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Bloomberg Terminal

From Alfawiki
Bloomberg Terminal
Company typeProduct of Bloomberg L.P.
IndustryFinancial software, Market data
FoundedDecember 1982
FounderMichael Bloomberg
Headquarters
New York City
,
United States
Area served
Global
ProductsBloomberg Professional Services (Bloomberg Terminal)
OwnerBloomberg L.P.
Websitehttps://www.bloomberg.com/professional/

The Bloomberg Terminal is a software platform created by Bloomberg L.P. that grants financial experts access to Bloomberg Professional Services, enabling them to track and analyze live financial market data and execute trades via its electronic trading system. Initiated by businessman Michael Bloomberg, this platform also offers news updates, price quotations, and messaging through a secure, proprietary network. Its iconic black user interface is well-known throughout the finance industry. The initial release occurred in December 1982.

A majority of leading financial institutions subscribe to Bloomberg Professional Services. Real-time price data accessed through the terminal often comes with extra charges imposed by exchanges and news providers. Terminals are typically leased on two-year terms, with previous options for three-year agreements; pricing initially depended on the number of connected monitors before evolving into a Windows-based software application. Standard configurations usually feature between two and six screens. The annual subscription costs around $24,000 per user, rising to approximately $27,000 for single-terminal subscriptions. By 2022, the Bloomberg Terminal had an estimated global user base of 325,000.

History

In 1981, Michael Bloomberg was dismissed from Salomon Brothers without severance but retained $10 million in equity as a partner. Leveraging this capital alongside his background in designing internal financial systems, Bloomberg established Innovative Market Systems (IMS) with the goal of providing Wall Street instant access to premium business information through computer terminals. IMS marketed customized terminals delivering real-time market data, financial analytics, and calculations. Originally named the Market Master terminal, it was subsequently rebranded as the Bloomberg Terminal or simply "The Bloomberg." The product launched in December 1982.

Merrill Lynch became IMS's inaugural client by acquiring a 30% ownership stake for $30 million and securing exclusive marketing rights for five years targeting competitors—a restriction that ended in 1984. In 1990, the Bloomberg keyboard was introduced featuring a trackball and voice-chat capabilities, followed by the debut of the first color terminal edition in 1991.

Bloomberg temporarily left the terminal initiative in 2001 to pursue New York City’s mayoral office but resumed leadership in 2014. By 2012, revenue from the Bloomberg Terminal surpassed that of Thomson Reuters, a principal rival in market data services.

Currently, terminal hardware primarily consists of peripherals such as a customized keyboard with specialized function keys, a fingerprint scanner, and dual-monitor setups.

Pricing

Revenue generated by Bloomberg Terminal sales accounts for over 85% of Bloomberg L.P.'s yearly income. The proprietary platform’s pricing starts at about $30,000 annually per user.

Architecture

The system employs a client-server framework with servers operating on multiprocessor Unix machines. The client runs as a Windows application generally connected via a Bloomberg-supplied router installed on-site. Users can also connect remotely through Bloomberg Anywhere using internet/IP or web access via a Citrix client; mobile applications are available for Android and iOS devices. Server-side development originally utilized Fortran and C, later transitioning to C++ and embedded JavaScript.

Each server hosts multiple instances concurrently using proprietary context-switching technology to preserve user session states across processes. The graphical user interface (GUI) remains exclusively proprietary.

Keyboard

Michael Bloomberg’s 1997 autobiography describes the design of the terminal keyboard, which was specifically developed for traders and market makers with limited computer proficiency. Although it resembles a conventional keyboard, it incorporates modifications to streamline navigation.

Keys are denoted within angle brackets, while complete commands are enclosed in curly braces—for instance, {VOD LN }. Function keys received new names and color codes to aid memorization: F10 became known as the Yellow key, is designated red, and is green—each representing progression toward profitability.

Distinctive keys include , which allows users to return to the previous function or access related options, and , which cycles backward through earlier commands.

The yellow hotkeys along the keyboard’s top row correspond to specific market sectors and serve as suffixes to precisely identify securities:

For example, typing {VOD LN } retrieves Vodafone shares traded on the London Stock Exchange. Similarly, {USDEUR } displays the spot exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and Euro.

