Call BBG and talk with a rep. They don't bite. Explain your needs and ask what functionality BBG provides to meet those needs. If it seems like a fit, request a 1-month free trial. And, yes, as others have said, cost is +- $2k/month.
Yea, I already have a meeting scheduled with Bloomberg reps. But I really don't speak marketing-speak well, so wanted to get some practitioner feedback. Anyone out there primarily trade volatility? Any other tools I might want to look at? Orc Software?
ksmetana must be from China or Russia where it's considered important to have the most expensive things one can (barely) afford. Reminds me of a person who became a laughing stock for buying first class air tickets at a discount (unthinkable). Clearly, if you are buying first-class tickets you do so with the sole purpose of showing how much you can spend.
What about Reuters? They still lag behind Bloomberg in term of data for corporate bonds but their marketdata for liquid instruments is better (and faster).
All depends on the underlying asset class. As I said, if you're trading rates vol, BBG is pretty much indispensable. Other asset classes, I am not so sure. As to Reuters, it is an alternative to BBG, but very similar in terms of functionality. However, in terms of usability, Reuters isn't anywhere near BBG. Just IMHO.
Reuters tends to be viewed as expensive relative to its value -- pricing comparable to BBG's, but utility lower than BBG's. Many think Reuters hangs on because of institutional inertia at the big banks and brokers -- 'hey, we've always had Reuters.'... However the lower-end Thomson1 product offers good bang-for-the-buck. (Recall that Reuters and Thomson merged in 2008).
Call them and request a demo/free trial. I think you get 45days or something. Only one way to find out... they have Bloomberg University as well where you can learn how to use the terminal, etc.
Thomson's new product..... what a misery product. I took a trial from them (I trade a decent amt of rates related stuff on bloomberg) and found it entirely unsatisfactory. I stopped logging on after about a day. It's worth noting that if all you have is a bloomberg terminal but no relationship with brokers, you won't be getting any of those broker runs/axes/commentaries/etc that martingoul alluded to. Bloomberg is the fixed income industry standard provider of calculations, an execution platform, and a communication tool. It won't substitute relationships.