If you look at the OTC markets like credit or CBs, there is little alternative to Bloomberg. It’s also rather handy if you need to look stuff up or do a quick study. However, at 25 grand a year, it’s not cheap.
I don't quite understand. Since rigging is illegal, why would traders be stupid enough to chat about it in a room that can be publicly accessible, even though it's only accessible to rich people? I'm sure regulators can access Bloomberg if they want to, since they've backing of taxpayers.
You can create groups for select people, just like on WhatsApp or Telegram. So nobody but a very small group was in the chat. The real question is why would you talk about anything shady via an application that is being recorded and monitored by your banks compliance.
Good point. It's stupid. Why not create the group using WhatsApp or Telegram which is free and unmonitored by bank compliance? Why do these intelligent traders do dumb things? Did I miss out something?
I have a Bloomberg terminal and I’m a retail trader. I got it for the following reason: 1.i didn’t want to learn a new platform and 2. all the data is right there. In three or four keystrokes you can find anything. this meant that I can process a research idea (I trade a descretionary volatility book as well as some risk arbitrage) in 15-30 minutes. I can read newsflow, see charts, look at financials, even legal docs. This is helpful as I don’t trade full time. I have a day job so there is a premium on being efficient throughout the day. in the eight years I’ve been paying for my terminal, virtually every year I find one or two trades I could only have discovered because of the terminal and that has paid for the terminal cost. Almost all the information I need is available from other sources but it would be a lot of time sorting and vetting it and it wouldn’t be as easy to access and process it.
Seems like you like the terminal. Some questions for you since you are using the terminal. What is the scope / Which area do they cover? Are there any particular countries that Bloomberg cover / does not cover?
they have everything. And if you find something they don’t, call their customer service and they will look into getting it. they even had a Colombian kidnapping index (number of people kidnapped by month).