Bloomberg Alternatives

C

c*f(x)

I have been trading using Interactive Brokers, but have (in the past) been spoiled by the charting, news, etc. that I receive from the Bloomberg system. It is far too expensive a product for me to spring for at this point without doing some research. I especially like the charting abilities when compared to IB's limited charting thus far. Also, has anyone ever used the IPTS function on Bloomberg? Anyone know of a similar package/algorithm that I can use with IB?
 
I still think it is the wave of the future. As internet becomes more reliable than it already is, I think you will see this space begin to grow and emerge.

Technology will soon have the ability to teleport elephants asses and have them pop out on your desk. :D Amazing.

Seriously, I think that this idea is a good one.. Somebody needs to give Reut and Bloomy a run for their money, maybe they will become more competitive as far as pricing.

Remember when the cell phone was for 'high net worth' individuals? Not anymore. :D
 
c*f(x),

Maybe we could get back on track and answer your question if you explained what the IPTS function is. I used to have Bloomberg Pro but I didn't use it for charting and I've never heard of IPTS.

Cheers,

TRADERguy
 
Thanks for all the input. I have been on the sell side (i-banks) and buy side (hedge fund) for years and have always used Bloomberg. The functions I use a lot in my personal trading are data (specifically economic reports/graphing capabilities) and a couple of analytics functions. IPTS is merely a trend following system that I have used as a crutch in trending markets. It is the so called "parabolic system" developed by Welle Wilder. Here is the Bloomberg description:

"Parabolic time/price system is a unique trend-following tool developed by Welle Wilder. Unlike most systems which do not feature a stop-loss level, Parabolic consists of a series of trailing stops called the SAR point (Stop And Reverse) Furthermore, whilst most indicators' formula rely on closing prices, the SAR
points are derived by using the high and low price. As such, it enable users to decide (buy or sell) when the market is still open. This has a great advantage over other indicators (those based on closing price), as user will have to wait for the next day's opening before they can react to the signal generated.The
SAR points are plotted beneath the price for Long position and above the price for Short position. As a true reversal system, whenever a SAR point is triggered (intra-day basis), the existing position will be closed-out and a new position is taken in the direction of the new trend. A unique feature about the
SAR point is that it will tighten itself (hug closer to market), as long as prices continues to move in the same direction. This is achieved by the inclusion of the Acceleration Factor (AF), a progressive constant, in the equation. The AF starts at 0.02 ending at 0.20 with an incremental value of 0.02 whenever its current high is higher than previous during the uptrend, o
whenever its current low is lower than previous during the downtrend. This incremental value will stop at 0.20 even if the market makes higher highs or lower lows."

IPTS is specifically the command used to pull it up for a given underlying and refers to the intraday function (PTPS is used for the daily/closing longer term functions). Would love to find a software package that has this function, has charting of multiple instruments, and has economic data such as that found in Bloomberg's ECO and WECO functions. Any suggestions?

As far as who uses what, Bloombergs are the first things to be cut from non-essential personnel at an I-bank (or hedge fund) when times are tough. As such, there is a wide open area for a lower cost provider to enter the data provider market. Worth noting is Bloomberg itself can be accessed via web from anywhere. Perhaps they are moving towards a "stripped down" package? Dunno...

Cheers!
 
If you're just looking for charting and stuff you can always go with the ubiquitous charting providers that allow you to apply custom and canned systems:

eSignal
Tradestation
Aspen Graphics
etc.

For me, Bloomie was always a good source for news, and fundamental stuff like tracking a company's capital structure and all of the other random stuff.

I know a lot of my institutional buddies use CapitalIQ. I think it's less than Bloomberg, but will not have the charting features you're talking about..
 
Quote from c*f(x):

Thanks for all the input. I have been on the sell side (i-banks) and buy side (hedge fund) for years and have always used Bloomberg. The functions I use a lot in my personal trading are data (specifically economic reports/graphing capabilities) and a couple of analytics functions. IPTS is merely a trend following system that I have used as a crutch in trending markets. It is the so called "parabolic system" developed by Welle Wilder. Here is the Bloomberg description:

"Parabolic time/price system is a unique trend-following tool developed by Welle Wilder. Unlike most systems which do not feature a stop-loss level, Parabolic consists of a series of trailing stops called the SAR point (Stop And Reverse) Furthermore, whilst most indicators' formula rely on closing prices, the SAR
points are derived by using the high and low price. As such, it enable users to decide (buy or sell) when the market is still open. This has a great advantage over other indicators (those based on closing price), as user will have to wait for the next day's opening before they can react to the signal generated.The
SAR points are plotted beneath the price for Long position and above the price for Short position. As a true reversal system, whenever a SAR point is triggered (intra-day basis), the existing position will be closed-out and a new position is taken in the direction of the new trend. A unique feature about the
SAR point is that it will tighten itself (hug closer to market), as long as prices continues to move in the same direction. This is achieved by the inclusion of the Acceleration Factor (AF), a progressive constant, in the equation. The AF starts at 0.02 ending at 0.20 with an incremental value of 0.02 whenever its current high is higher than previous during the uptrend, o
whenever its current low is lower than previous during the downtrend. This incremental value will stop at 0.20 even if the market makes higher highs or lower lows."

IPTS is specifically the command used to pull it up for a given underlying and refers to the intraday function (PTPS is used for the daily/closing longer term functions). Would love to find a software package that has this function, has charting of multiple instruments, and has economic data such as that found in Bloomberg's ECO and WECO functions. Any suggestions?

As far as who uses what, Bloombergs are the first things to be cut from non-essential personnel at an I-bank (or hedge fund) when times are tough. As such, there is a wide open area for a lower cost provider to enter the data provider market. Worth noting is Bloomberg itself can be accessed via web from anywhere. Perhaps they are moving towards a "stripped down" package? Dunno...

Cheers!
More...

I think you will find there are numerous data vendors who provide extensive charting packages. They do not tend to provide the more esoteric stuff that bloomberg does, such as bond analytics, but for charting, indicators, etc there are plenty of options available. They are reviewed on this site under the software heading.
 
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