THE BLOOMBERG ESSENTIALS ON LINE TRAINING PROGRAM (BESS)

IntroductionIn this tutorial I will provide an outline to the Bloomberg Essentials On-Line training

program also known as BESS. The Bloomberg Essentials program provides a convenient

way to learn the basics of Bloomberg Professional financial information system. BESS has

replaced the older “Bloomberg Certification” program and, technically, BESS awards a

“Acknowledgement of Completion”, not a “certificate”.

The BESS training consists of a series of Tutorial Documents (Note:As of July 15, 2015 the

videos are no longer available), on-line Help screens and supporting documents. The

tutorial materials are organized into 8 modules as follows:

1. Bloomberg Core

1. Getting Started

2. Bloomberg News

3. Market Monitors and Launchpad

4. API (Bloomberg Data in Excel)

2. Bloomberg Market Sector

1. Equity Essentials

2. Fixed Income Essentials

3. FX (Foreign Exchange) Essentials

4. Commodity Essentials

To earn an Acknowledgement of Completion (Bloomberg does not call this a “Certificate”),

you must view the four Bloomberg Core tutorials and pass the Bloomberg Core Exam,

then review at least one of the Bloomberg Market Sector tutorials and pass its

corresponding exam. For example if you are interested in foreign exchange markets, you

might consider viewing the FX Essentials training tutorial and then taking the FX Essentials

exam.

Keep in mind that you only get two chances to take each exam so you need to put in some

serious time and effort into the training materials and mastering the concepts before you

take the exam.

To work on this training program you will need access to a Bloomberg terminal through

your company, College/University or your local library. The BESS training program is free

for Bloomberg subscribers. For example, at Baruch College, any Baruch student can come

to the Subotnick Center with their campus ID, log in to a Bloomberg terminal and go

through BESS training for free.

To get started with the BESS training, you should first create your own Bloomberg login.

Bloomberg tracks your progress and exam scores using your unique login. A brief

tutorial on creating a Bloomberg login can be foundhere.

You may also wish to have a set of headphones or ear buds handy for listening to the

Bloomberg videos without distracting others around you. The Bloomberg keyboard has a

headphone jack that (if configured properly) should allow you to listen to the videos in

privacy.

As you are reviewing a tutorial, open up an additional Bloomberg window and type in the

commands as they are described. You may also wish to do more exploration of a particular

function or review examples again if you did not understand it the first time. Once you have

completed the tutorial, challenge yourself to run through all of the commands just

introduced and then practice them to make sure they stay fresh in your memory.

Accessing BESS on BloombergTo get started, log in to the Bloomberg Professional software using your own Bloomberg

login account. If you do not have a Bloomberg account, click here for a brief tutorial on

creating a new Bloomberg login.

In any window, type in BESS <GO> (type the letters BESS followed by the Enter key) to

display the Bloomberg Essentials screen as shown below:

As you can see from the BESS screen, the tutorials for each of the modules can be

launched by clicking on their titles. Along the bottom of the screen there are links to view

and take exams, as well as a link to request the Acknowledgement of Completion.

On the following pages, each of the tutorials is introduced along with some pointers for

getting most out of your studying time.

Bloomberg Getting Started EssentialsThe Getting Started Essentials training video is approximately 18 minutes long and

provides a basic introduction to the Bloomberg software including how the Bloomberg

Terminal software is organized, key terms used throughout the Bloomberg system and the

basic methods for navigating through the system. Some specific topics include broad

market analysis, single security analysis, browsing News and obtaining help. When viewing

this video, pay particular attention to the key terms and definitions, the various ways of

obtaining help, and the special function keys available on the Bloomberg keyboard.

The video tutorial begins with a high level overview of Bloomberg’s menu based navigation

system starting with the MAIN <GO> menu function. This function shows how Bloomberg’s

data and screens are organized into market sectors, trading systems, customization and

settings tools, Bloomberg Law and Government and Help and Support.

The next section of the tutorial introduces the Bloomberg keyboard. The keys are color

coded according to their purpose such as:

Red Keys are used to log into the system (the Red DFLT key) and to cancel a current

function (red Cancel key in the upper left corner).

Green keys are used for navigation and obtaining help such as the block of green

navigation keys on the right for Page Up, Page Down, End, Menu, etc. and the Green Help,

Search, News, etc. keys along the top of the keyboard.

Yellow keys are the market sector keys. Each one helps in identifying financial instruments

or market sectors. These yellow market sector keys include Govt (for Government debt),

CORP (for Corporate debt), MTGE for Mortgages, M-MKT for Money markets, MUNI for

Municipal securities, PFD for preferred, EQUITY for equities, CMDT for Commodities,

INDEX for indexes, CRNCY for currencies (foreign exchange) and finally CLIENT for

portfolio management functions.

