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Bloomberg guide: Home

What is Bloomberg Professional?

Bloomberg terminal close upBloomberg Professional Terminal is a global financial services system that integrates data, news and analytics. It provides reliable financial, economic and government information covering all market sectors. It features company profiles and financials, more than 20 years of market data, charts, statistics and a communications platform.

Content includes current and historical financial data on commodities and currencies, equities, stock market indices, fixed-income securities, and futures for both international and domestic markets. The service also provides access to news on financial markets and audio and video interviews on business and finance.

How to create a Bloomberg account

suite of Bloomberg terminalsBloomberg is a School of Management funded database (not centrally financed by the Library) so access to the resource is restricted to students and staff of the School of Management and Economics. Bloomberg is located on a suite of computers in the School of Management building 10E. The terminals are located on the balcony area of level 1 (the entrance level), close to 10E 1.27 (the PC lab) and on selected PCs within the lab. To create an account for Bloomberg and to use the database you will need to visit the computers in 10E. The guide below provides a step-by-step process that you can follow in order to create your account. Please note that the database cannot be accessed remotely or used on your own PC or laptop. 

You must log in to Bloomberg at least every 90 days to avoid your account being deactivated - see the troubleshooting section below. 

Using Bloomberg on PCs in 10E

The suite of Bloomberg terminals is located on the balcony area of level 1 (the entrance level), close to 10E 1.27 (the PC lab) and there are further terminals within the PC lab. Note that there is no booking system for the computers, but Bloomberg users have priority, so if you find the PCs in use by students not using Bloomberg, please politely ask them to save their work and move to another computer. 

Staff only Bloomberg PCs

Please note there are two staff only Bloomberg PCs available in in 10E 5.21 on two bookable hotdesks: UBPC-5650 and UBPC-5903.

Troubleshooting

If your account isn't used for a 90 day period, you will receive a message from Bloomberg warning you that your account will be automatically deactivated unless you login before a specified date. See the wording in the example message below:

"Bloomberg Global Customer Support is contacting you on behalf of your Bloomberg login, *******, associated with UNIVERSITY OF BATH. This login will be automatically deactivated on ****** due to inactivity. Please log into the Bloomberg terminal to prevent your login from being disabled. Please do not hesitate to call a Bloomberg Global Customer Support Representative on Tel: +44-20-7330-7500 regarding any questions you may have."

Despite this warning, we have been reassured that your Bloomberg account will still exist and will just need to be reactivated on a Bloomberg terminal with your login. However, you are advised to use your account regularly to avoid deactivation.
 

Bloomberg training resources

Bloomberg help - available from within Bloomberg Terminal

Quick links to Bloomberg help 
Enter HELP <GO> for an online user guide to the overall logic and navigation of the Bloomberg Terminal.
Enter BPS <GO> for the Bloomberg Terminal Resource Centre homepage with links to training resources, including training documents and video tutorials.
Help pages
Each function has a comprehensive, searchable online user guide designed to answer common questions and describe key functionality. From within any function, press <HELP> once to access that function’s Help Page.
Bloomberg Help Desk
To ask any Bloomberg-related questions, students can start an email communication with the Bloomberg Help Desk. Press <HELP> twice to connect.
Additional support
For additional Bloomberg support, press the red <ESC/CANCEL> key. From the <CANCEL> screen you’ll find links to:
• Contact the Help Desk
• Contact the Tech Support Team
• Contact Us (a list of all local Global Customer Support numbers)
• Your Account Manager and Product Representative (simply click on the rep’s name)

Bloomberg Market Concepts

Bloomberg Market Concepts (BMC) is a training programme run by Bloomberg that instructs students in the financial markets and the use of Bloomberg. Once you have a Bloomberg account, you can undertake the training free of charge on a Bloomberg terminal by typing in BMC and pressing <GO>. The training is composed of 8 hours of self-paced learning covering economics, currencies, fixed income and equities. More information can be found on the link below, but note that the training itself must be taken on a Bloomberg Terminal.