Bloomberg LPAD Formulae

1

T

Guide to using Formulae in Launchpad

Monitors 1) Intro &Getting There……………………………………………………………………………2

2) Column Formula VS. Cell Formula…………………………………………………….….3

3) The basics……………………………………………………………………………………..…….4

4) IF/OR/AND/Nested IF………………………………….………………………………..……5

5) Mathematics & Other common formulae–

Average/Min/Max………………………………………………………………………………7

6) Date and Times…………………………………………………………………………………...8

7) Subtracting Dates………………………………………………………………………………..9

8) Manipulating Update Times………………………………………………………………11

9) NEW! Interval fields/Return/Historic values …………………………………....14

10) Creating a Matrix ……………………………………………………….…..…………….15

11) Ranking Tickers…...………………………………………………………………………..16

12) Resources & Sample Monitors........................……………………………….17

13) Colouring with a formula……………………………………………………………….19

14) THE END……………………………………………………………………………………….20

2

1) Intro & Getting There This is a guide on using the =f(x) formula mode in Launchpad Monitors, going from the

basics to more in-depth usage for those looking to get the most out of their

Launchpad experience.

Wherever you see a icon, it means you can click on it to load a sample

monitor in the Bloomberg Terminal.

Once it’s loaded, you can save a copy, and then go to monitor import to insert your

own custom list of securities. Let’s get started!

This switches the monitor into a “formula mode” allowing you to create formulae just like you

would in Excel.

Once you click this, any sorting will be temporarily removed, and you will be able to see row

numbers and column letters allowing for easy cell referencing when writing your expressions.

Firstly, click on the =f(x) button in the

top right hand corner of your Launchpad

monitor.

3

2) Column Formula VS. Cell Formula Next, if you haven’t already, right click on an existing column heading and

choose “Insert Column”, instead of typing a field name, hit enter, or <GO>

straight away to make this a blank column which we can now edit.

If you are looking to do a general formula for the

WHOLE COLUMN eg: Multiply everything in

column B by 2, then right click on the blank

column heading and choose “Set Column

Formula”.

If each formula in the column is going to be

different, then you can simply double click in a cell

to bring up the formula editor.

Now that you have the Formula Editor up, you can

start to type out your expression.

For a CELL FORMULA, you will need to write out

the corresponding row number, for example B1*2.

Column formula

Cell formula

4

3) The basics

Once you have your Formula Editor box up

and ready, it acts just like Excel.

You can use regular cell referencing (B1) if

you are doing individual cell formulae, or

use a column letter to indicate that you

would like the formula to apply to a whole

column (B).

Space for you to write your

expression.

Search box to find what you are

looking to do. EG: Type MAX into

here to find out how to calculate the

maximum number of a column.

Categorised list of functions to choose

from.

Once you have typed out your

expression in the orange box, hit

“update” and watch your cells

automatically pull in data.

5

4) IF/OR/AND/Nested IF Basic logical statements such as IF/OR/AND work exactly the same in Excel as in the Launchpad Monitor.

Below are some examples of what you can do, with a description of what the statement is saying. These can

be inserted into a blank column and used with column formulae, as described in part 2).

“If the figure in column B is greater

than 100, then populate my blank

column with BUY. If this is not the

case, populate the cell with SELL.”


than 100, AND the figure in column C

is greater than 100, then populate my

corresponding cell with BUY. If this is

not the case, populate the cell with

SELL.”

IF

AND

6


than 100, OR the figure in column C is

greater than 100, then populate my


not the case, populate the cell with

SELL.”


than 100, then populate my


not the case, then check to see if B is

less than 50 and populate my cell

with SELL if that is true. If neither of

these happen, populate my cell with

HOLD.”

OR

NESTED IF

7

INT(value) - returns the integer part of the ‘value’ Eg: INT(5.69) returns 5 MID(text,start number, number of characters) - returns a specific number of characters from a text string, starting at the position you specify, based on the number of characters you specify Eg: =MID("bloomberg",3,2) returns oo LEN(cell) -returns the number of characters in that cell Eg: =LEN("bloomberg") returns 9 RIGHT(text,number of characters) LEFT (text,number of characters) -returns the first/(last) character or characters in a text string, and then x many other characters to the right/(left) Eg: =RIGHT("bloomberg",4) returns berg Eg: =LEFT("bloomberg",5) returns bloom MIN(range) - displays the smallest value in ‘array’ Eg: =MIN(B2:B10) MAX(range) - displays the larger value in ‘array’ Eg: =MAX(B2:B10) SUM(range) Eg: = SUM(B2:B10) AVERAGE(range) Eg: = AVERAGE(B2:B10)

5) Mathematics & Other common

formulae– Average/Min/Max The following are commonly used and relatively simple methods of manipulating basic prices and text.

