There are plenty of cool features like the supply chain map too. Now, this data could be found elsewhere, in SEC filings and whatnot, but a map like this gives you the information you need in seconds. A feature like SPLC comes in, where the company’s largest suppliers and customers are listed in a map format. Still, the Terminal has all of Apple’s recent financial statements compiled into one screen for easy viewing and allows you to export it into an Excel sheet in one click.Īn analyst is probably interested in who Apple’s biggest suppliers and customers are. You can log onto SEC.gov and find the vast majority of the same information and start building a valuation model.

The real value is the convenience of all of the data being in the right place and its ease of access.įor example, let’s say you’re an equity analyst researching Apple ( AAPL). While there’s plenty of proprietary data within the Bloomberg Terminal, the vast majority of it could be purchased separately from other vendors. The amount of data available to subscribers is so vast that even people who’ve been using it for over a decade still have barely scratched the surface. The Bloomberg Terminal is the most in-depth research and trading platform for institutional investors. It still sounds pretty cool, like, “yeah, let me check that quote on the terminal,” even though you’re just opening up software on your Windows computer just as a retail trader would load up thinkorswim. But, back in the 1980s, when Michael Bloomberg created the product, he sold them as individual computer systems called terminals, and the name stuck since then.

Nowadays, it’s just a piece of Windows software. What is the Bloomberg Terminal?ĭespite the name, the Bloomberg Terminal isn’t its own computer or piece of hardware. Note that I don’t have access to a Terminal myself I’m just aggregating information from various primary and secondary sources about the product. You probably know it from its famous black and orange color scheme and dated fonts, which gives it a distinctively old-school feel. The software is as ubiquitous on Wall Street trading desks today as it was back then. This legendary piece of software was released in the 1980s and is the brainchild of former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg. When the average investor thinks about the software Wall Street uses, their mind usually turns to the Bloomberg Terminal.

Bloomberg terminal alternative