GO> then choose the appropriate League Table
M&A Analysis
Enter:
MA <GO>
Click on #7 for League Tables
Yield Curves
Enter:
YCRV <GO>
Fair Market Curve Indicies
Enter:
FMCI <GO>
Forward Curve Analysis
Enter:
FWCV <GO>
Futures
To display prices of major futures conturacts:
Enter:
WF <GO>
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