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Get Financial Data Free

How to get free financial data (A $24,000 terminal for free)

July 20, 20237 min read

A Bloomberg Terminal costs $24,000 per year. It's the portal to all the world's financial data. Unaffordable for 99% of us. Reserved for the Wall Street elite to outfox the normal investor. Until now.

In this article, you will:

  • Uncover the mystery behind what the Wall Street elite use to gain a competitive advantage against traders like us

  • Discover how to install and use a free software (to virtually eliminate Wall Street's competitive edge)

  • Learn what types of free financial data exist (and what types of financial analysis we can do with it)

  • Perform an 8-Step technical analysis of TSLA (Tesla's Stock Data)

  • BONUS: Get a Financial Forecasting with AutoARIMA Tutorial (Using an Experimental Time Series Analysis and Forecasting Toolkit)

You make this technical chart (plus more quantitative analysis) inside this tutorial. 👇

OpenBB Terminal Technical Analysis Simple Moving Average

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The Bloomberg Terminal: A Competitive Advantage for Wall Street for the Last 50 Years

In the fast-paced world of finance, having a competitive edge is crucial for success. One tool that has provided Wall Street professionals with a significant advantage for the past 50 years is the Bloomberg Terminal. Developed by Bloomberg L.P., this computer software system offers a comprehensive suite of features designed to empower financial experts with real-time market data, analytics, and communication tools. Let's explore why the Bloomberg Terminal has been such an advantage.

Bloomberg Terminal

Comprehensive Data:

The Bloomberg Terminal offers an extensive collection of real-time financial data and news from global sources. This wealth of information enables users to access critical insights, make informed decisions, and stay ahead of market trends. With access to such a wide range of data, Wall Street firms gain a competitive edge over competitors who may rely on less comprehensive information sources.

Advanced Analytics:

The Bloomberg Terminal provides powerful analytical tools, including charting capabilities, valuation models, risk management features, and portfolio analysis functions. These tools empower financial professionals to delve deeper into market dynamics, identify trading opportunities, and manage risks effectively. By leveraging advanced analytics, Wall Street firms can gain valuable insights that aid in making strategic decisions.

Communication and Collaboration:

Effective communication and collaboration are paramount in the finance industry. The Bloomberg Terminal offers instant messaging and collaboration tools, facilitating seamless information sharing among professionals within the network. Traders, analysts, and other experts can exchange real-time insights, ideas, and market views, fostering collaboration and enhancing decision-making. The ability to connect with a vast network of industry professionals amplifies the flow of information, creating a competitive advantage for Wall Street firms.

Execution Capabilities:

The Bloomberg Terminal provides trading functionalities that enable users to execute trades across various financial markets and instruments. This feature allows Wall Street firms to capitalize on market opportunities swiftly and efficiently. By executing trades with ease and speed, these firms can enhance their performance and profitability.

Bloomberg's Market Influence:

Bloomberg L.P., the company behind the Bloomberg Terminal launched in 1981 by billionaire Michael Bloomberg. In 5 decades, Bloomberg L.P. has amassed significant influence and reach within the finance industry. Over 325,000 people use the Bloomberg Terminal daily. The widespread adoption of the Bloomberg Terminal creates a network effect, as professionals worldwide rely on its data and news services. This dominance reinforces the Terminal's value, making it a trusted platform for financial decision-making.

$24,000 Per Year Annual Cost

At a staggering $24,000 per year recurring annual subscription for a single user, the Bloomberg Terminal is reserved for Wall Street's elite hedge funds. 99% of us cannot afford it.

To summarize:

  • Over 325,000 people use Bloomberg daily

  • Used for market data, trading and research

  • Launched in 1981 by billionaire Michael Bloomberg

  • It's a modern icon of financial markets.

  • But at a cost of $24,000 per year, the Bloomberg Terminal is reserved for the Wall Street Elite.

With a $24,000/year price tag, you might as well call it quits, right?

Well, not exactly.

What if I told you that you could get all of this for free?

One company has leveled the playing field by creating a new Terminal that is open-source and free to use. It's name: OpenBB.

OpenBB Website

Founded in 2021, OpenBB has been on a mission to make investment research effective, powerful, and accessible to everyone. And with $8.5 Million in seed funding led by OSS Capital including world-class investors like Naval Ravikant, Ram Shriram and Elad Gil, OpenBB has the conviction.

