bloomberg excel addin getting started
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CITCentre for Instructional Technology
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Bloomberg Excel Add-InGetting Started
CIT POLICY ON TECHNICAL SUPPORT This guide has been produced to help you understand the basics about the database, software or resource in question. However, general technical support for these resources is NOT provided by CIT. It is hoped that this guide will help you understand the program enough to allow you to diagnose and troubleshoot whatever difficulty you are having. A targeted web search, the program/database Help file as well as fellow students are all excellent resources to aide you in this task. Do not underestimate the information available on the web to help solve your problem.
FORMULA GROWTH INVESTMENT ROOM In the Formula Growth Investment Room, you have access to certain databases & software. Technical assistance is available by contacting the Investment Room lab monitors.
The lab monitors’ schedule is displayed outside the Investment Room, located on the 12th
SUGGESTIONS, COMMENTS & REPORTING ERRORS
floor of the MB building (MB 12.254). To contact the Investment Room by telephone, dial 514-848-2424 extension 7566. When contacting the lab monitors, please be clear and precise about the goal you are trying to accomplish. Specifically, indicate what resource you require help with, what data or information you seek, and what methods you have already tried when attempting to acquire the data. Please note that lab monitors are not available to help complete projects or assignments; they are solely responsible for software/database instruction.
If you have any suggestions/comments regarding future TechNotes, or if you would like to report an error, please feel free to contact us at the following email address: technotes@jmsb.concordia.ca
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 1
EXCEL ADD‐IN BASICS 1
DDE Server & Terminal Login 1
Bloomberg Toolbar 2
Available Toolbar Options 3
Bloomberg Add‐In Help 4
SEARCHING FOR FIELDS 5
USING THE HISTORY WIZARD 7
Selecting Securities 7
Selecting Fields 8
Selecting Time Parameters 9
Selecting General Parameters 11
Selecting Layout Options 11
CREATING UNLINKED RESULTS 13
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INTRODUCTION As mentioned in the Bloomberg Terminal Getting Started JMSB TechNote, using the Bloomberg Excel Add‐In is an excellent method of extracting large quantities of data from the Terminal. While the Add‐In allows for several different types of analysis, the focus of this document is on the use of the History Wizard to support academic research.
Please note that this document assumes basic familiarity with Microsoft Excel. In addition, if you are not familiar with the program’s Paste Special option, please see the Excel Data Manipulation JMSB TechNote for more information.
EXCEL ADD-IN BASICS DDE Server & Terminal Login
The first step in using the Bloomberg Excel Add‐In is to ensure that the DDE Server application is running. This application creates a real‐time link between the Terminal and Excel. Figure 1 displays the DDE Server icon in the programs list:
FIGURE 1
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In addition to having the DDE Server application running, you need to be logged into the Bloomberg Terminal (under any login) in order to use the Add‐In. Please see the Bloomberg Terminal Getting Started JMSB TechNote for more information.
Bloomberg Toolbar
After you have confirmed that the DDE server is running, the next step in using the Add‐In is to locate the Bloomberg toolbar. The toolbar is shown in Figure 2:
FIGURE 2
In addition to the toolbar, note that there is also a Bloomberg option which has been added to the Menu bar.
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Available Toolbar Options
Figure 3 illustrates the different options available in the toolbar:
FIGURE 3
You may notice that the lightning bolt symbol is similar to the DDE Server Icon; clicking it will instruct the Add‐In to cease seeking updates to current fields. The Fields Search option allows you to search for available fields, providing you with the name, mnemonic and category of the field. The Table Wizard is used to create a table of multiple current or static fields for a given security. The History Wizard is used to extract historical information, and will be explained in this document in detail. The Intra‐Day History Wizard is similar to the History Wizard but deals with Intra‐Day trading data. The Bulk Wizard is used to extract information that is not individual or discrete, such as a cash flow schedule. The Fundamentals Wizard is used to extract fundamental (i.e., accounting) data, and the Fill Range option is used to fill existing data or formulas over a given range of cells.
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Bloomberg Add-In Help
One important option not immediately available in the toolbar is the Add‐In Help Menu. This Menu is accessible through the Bloomberg option in the Excel Menu bar, as shown in Figure 4:
FIGURE 4
Note that you can also access the toolbar options via this menu.
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SEARCHING FOR FIELDS Assume that you are interested in gathering historical Market Capitalization data for Exxon Mobil Corp. for the past five years (on a monthly basis). The first step in obtaining this information is to conduct a field search in order to determine the name and category of the appropriate field. Figure 5 illustrates the Fields Search window:
FIGURE 5
The check‐box options displayed in Figure 5 are worth noting. Be sure that the Historical fields box is checked if you are looking for historical data.