Obtaining Help in BloombergThere are a number of ways to obtain help in the Bloomberg system. As the tutorial

continues, note that Pressing the green HELP key while on any screen will bring up a help

screen that explains the function the screen is implementing as well as tips on using the

screen and what each field or area of the screen represents. The picture below shows the

help screen for the MOST function (Most active equities).

Another way to obtain interactive help is to press the HELP key two times. This will open up

a chat session with the Bloomberg help desk if the Live Chat help feature is enabled on

your terminal. Type in any question you might have and a Bloomberg help desk

representative will walk you through any functions or screens to answer your question.

The third way to obtain help is to press HELP key after typing in the name or ticker symbol

of a financial instrument (or any word for that matter). The result will be a list of different

search categories matching your query. For example, typing in BOB EVANS

<HELP> provides the search results that follow. Note Bloomberg found results in categories

such as Companies, People, News, Law, Equities and Fixed Income.:

Content Areas: News, Economics and World IndicesThe next section of the video tutorial focuses on four major content areas: News, Economic

Calendar, World Equity Indices, and Economic Statistics.

Bloomberg Top NewsTo access Bloomberg Top News press the green NEWS key or type N <GO>.

Bloomberg Economic CalendarThe Bloomberg Economic calendar displays prior and announced economic report

releases. To access Bloomberg Economic Calendar type ECO <GO>.

Bloomberg World Equity IndicesThe Bloomberg World Equity Indices screen displays leading indices from equity markets

around the world. This screen allows you to compare both current market levels as well as

historical levels. To access the Bloomberg World Equities Indices screen type WEI <GO>.

Bloomberg Economic StatisticsThe Bloomberg Economic Statistics screen can be used to display economic indicators

such as Consumer Price Index (CPI), unemployment, housing, consumer confidence and

many others for dozens of countries around the world. To access the Bloomberg Economic

Statistics screen type ECST <GO>.

Single Security AnalysisThe next set of functions demonstrated all work on a single security. So to get started with

each one, we type in the ticker symbol of a company, then press the EQUITY (F8) key.

Then follow this up by typing in the name of the function.

Company DescriptionThe company description screen provides an overview of the company including its

industry, current and historical price chart and data, recent searching and dividend data

and other summary information. There are a total of 4 screens (press PG DOWN for

additional screen). For example, assuming the target company is IBM, the command would

be: IBM <EQUITY> DES <GO> 

Bloomberg Historical PricesThe HP function can be used to view a set of historical equity prices. For example,

assuming the target company is IBM, the command would be: IBM <EQUITY> HP <GO> 

Bloomberg Graph PricesThe GP function can be used to create a price graph of a security. Assuming the target

company is IBM, the command would be: IBM <EQUITY> GP <GO> 

Bloomberg Company NewsThe CN function can be used to search for news articles mentioning a specific security.

Assuming the target company is IBM, the command to search for news would be: IBM

<EQUITY> CN <GO> 

Bloomberg “Cheat Sheets”In addition to the help screens that Bloomberg provides, there are also “Cheat Sheets” –

one or two page documents – that provide quick access to many of the different Bloomberg

functions organized by asset type or by job function. To get started viewing Cheat sheets,

use the function tt>CHEAT to bring up the screen:

For example given the above CHEAT screen, click on the link 1) Getting Started to

view the Getting Started cheat sheets as shown below:

Clicking again on the 1) Getting Started link will display the actual cheat sheet for

getting started. Various language versions are presented. Click on the link for the desired

language and the two page PDF will be downloaded and open in Adobe Acrobat.

Bloomberg Messaging SystemThe last portion of the Getting Started tutorial video introduces the Bloomberg Messaging

system. This is basically an e-mail system built into the Bloomberg software that allows you

to send messages, screen captures and other materials to others on the Bloomberg

network. To get started with the Bloomberg Messaging system, simply press the green

MSG button or type in the function: MSG <GO> 

Messages are listed in the inbox – click on a message to view its contents. There is a

yellow text box used to search for messages and buttons to create new messages, etc.

Bloomberg News EssentialsThe Bloomberg News Essentials video is approximately 20 minutes long and focuses

exclusively on the Bloomberg News functionality. Specific topics include drilling down from

the top level news function N<go> down through different news categories to specific news

articles. Custom news searches, screens and alerts are also covered. When going through

this material pay particular attention to how the Bloomberg news is organized and the

various methods used to browse and search for news articles.

