Bloomberg is synonymous with investment information in many corners of the finance world. According to the company, "The Bloomberg Terminal revolutionized an industry by bringing transparency to financial markets. More than four decades on, it remains at the cutting edge of innovation and information delivery — with fast access to news, data, unique insight and trading tools helping leading decision makers turn knowledge into action." So not only does it have a news and media outlet, it also has a software/hardware system that most, if not all, professional money managers use.

The Terminal

The Bloomberg terminal is both a hardware and software system. It includes the Bloomberg Keyboard which has special color-coded keys. The color coding is as follows:

• Red keys = Stop functions
• Green keys = Action functions
• Yellow keys = Different market sectors

How to Use Bloomberg Terminal

The market sectors toggled to using the yellow keys include:

GOVT	F2	Securities issued by national governments and securities by quasi-governmental agencies
CORP	F3	Corporate bonds
MTGE	F4	Mortgage market instruments
M-MKT	F5	Money market securities
MUNI	F6	U.S. Municipal bonds
PFD	F7	Preferred securities
EQUITY	F8	Common stocks, American Depository Receipts (ADRs), mutual funds, rights, options, warrants
COMDTY	F9	Commodities & associated futures and options
INDEX	F10	Equity indices and economic indices
CURNCY	F11	Foreign currencies
PORT	F12	Portfolio & Risk Management

Source: Bloomberg

Any and all historical or current information related to these market sectors is available through this system. Because of the breadth and depth of availability, it's always a good idea to target in on specific functions and information. Doing so can make the terminal less overwhelming. 

The system also has innumerable capabilities. Users can pull up technical and fundamental graphs of all types including money flows and margin trends, data comparing companies to each other or indices, and company-specific information related to every part of the capital structure.  In an attempt to dwindle down the tremendous information base into available functions that are typically used every day, we compiled a list of five key categories. 

1. News

Type "N" then hit for general news. To access the top business or general headlines, type TOP and hit. The screen will appear with a toolbar at the top, a command line where new commands can be typed, the main or function area which contains the information required, and an information panel at the bottom. 

2. Company Information

In the EQUITY function (F8), a command can be entered to locate a description of the company, its price or trade data (current and historical), news, graphs, corporate structure, valuation, credit ratings, capital structure, comparison companies, and regulatory filings. You can also review analyst recommendations, earnings estimates, and bond information. 

For example, to look up a company's earnings estimates, click the ticker symbol, EQUITY, then hit GO.

3. M&A Data

Deal data and specifics can be found using the MA function. If you're looking for a specific company, type the company name in the "Company Search" box at the top. The output provides all the terms of the deals. 

4. Investment Screening

To build a list of securities that meet specified criteria, type EQS then hit GO. From here, you can select a list of criteria with specified parameters. Available criteria are listed under categories related to exchanges, sectors, indices, domicile, descriptions, geography, and fundamental characteristics. An output of results will be generated, and these results can be changed by selecting Edit Criteria. This output, like many outputs in Bloomberg, can also be exported to Excel. 

5. Industries

To analyze industries from a top-down perspective, type BI and hit GO. Everything from high-level news, industry primers, earnings, and valuations, to more specific data can be found here.

How to Get Bloomberg-Like Data without Bloomberg

The Bloomberg terminal is a costly system and primarily available to professional investors. Most individual investors don't have access to it. But you may be able to find a terminal at a public or university library. If you can't get your hands on one, though, there are publicly available substitutes that provide similar data. Keep in mind that the depth and breadth of the information these alternative sources offer may be lacking. That means you may have to put together your own mosaic of information. 

For example, you can easily find financial news on many financial websites. Company information can be located via the SEC Edgar system for regulatory filings or company websites. Investment screening can be accomplished using websites like finviz.com or msn.com. M&A information, on the other hand, is a bit more complex to locate. Some deal data can be found online, but most require a subscription fee. Similarly, industry data can be compiled from different sources including independent analysts for a fee.

The Bottom Line

Bloomberg is an invaluable tool for investors primarily because it provides data in one place and allows users to configure the data in various ways to analyze and review trends, compare to other companies and industries and most importantly to follow a historical path so that analysis of an investment can be detailed and all-encompassing.