Typing “market cap” in the search field and clicking on Search gives us the results displayed in Figure 6:
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FIGURE 6
We can see from the results that the first field listed is likely the one we need. While Current Market Cap seems out of place when searching for monthly historical information, the History Wizard compensates for this by extracting the Market Capitalization as at the last day of the month.
The actual purpose of the Fields Search tool is to paste the mnemonics of selected fields into worksheet cells. However, in this case, we are only interested in the Category associated with the field (explained below). For now, note that all of the Market Capitalization fields are listed in a category entitled Fundamentals – Financial Ratios, then click on Close.
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USING THE HISTORY WIZARD Selecting Securities
Clicking on the History Wizard button in the Bloomberg toolbar opens the Select Securities window, as shown in Figure 7:
FIGURE 7
In this case, we know from our example in the Bloomberg Terminal Getting Started JMSB TechNote that the Bloomberg ticker for Exxon Mobil Corp is XOM US. Typing XOM US, clicking on the Equity sector button, and then clicking Add will include Exxon in the security list. As well, on the left of the screen you will notice a preview of how the data will be structured in Excel.
If you are unsure of the appropriate ticker, clicking on the Look‐Up tool button (binoculars icon next to the Add button) will allow you to conduct a ticker search. Alternatively, you can use the Bloomberg Terminal to search for the ticker.
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Selecting Fields
Clicking on Next brings us to the Selecting Fields window, as shown in Figure 8:
FIGURE 8
As you can see, there are over 16,000 available fields to choose from, grouped into many different categories. It is for this reason that we conducted a Fields Search prior to opening the History Wizard. Note that the seventh category from the top of the list is entitled “Fundamentals – Financial Ratios” which is the category that we noted previously. Opening that category folder and scrolling down eventually leads us to the Current Market Cap field. Right clicking on any field allows you to read Bloomberg’s definition of the item and calculation methodology for the field. Checking the box to the left of the field brings us to Figure 9:
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FIGURE 9
Note that the field has been added to the list on the right, and that it has been included in the Excel worksheet preview on the left.
Selecting Time Parameters
Clicking on Next brings us to the next step of the History Wizard, the Select Time Parameters window. Since we want the past five years of data, we select the Specific start and end dates option, as shown in Figure 10:
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FIGURE 10
Clicking on Next prompts us to select the start and end dates, as shown in Figure 11.
FIGURE 11
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Please note that selecting January 1st, 2002 as the start date for monthly data implies that the first data item will be Exxon’s Market Capitalization as at the end of that month (i.e., January 31st, 2002).
Selecting General Parameters
Clicking on Next brings us to the General Parameters window, where the periodicity, time ordering and currency are selected (see Figure 12). Best practice is to select the currency that matches the country of the exchange where the selected security trades, in this case the United States. Since you can retrieve information on multiple securities at the same time, you may consider grouping multiple securities by similar countries and running separate History Wizard queries for each country’s currency.
FIGURE 12
Selecting Monthly periodicity and clicking Next brings us to the final window of the History Wizard.
Selecting Layout Options
The Layout Options window allows you to choose the worksheet orientation, the worksheet link type, and whether you wish to have a single security per worksheet (see Figure 13).
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FIGURE 13
For a query involving a single security, the default options are adequate. Clicking on Finish closes the Wizard and updates the Excel worksheet, as shown in Figure 14:
FIGURE 14
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CREATING UNLINKED RESULTS An important feature worth noting is that the data created in Excel is linked to the Bloomberg Terminal by way of a function. This is advantageous because the ticker symbol can be manually changed in the worksheet (cell A1 in Figure 14) and the data will automatically update to reflect the new security.
However, the real‐time link is disadvantageous because it will only work when running from a Bloomberg Terminal. Opening the file from another computer will generate a prompt to update, and even selecting Don’t Update can occasionally cause problems with the data. Using the Stop Real Time Updates option in the Bloomberg toolbar will sever this link; however, it will do so for all worksheets in the workbook.
If you are interested in maintaining a link‐free version of a worksheet but wish to simultaneously preserve the links, do the following:
1) Create a copy of the relevant worksheet by right‐clicking the worksheet tab, selecting Move or Copy, and then Create a copy.
2) Rename the new worksheet to whatever label is appropriate.
3) Highlight the data in the new worksheet and press Ctrl‐C to copy the data. Select Edit > Paste Special > Values and then click Ok.
The above steps will clear the formulas in the newly created worksheet but will preserve the values. The workbook can be opened from a computer other than the Bloomberg Terminal without any risk of data loss.
13 of 13 Last modified: 11 May 2007
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