The Bloomberg Top News ScreenThe video tutorial begins with a review of the BLoomberg Top News screen. To access

Bloomberg Top News press the green NEWS key or type N <GO> or you can type TOP

<GO>.

The default top news screen shows top news world wide. There are a set of Topic heading

along the left side in the gray colored sidebar. Clicking on any one of those topics narrows

the news search down.

Clicking on any news headline will bring up the full news article.

Once the news story is displayed, it can be printed, bookmarked by clicking on the star icon

(or option 91)), or forwarded to a colleague using the Send Story feature. These are

shown in the upper right corner of the screen. If the news story has an attachment it will be

available under the 97) selection. In this example there is a chart attached to the story.

The search field is in the upper left corner and allows you to search for keywords within the

story.

Note that this story has 3 pages. By scrolling to the end of the story you can view a section

of Related News and Information in addition to the author’s contact information.

Customizing Top NewsThe Top news screen can be customized to filter and display only those news headlines

relevant to the user. For example, the Top News pages by including only relevant topics

selected form the list of categories on the right as shown here:

Bloomberg News Advanced SearchThe Advanced Search feature can be used to build up a sophisticated search on

Bloomberg news (beyond looking for simple keywords). From the Top News screen (N

<GO> ), pull down the 97) Actions screen and click on the Create Advanced

Search menu item. Searches can be saved and associated with alerts so that any new

news article matching the advanced search criteria will be brought to your attention. For

example, the advanced search below is set up to look for the phrases “Share Buyback” or

“Stock Buyback” that appear in stories related to the Information technology and

Telecommunications industries. The source of the news story should be Bloomberg News

(BN).

Bloomberg Launchpad EssentialsThe Bloomberg Launchpad is a graphical user interface that can be customized to create

multiple screens or “Views” made up of market data, charts, news and other components. A

view can consist of multiple pages that can be created, customized and saved. While going

through this 30 minute video, it is easy to create your own Launchpad views along side the

instructional video. Pay particular attention to the types of components (watch lists, news

minder, etc.) that can be added to the Launchpad view and the different ways in which

these components can be linked. For example, the Monitor (watch list) component has a

number of ways in which individual and collections of securities can be added to the watch

lists and then linked to other components such as News.

Below is an example of a Bloomberg Launchpad view showing a number of different

components (click for a larger image). A Market Monitor is in the upper left corner showing

major market indexes for North America, Latin America (LATAM), Europe and Asia/Pacific.

This monitor is linked to the News/Research pane below such that clicking on a market

index will bring up Bloomberg News filtered for that specific index and region. The monitor

is also linked to the line chart in the upper right corner so clicking on one of the indexes

causes the chart to display. An Economic Calendar is displayed below the line chart

showing historical economic indicator releases. An intraday Market Map is displayed in the

lower right corner and is also linked to the Market Monitor. The Market Map is an interactive

map showing stocks by market capitalization broken down by industry and sector and

colored according to their price gains (green) or losses (red) during the current trading day.

Bloomberg API EssentialsThe Bloomberg API is a spreadsheet Add-in module for Microsoft Excel that provides

various methods for bringing Bloomberg data directly into Excel. The Excel API video is the

longest and probably the most detailed tutorial in the Essentials collection. Be sure to

allocate significantly more time reviewing this material prior to taking the exam. Highlights

of this 30 minute video include different methods for pulling data into Excel and working

with the different Wizards that are available to fetch different types of data. These wizards

include:

Data Navigation – Download data for a single security from a set of categories including

Company Summary, Financial/Valuation, Consensus Estimates, Ownership, Peer Group

Analysis, Options Credit and FX.

Real-Time / Historical Navigation – Fetch real-time and historical market data including

intraday and end-of-day data.

Equity Screener – The Equities Screen feature allows you to screen stocks based on

different criteria.

Financials / Estimates – Provides the means to retrieve historical balance sheet and

analyst estimates data.

Technical Analysis navigator – Similar to the historical data wizard but includes a

collection of technical analysis indicators.

Ultimately given a description of the final data set required, you should be able to identify

the appropriate Wizard to run and/or or Bloomberg Excel function to use to fetch that data.

Pay particular attention to differences between end-of-day data (daily, weekly, monthly,

etc.) and intra-day data (tick, 1-minute, 1-hour etc.) and which types of data

can be retrieved with a given wizard or function.

Other features described in the video are the Template Library which is a collection of pre-

designed spreadsheets that can be further customized.

Below is a picture of the Bloomberg Ribbon bar running in Microsoft Excel 2010.

