bloomberg terminal- worth the $$$ ??
- Thread starter NDQnCA
- Start date
I have never traded using the Bloomberg platform, but, have used it as a resource while trading in another country. Simply, I would not have been able to survive without it. Try moving to a country without knowing the local language and gather information. It's tuff. Bloomberg is straight forward. If it's their, you'll find it, others, you may never know if it exists or not because of their unforgiving structures.
There is only one way to find out if the claims are true. during your trial compare to dow jones and see if the bloomberg is worth 1700 a month. if it is true and you do get news stories that are ahead of other services then it may be worth the cost to you.
otherwise $1700.00 a month is better in your pocket than in Bloomies
otherwise $1700.00 a month is better in your pocket than in Bloomies
T1 - preferred method of delivery. their negotiated rate roughly 1/4 of what local telco would charge.
I haven't got my package of info. yet so I don't have all configuration info.
Real question here is how do I get a FCM to 'soft dollar' some expenses. I'd like to have some idea as to how much someone can realistically negotiate commissions/data feed costs down based on their commission volume.
Is there a Dr. in the house?
I haven't got my package of info. yet so I don't have all configuration info.
Real question here is how do I get a FCM to 'soft dollar' some expenses. I'd like to have some idea as to how much someone can realistically negotiate commissions/data feed costs down based on their commission volume.
Is there a Dr. in the house?
Is this a hedge fund / commodity pool you've created?
It seems there are three "business models" when it comes to commissions:
1) Pay a substantial commission and outright profit from the commissions by having a portion of it paid to you or your management company.
2) Pay a substantial commission and indirectly profit from it through soft dollars.
3) Negotiate the lowest commissions possible and forgo sharing in them or soft dollars. (Schindler Trading's policy)
It seems there are three "business models" when it comes to commissions:
1) Pay a substantial commission and outright profit from the commissions by having a portion of it paid to you or your management company.
2) Pay a substantial commission and indirectly profit from it through soft dollars.
3) Negotiate the lowest commissions possible and forgo sharing in them or soft dollars. (Schindler Trading's policy)
Quote from NDQnCA:
hey everyone- i am getting a free trial of the bloomberg terminal tommorrow and want to know if it is worth its substantial cost. i was quoted a price of $1700/ month which seems rather high. they will not let you order services a-la-carte, meaning that i will not be able to only subscribe to the news service. how is their charting software (i trade arbitrage- spreads) and their execution platform??. i am happy with the software i currently use and might only use bloomberg for news. so what i really want to know is, is bloomberg the BEST news service available?? the rep claimed it consistently beat out reuters and dow jones by 2-10 minutes on news stories and as we all know, time is of the essence in trading. i have been using briefing.com which is complete garbage for news and always seems to be late. $1700 is insignificant if the news is really that much faster- i can recoup the cost easily in one trade if i can really beat others to it
thanks and good trading to you all.
NDQnCA
My completely non-scientific tests seem to show that bloomberg is not always "first" on some news items. They are very good however and often - although not always - are ahead of reuters and dow .....
For my use bloomberg really offers little advantage given its price. Most of the features provided can be obtained through other sources and usually with a bit better implementation. As a package though it is somewhat comprehensive ...
Hi Darren,
You must realize that usually you first negotiate commission (based on volume) and then workout the soft dollar package (based on volume). Read me loud and clear, everything is negotiable. But in the grand scheme of things 50-200 RT/month is not much.
Here's my advice, call Fimat, Refco and MAN (all prime broker desks) and try to get down to around $2-5 RT for clearing. Then you'll have to back off than number a bit for their soft dollar pad. Once you raise assets and crank up your volume a bit then you can go right back to them and try to re-up.
As is obvious, you want to soft dollar as much as possible because itâs wrapped into your transaction costâIâm sure I donât explain the benefits of thisâplus this expense (over/under) can be amortized against the firms P/L dependent upon your docs.
Best Regards,
Dr.Zhivodka
If you want to PM me thatâs fine, but Iâm gone until for the holidayâs until 12-2
To add to the other comments, their staff is very knowledgable on the product. They can usually get back within the hour with specific directions on how to find the information you're looking for (not a canned response.) Or if it's urgent, tell them and they will call you directly, usually within a few minutes.
Someone asked about news searches - you can search by subject, date, symbols, keywords, whatever. As far as the speed of news, frankly I haven't seen anyone faster. Headlines like earnings reports and guidance come over the wire as soon as they're announced, you can tell someone is there typing everything in live during the conference calls. I don't think you can do a mouse-click type search as the program is primarily command line driven (think DOS.) You have to remember the different commands for whatever it is you're trying to do which can be a pain at first, but if you tend to do the same thing over and over you remember them and it gets easier.
The only weak area is their charts. You can see what I mean as they use the same charts on Bloomberg Television. But they are comprehensive so, yes, I believe they're worth paying up for.
Someone asked about news searches - you can search by subject, date, symbols, keywords, whatever. As far as the speed of news, frankly I haven't seen anyone faster. Headlines like earnings reports and guidance come over the wire as soon as they're announced, you can tell someone is there typing everything in live during the conference calls. I don't think you can do a mouse-click type search as the program is primarily command line driven (think DOS.) You have to remember the different commands for whatever it is you're trying to do which can be a pain at first, but if you tend to do the same thing over and over you remember them and it gets easier.
The only weak area is their charts. You can see what I mean as they use the same charts on Bloomberg Television. But they are comprehensive so, yes, I believe they're worth paying up for.