Their leading product is the OpenBB Terminal. According to OpenBB's website...

The OpenBB Terminal is the first and only open source investment research platform. The terminal connects to dozens of different data providers and allows users to access investment research from a single platform. More than that, due to its open source nature, users can add custom data sources or build their own analysis on top.

There are over 500 functions covering:

  • ETFs

  • Forex

  • Stocks

  • Crypto

  • Options

  • Portfolio

  • Economy

  • Mutual funds

  • Econometrics

Quant Tutorial: 8-Step OpenBB Terminal

Strap on your seat belt. Here's how to use the OpenBB terminal to virtually eliminate Wall Street's edge. So let's dive in shall we?

Step 1: How to Download, Install, and Startup the OpenBB Terminal

Download the terminal at: https://my.openbb.co/app/terminal/download. Select the Windows or MacOS operating system. Then follow the installation prompts. Once installed, open up the OpenBB Terminal.

OpenBB Start The Terminal

Step 2: Analyze a Stock

Let's begin by analyzing Tesla. First, type stocks at the command prompt to show the menu. These are all the sub menus you can explore to analyze stocks.

OpenBB Terminal - Stocks Menu

The menu items in grey are not available until you load stock data. Let's load TSLA now.

Step 3: Loading a Stock

Next, type: load tsla. This will load the TSLA price data for free.

openbb load stock data

Now we can start to analyze TSLA.

Step 4: Getting the Analysis Options (Help)

Type: help. This returns a list of the 15 submenus.

OpenBB terminal get help

Let's explore how to do a technical analysis.

Step 5: Perform a Technical Analysis

Type: ta for technical analysis. This opens up the Technical Analysis submenu.

openbb terminal technical analysis ta

Let's do a Simple Moving Average ( sma ).

Step 6: Make a Technical Chart with a Simple Moving Average

Type sma. Instantly, a technical analysis chart will appear with a 20 day (fast) and 50 day (slow) moving average. We can use this to gauge the stock's momentum. Not bad for a few minutes of work.

openbb technical analysis simple moving average chart

Step 7: Going Back in OpenBB Terminal

Next type q to go backwards. Then type help to get the stocks submenu.

openbb terminal back and help

Let's try a financial forecast with the forecast submenu.

Step 8: Time Series Analysis and Forecasting (Experimental)

Let's try a financial forecast. Type forecast to enter the "forecast" submenu.

openbb terminal forecast menu

Then type the following command which tells OpenBB to use:

autoarima -d TSLA --target-column adj_close -n 14
  • autoarima: Time Series Forecast Algorithm using automatic ARIMA modeling

  • -d TSLA: On the asset

  • --target-column adj_close: Using the adjusted close column from TSLA

  • -n 14: With a 14-day forecast horizon

It takes 30-seconds or so to run, and produced a forecast chart:

openbb terminal forecast chart arima time series model

We're just scratching the surface of OpenBB

There's a lot more you can do with OpenBB Terminal including:

  • Screeners

  • Sentiment

  • Forex data

  • Excel models

  • Co-integration

  • Autocorrelation

  • Max drawdown

  • Volatility surface

  • Economic indexes

  • Crypto order books

  • Time series analysis

  • Portfolio optimization

  • Brokerage integration

  • Mutual fund allocation

  • Custom reports & dashboards

That's it for this training. And if you're feeling lost and want expert help, here's how we can help you to improve your algorithmic trading skills.

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It's no wonder why it's easy to feel lost.

And all of this increases the likelihood you will fail (not to mention lose money in the process). Protect your future.

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investingstocksfinancial data
Matt is a Data Science expert with over 18 years working in business and 10+ years as a Data Scientist, Consultant, and Trainer. Matt has built Business Science, a successful educational platform with similar goals to Quant Science, but focused on developing Data Scientists in business, marketing, and finance disciplines.

Matt Dancho

Matt is a Data Science expert with over 18 years working in business and 10+ years as a Data Scientist, Consultant, and Trainer. Matt has built Business Science, a successful educational platform with similar goals to Quant Science, but focused on developing Data Scientists in business, marketing, and finance disciplines.

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