Bloomberg API – Data NavigationThe Data Navigation wizard provides a convenient way to download a set of related data

for a single security. After launching the wizard and selecting a security (Apple (AAPL) in

this example), a list of categories are presented including Company Summary,

Financial/Valuation, Consensus Estimates, Ownership, Peer Group Analysis, Options

Credit and FX as shown below:

After navigating from Company Summary to Overview, the resulting data can be dropped

into Excel using the “Drag to Excel” button as shown below:

Bloomberg API – Real Time / Historical DataThe Real Time / Historical data wizard provides a set of steps to ultimately create a formula

(or set of formulas) in Excel that will fetch real-time data from the Bloomberg network or

populate the spreadsheet with rows of historical data. The icon and drop down menus for

the Import Data function are shown below:

For example, the Real-Time/Current wizard prompts for a security (AAPL in this example)

and then a set of fields (PX_LAST for last price, PX_BID for Bid Price and PX_ASK for Ask

price were selected). the result is a set of three Bloomberg BDP functions (Bloomberg Data

Point functions) that pull the data from the Bloomberg network into Excel as shown below

(note the formula in cell B2):

Additional Resources for the Bloomberg Excel APIBloomberg offers additional tutorials and other resources to help you learn even more

about the API.

An interactive Bloomberg Excel tutorial can launched using command function: XATP XAPI

<go> 

This tutorial launches MS Excel and provides a collection of example worksheets that

document the various features of the Bloomberg Excel Add-in. Of particular interest are the

large collection of Bloomberg-specific functions such as BDP, BDH, BDS, BCURVE, BEQS,

and others.

Bloomberg Equity EssentialsThe Bloomberg Equity Essentials video covers one of the four alternate Market Sectors for

the Bloomberg Essentials program. This 35 minute video covers the main functions for

researching equities (stocks) using the Bloomberg terminal.

Bloomberg Fixed Income EssentialsThe Bloomberg Fixed Income Essentials video is 25 minute in duration and covers the

main functions for searching and analyzing fixed income instruments such as corporate

bonds, municipal bond and government treasuries. The Fixed Income video is one of four

alternate Market Sector areas.

Bloomberg Foreign Exchange (FX) EssentialsThe Bloomberg Foreign Exchange (FX) Essentials video is 35 minutes in length and covers

various foreign exchange instruments such as spot FX, forwards, swaps and interest rate

products.

Bloomberg Commodities EssentialsThe Bloomberg Commodities Essentials covers the use of Bloomberg to monitor and

analyze the spot and futures commodities markets. This video is 27 minutes long and

represents one of the four alternate Market Sector specialties in the Bloomberg Essentials

program.

In the next pages I will provide some tips on taking the exams.

Taking the Bloomberg Essentials ExamsOnce you have reviewed the four Core videos you will be eligible to take the Core

Essentials exam. From the BESS screen click on the link to View and Take Exams. The

Master Exams screen will appear as shown below:

Usually the first exam to be taken will be the Core Essentials exam with Mnemonic

COREESS. When you are ready to take the exam click on this link and the exam will

launch.

Taking the Bloomberg Essentials Core ExamWhen the Bloomberg Core Essentials (COREESS) exam launches it will present a notice

about the grading policy for the exam. Note that the exam is not graded until answers to all

30 questions have been submitted. Pressing the Menu button will close this notice screen

and the exam will start off with question number 1.

Below is an example question and answer format (the actual question and answers have

been obscured). Answering a question is a two step process: First click on your answer

choices, and then click on the red Submit button at the bottom of the screen. You cannot

proceed to the next question until the current question is submitted. Note also that the

entire exam’s answers are not checked until the last question is submitted.

Continue answering questions and Submitting answers until you reach the last (30th)

question.

Bloomberg UniversityBloomberg University is a collection of help and documentation guides along with

schedules and sign-up sheets for Bloomberg training events. To access Bloomberg

University use the code BU to bring up the screen:

Of particular interest to new Bloomberg users are the various “Cheat Sheets” – one or two

page documents that provide quick access to many of the different Bloomberg functions.

TO get started viewing Cheat sheets, use the code CHEAT to bring up the screen:

For example given the above CHEAT screen, click on the link 1) Getting Started to

view the Getting Started cheat sheets as shown below:

Clicking again on the 1) Getting Started link will display the actual cheat sheet for

getting started. Various language versions are presented. Click on the link for the desired

language and the two page PDF will be downloaded and open in Adobe Acrobat.

ConclusionsIn this series of posts I have covered a very basic introduction to Bloomberg including

creating your own Bloomberg account and going through the Bloomberg Essentials

training.