They will almost always be handled and laid out in the same way they would be in Excel.

Examples are shown for all here which you can copy and paste into a Launchpad monitor

8

Now that we understand the different ways dates can be brought into a monitor, we can use special formulae

to make sure we are comparing apples with apples.

Or in this case, compare a date typed in manually “01/01/2011” (read as text) with one automatically brought

in with =TODAY() (read as a date).

Ultimately, we need to transform anything that is read as text into date format. This can be done

with the =DATEVALUE() expression. Take a look at the monitor above, this shows column B with a

list of manually input dates, and in column C =DATEVALUE(B) has been entered as a column formula.

It looks exactly the same, but this now enables the monitor to understand that it is a date

6) Dates and Times Subtracting dates from each other can be tricky, but the key is to

understand how the monitor is reading the date. I.E. Is it formatted

as mm/yy/dddd or as a number? Ultimately, this will be a result of

how that date was brought into the monitor.

Dates can be brought into your monitor in 3 ways:

1) Typing in the date manually with a formula eg: "01/01/2011"

2) Using a premade formula eg: =TODAY()

3) Using a date field from FLDS<GO> eg: DV036 – Next estimated

Ex-Dividend Date

9

Once we have our text inputs being

read as a date, we can use the =DAY()

function to subtract dates from each

other and calculate the number of

days between two set dates.

Very useful for anyone looking to get

an idea of how long until corporate

actions are occurring on stocks.

Fields from FLDS<GO> are also read

as text, so we will need to use

=DATEVALUE() to transform those as

well.

7) Subtracting Dates

10

DISPLAYING TODAYS DATE

=If you are using =TODAY() or have

used DATEVALUE() to make your

monitor read text as a date, you can

edit how this is displayed.

Using =DATEFORMAT() around the

date will change how this is shown.

Simply use the following syntax:

=dateformat(TODAY(), "d1")




And so on up until d20 to change the

display

11

8) Manipulating Update Times

A common request is being able to show which tickers have been

updated in a monitor within the last few minutes.

Or more likely, which tickers haven’t updated for some time.

If you have the column RQ024 “Time of Last Update” then you can use

this in conjunction with some special formulae shown below to work

out what hasn’t been updating

Again, once we understand the format of how the numbers are

treated, then we can change everything into integers and show in

“number terms” what hasn’t been moving.

The key is to separate out the hours

and the minutes into numbers.

Once you have done this then you can

sum the two together with the

appropriate multiplication factors.

For example, if the time of update is

09:30 then this should be split into:

9 hours (using =LEFT())

30 minutes (using =RIGHT())

Now turn this into a number using

=VALUE()

Then to give the minutes an

appropriate value you can divide by

60. (60 minutes in an hour)

9+(30/60)

=9.5

Now we have an integer value for the

last update, we can bring in the

current hour and minute with:

=HOUR(NOW())

=MINUTE(NOW())

And repeat the multiplication process

above and then compare the

outcomes.

Above we are separating out the Time

of last update (column C in this case)

and applying the factor 60 to the

minutes.

The value is there so that the monitor

knows we are now going to be

manipulating the result as an integer

rather than a time.

12

Here we do exactly the same, except

rather than transforming the time of

last update into an integer; we are

changing the current time into an

integer

Finally now that we have two integers to

compare, we can decide what sort of time

interval we want look over for an update.

Lets take 5 minutes in this case.

The last thing we need to do is give 5 minutes

its appropriate numerical value so we would

do:

5/60

=0.08

The final step is to use an IF statement and see

if the Time of last update + the interval 5

minutes is equal to or greater than the current

time.

If it is, then it has been updated in the last 5

minutes, if not then this is a stale price.

13

Here is an image of the final monitor!

Field: “Time of Last Update”

14

Click here to enter text.

9) NEW! Interval fields/

Return/Historic values

It is now possible to use Interval fields and Custom Total Return in a

Launchpad monitor. This allows users to calculate a single data point based

on an extended period of time, for example percent change over 2 years

historically.

