Bloomberg Gets a Pretty New Face
Yesterday, I heard about Bloomberg's new Open API initiative. It's a new .Net, C++, Java, and C API that is "Open" for all to use and make use of. The catch is that all the data you'd want to get is really still exceptionally expensive, but that's Bloomberg, eh? The last time I used a Bloomberg API it was the Bloomberg Server API, which was a mild modification on the old Bloomberg Terminal API that came with every Bloomberg Terminal - Windows and Solaris, going far, far back into the past.
I've just briefly scanned these docs, and it's a new API alright. Much easier to deal with, and hopefully far easier to decode the data once it's returned from Bloomberg. I like that they are trying to really make it easier to use - both in the pub/sub and the req/resp modes. It's an improvement.
Heck, almost anything is an improvement.
Still, the kicker is the cost of the data. When last I looked, it was still some of the most expensive data around. I mean outta sight prices. I don't think it's gone down in the last two years, but I could be wrong.
Yet I can't blame them. They have a nice gig - they have a great reputation on the street for their data, and so they can charge a ton and use that to keep away the riffraff. It's working for them, and who am I to give them grief. Sure… I'd love to build a system off this for the Mac and build in all the bells and whistles, but that's a really hard sell as the data is so expensive and all the online brokerages are giving their data away - with decent tools.
Still… if I hit the lotto, I'm all over this.