Frequently used equity commands include:

  • {HP } – Historical Price
  • {DVD } – Dividend/Split Summary
  • {CACS } – Corporate Actions
  • {CN } – Company News

Therefore, to access Vodafone’s historical stock prices, one would input: {VOD LN HP }.

The Bloomberg keyboard is notably heavier and more robust than typical keyboards. Earlier models such as the SEA100 weighed approximately 3 kg, featured 3mm key travel with a 19mm key pitch, integrated speakers, and included a biometric sensor for user authentication. The latest version, Starboard (Keyboard 4), weighs 1.08 kg and offers flatter, quieter chiclet-style keys with reduced key travel compared to its predecessors.


Terminal and related products

Initially running on proprietary hardware under a dedicated operating system called the Bloomberg Box, the Bloomberg Terminal has since transitioned into an application that runs within Windows. From a user standpoint, the system is organized into three primary layers:

Core Terminal

The Core Terminal represents Bloomberg’s original platform, usually configured with four separate windows or Panels, each hosting an independent terminal command line. Users input tickers and functions to access live market data; each panel can simultaneously track distinct tickers, functions, and markets. This multi-window configuration allows real-time monitoring of various data streams, enabling prompt trading decisions worldwide without delay. Users may operate all four panels on a single display or distribute them across several monitors, effectively simulating up to four individual terminals.

In February 2012, Bloomberg LP unveiled Bloomberg NEXT, a multi-year initiative with a $100 million budget aimed at improving the Core Terminal’s ease of use and feature discoverability.

Launchpad

Launchpad offers a customizable interface composed of smaller windows, called components, each designed to display specific data sets continuously. For instance, a stockbroker can maintain visibility of a list containing 30 stocks simultaneously without the need to inspect each one separately within the Core Terminal's four-window layout. Beyond stocks, Launchpad supports components such as email inboxes, calculators, news tickers, and the Instant Bloomberg messaging/chat feature. Users can execute commands that transfer functions from the Core Terminal directly into Launchpad, facilitating efficient monitoring and interaction.

Application programming interface

The Bloomberg Open API (BLPAPI) allows external applications like Microsoft Excel to retrieve Bloomberg data through the Terminal and market data services. This capability lets users incorporate streaming, historical, and reference market information into tailored calculations and spreadsheets. Excel add-ins come pre-installed with Bloomberg Terminal setups to ensure smooth integration of market data. Moreover, Bloomberg offers complimentary BLPAPI SDKs for subscribers, enabling software development that accesses market data using programming languages such as Wolfram Language, C, C++, Java, .NET, Perl, and Python on platforms including Windows, Linux, macOS, and Solaris.

Financial Instrument Global Identifier

In September 2021, Bloomberg obtained regulatory clearance for its Financial Instrument Global Identifier (FIGI), a 12-character alphanumeric open standard that uniquely identifies various financial instruments like equities, options, derivatives, futures, corporate and sovereign bonds, municipal bonds, currencies, and mortgage products. Originally launched in 2009 under the name Bloomberg Global Identifier, FIGIs are permanent identifiers that are never reassigned. Each FIGI uniquely represents a security and its trading venue; composite FIGIs aggregate securities traded across related exchanges. The Object Management Group defines and copyrights the FIGI standard, which Bloomberg L.P. publishes, positioning it as an alternative to CUSIP identifiers.

Legal Entity Identifiers

Bloomberg introduced version 3.1 of the Common Data Format for Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs) in April 2022 and earned accreditation as an LEI issuer specifically for funds. This advancement helps organizations better evaluate their exposure to different legal entities while ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements. Similar to FIGI management, Bloomberg's Open Symbology division oversees LEIs.

Competitors

The leading rival to the Bloomberg Terminal is Refinitiv with its Eikon platform, which was formerly part of Thomson Reuters. As of 2011, both Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters controlled roughly 30% of the market each—an improvement from Bloomberg’s 26% share compared to Reuters’ 36% in 2007.

Additional significant competitors include Money.Net, SIX Financial Information, Markit, FactSet Research Systems, Capital IQ, Fidessa, and Dow Jones. Burton-Taylor International Consulting estimated the financial data and analytics sector to be valued close to $25 billion.

See also

External links

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