To add your interval field use the following steps from your monitor: click

view --> manage columns --> search for the interval field you would like to

use --> (interval percent change/interval high/interval max/min) add

selected. You can then edit the date range and currency overrides via -->

edit overrides.

You can also do this directly by double clicking on the column headings until

it turns amber. There you can enter the field mnemonic or keywords for the

interval field and hit <GO> to add. Finally, right click on the column and

choose ‘Edit column overrides’.

15

10) CREATING A MATRIX

This column formula will look at each

cell in column F and then works out

where it ranks in the whole F column

from cell 2 to the bottom.

If it is the highest figure in F, then it

will return the number 1.

Notice here the use of # - this tells

the monitor to use a range going

from F2 down to the bottom cell in

the F column, so you don’t have to

worry about entering the number of

the bottom row

Here is a useful application of using the cell formula

– where the formula in every cell is going to be

different – a matrix

The only tricky thing here is making

sure you lock the cells correctly by

using the $ key.

Once you go into the =f(x) mode,

double click in the first cell of each

column and put in the formulae

shown above.

Note: In this monitor there are two

hidden columns.

Column B: Current Price

Column C: Change on day

All the other columns are blank

columns for you to put formulae

into

Now that you have these formulae in

all the top cells of each column, you

can right click on each one and

choose “filldown formula”

Finally, you can right click on each of

the column headings and rename

them to the country list on the left

hand side

The tickers that have been entered in the monitor below are just

government 10 year bond tickers.

EG: GDBR10 Index for Germany

Then you can right click on the ticker - Security Options

Rename securities to give them the names of the countries they

represent

16

11) RANKING TICKERS

Rather than sorting a column, you may want to RANK the numbers in a

column and see where tickers lie in a range without having to change the

order they are entered in.

Here is a column formula that does

just that.

By using =RANK() we can specify that

we are ranking the figure we see in

each ‘C’ cell as we go down within the

range C2 to C#.

C# is a useful command that tells the

monitor that the range ends at the

last row where there is data, so you

don’t have to specify this yourself.

Perfect if you are adding or taking

tickers away from your monitor.

Here is the finished monitor – You can

see the column “Rank” showing

where a stock is ranked among others

in terms of its % change on day

17

12) RESOURCES

Go to your Launchpad

toolbar and type Sample

Monitors in “Enter

Keywords”. This will load

up the sample monitors

component showing a list

of commonly used

monitors broken down by

asset class.

Those with 3 stars indicate

that they are commonly

requested by users. Simply

search for a keyword, check

out the preview, and if you

like it, choose “Launch

Monitor” to put it on your

current Launchpad View

New enhancements are made visible

through the light bulb in the top right

of the monitor.

Click here to see some of the latest

developments

And finally, you can always choose

“HELP” on the Launchpad toolbar to

access a general Launchpad guide

18

SAMPLE MONITOR LINKS

Real-time Portfolio Monitor

This sample monitor allows you to link

your portfolio or multiple portfolios

pulling PRT Fields such as P&L, Market

Value, Weight, and more.

Market Buzz

Catch Unusual and Significant Activity or

Market Buzz in stocks before they fly!

DOCS 2061962

Global Monitor

Global Market Monitor covering a broad

range of products

Equity Visual Trading Monitor

Gain visual insight on intra-day

movements on a list of securities.

Supporting document: DOCS 2063567

Technical Strategy

Technical Strategy allows users to

identify price support and resistance

levels determining an indication for

bullish or bearish trend.

All of these monitors have Column Formulae – this means that you can go to Monitor

Import Securities at the top left of the monitor to run the same monitor on your custom

list of securities!

19

13) COLOURING WITH A FORMULA

Now that you have got your monitor bringing in all the

data you need, we need to make it visual!

This time we don’t have to go into the =f(X) formula

mode, but can right click on a column heading when we

are in the standard monitor view.

After right clicking, choose the option “Column

Formatting”

With the Column Formatting window open, you can choose from the

tabs at the bottom depending on how you want to color in your data.

“Colors” enables you to color in the values in the monitor via simple

logical rules.

If you are looking to go a little more complex and make use of

IF/AND/OR statements for example, choose “Advanced Colors” and

follow the examples on the left hand side

20

ENJOY…

…THE

POSSIBILITIES

ARE

ENDLESS…..

Documents

Bloomberg LPAD Formulae