Finance Bros To Tech Bros: Don't Mess With My Bloomberg Terminal (wsj.com)
- Reference: 0181024900
- News link: https://developers.slashdot.org/story/26/03/17/1833221/finance-bros-to-tech-bros-dont-mess-with-my-bloomberg-terminal
- Source link: https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/openai-chatgpt-side-projects-16b3a825
> A battle of insults and threats has broken out between the tech world and Wall Street. What's got everyone so worked up? The same thing that starts most fights: business software. A series of social-media posts went viral in recent days with claims that AI has [1]created a worthy -- and way cheaper -- alternative to the Bloomberg terminal , a computer system that is like oxygen to professional investors. Now "Bloomberg is cooked," some posters [2]argued as they heralded the arrival of a newly released AI tool from startup Perplexity. [...]
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> The finance bros who worship at the altar of Bloomberg have declared war on the tech evangelists who have put all their faith in AI. To suggest that the terminal is replaceable is " [3]laughable ," said Jason Lemire, who jumped into the conversation on LinkedIn. (Ironically or not, his post also included an AI-generated image of churchgoers praying to the Bloomberg terminal). "It seems quite obvious to me that those propagating that post are either just looking for easy engagement and/or have never worked in a serious financial institution," he wrote. [...] Morgan Linton, the co-founder and CTO of AI startup Bold Metrics and an avid Perplexity Computer user, said it's rare for a single AI prompt to generate anything close to what Bloomberg does. That said, he added that tools like this can lay "a really good foundation for a financial application. And that really has not been possible before."
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> Others aren't so sure. Michael Terry, an institutional investment manager who used the terminal for more than 30 years, said he used a prompt circulating online to try to vibe code a Bloomberg replica on Anthropic's Claude. "It was laughable at best, horrific at worst," he said. Shevelenko acknowledged there are some aspects of the terminal that can't be replicated with vibe coding, including some of Bloomberg's proprietary data inputs. The live chat network, which includes 350,000 financial professionals in 184 countries, would also be hard to re-create, as well as the terminal's data security, reliability and robust support system. "I love Bloomberg. And I know most people that use Bloomberg are very, very loyal and extremely happy," said Lemire. His message to the techies? "There's nothing that you can vibe code in a weekend or even like over the course of a year that's going to come anywhere close."
[1] https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/openai-chatgpt-side-projects-16b3a825
[2] https://x.com/linasbeliunas/status/2026980378251088170
[3] https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7433170349254410240/
Re: WTF is a Bloomberg Terminal? (Score:2)
Use google idiot. Anyone whose worked in corporate finance or banking has at least seen one if not used one. Bloomberg is the internet of the finance world.
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stop insulting folks, asstard.
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But you're OK with people wasting everyone's time asking a question here that would literally be answered more quickly (and more completely) at any search engine?
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A quick definition of the program in the summary could of gone a long way but this is Slashdot, so par for the course.
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the thing has its own fucking wiki page you incurious nonce
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloomberg_Terminal
Re: (Score:3)
some folks would rather be insulting than answer a question or just keep their fingers still. here’s what kagi had to say:
The Bloomberg Terminal is a specialized software platform that provides financial professionals with real-time market data, news, analytics, and trading tools. It is considered a vital resource in the finance industry due to its ability to process vast amounts of financial information and deliver it quickly.
Key features that make the Bloomberg Terminal special include:
Comprehensive
Re: (Score:2)
> some folks would rather be insulting than answer a question or just keep their fingers still.
And some people are so helpless they can't figure out Google, and are not capable of learning form anything other than humiliation.
Re:WTF is a Bloomberg Terminal? (Score:4)
It would not be an understatement to say that Bloomberg is THE global information broker for the financial sector - no one else has the same amount of data and analysis that they do. The Bloomberg Terminal is the defacto tool used by financial professionals globally, involved in moving trillions of dollars in assets every day. The amount of information hosted there is incredible: split second latest numbers for just about every financial and economic metric on the planet along with historicals going back decades, news before even news orgs start reporting out, proprietary intelligence and analysis that provide details into the supply chains of individual firms that the firms may not even have as clear of a view on, etc. They have a massive network effect advantage - their internal chat system has networked just about every major financial professional on the planet. There is also a regulatory advantage - the terminal is setup to navigate the complex web of financial regulations across dozens, if not hundreds, of regulatory bodies from a compliance perspective.
They are the defacto tool not just because they bring that data together in a way no one else on the market has, but it has a level of vetting, security, and support for a system that you'd expect for a tool that the entire financial sector depends upon. AI could do some of the data manipulation, but it would take years to negotiate access to the sheer number of proprietary data sets they have access to and find professionals to train the models.
Will AI Hallucinations replace Gurman? (Score:2)
Mark Gurman says a lot of stuff about Apple that turns out to be false. How will that be functionally different from AI Hallucinations about Apple?
Re: Finance Brothers vs Tech Brothers (Score:2)
Then hang the victor!
The terminal isn't just software (Score:3)
Bloomberg is also a data service with higher level access to the markets. The box and the software on it aren't what they are selling. They're selling access to the info in .. and this is the important part that perplexity will never match... in near real time.
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> and this is the important part that perplexity will never match... in near real time.
That is just matter of buying your way in. Nothing stopping bigtech from doing that really.
I agree it won't be perplexity, but Anthropic, OpenAI, or Palantir wanted to diversify a bit, they have the capital and the technology to be a better Bloomberg then Bloomberg probably overnight, now can they get a very struck in their ways Wall Street to trust a name they haven't been reading for the last 30 years, that I don't know.
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Yes. That is more plausible.
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i am not a trader, so take what i say with a grain of salt.
i believe it would be difficult if not impossible from an upstart company to get the firehose of data that bloomberg has. real-time data and the social media/network that comes with the subscription is essential.
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>> and this is the important part that perplexity will never match... in near real time.
> That is just matter of buying your way in. Nothing stopping bigtech from doing that really.
Yes and no. Yes, getting real-time access to data is possible. No, that doesn't mean that you'll save money with some vibe-coded tool.
Bloomberg is doubtless making a profit at $24k to $27k per user per year, but don't expect the cost to drop to free or evey cheap if fast access to real-time stock data is a hard requirement. Most of what you're paying for is the delivery cost for the data, not the software or the hardware. Specifically, for larger installations (more than about 4 terminals), if I underst
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>> Most of what you're paying for is the delivery cost for the data,
> lulz no, the vast majority of what your paying is pure profit. The actual data is fucking tiny unless they've managed to fuck it up magnificently. Compare it to the cost of streaming video.
They're buying access to the data from someone else, so not necessarily.
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There's already alternative software available already:
[1]https://openbb.co/ [openbb.co]
(Don't worry it slightly predates AI, just contains today's mandatory buzzwords)
[1] https://openbb.co/
You have a bloomberg terminal to see it first. (Score:2)
Bloomberg Terminals frequently deliver breaking financial, corporate, and economic news several minutes—and sometimes longer—before it appears on regular public news outlets. Bloomberg News reporters often feed information directly to the terminal's "speed desk," where headlines are published in real-time for subscribers, often beating conventional news channels, website updates, or press releases.
So funny (Score:3)
Back in the day... when I got started, you could get an IT job in silicon valley by being young and willing to learn... but you could not progress higher without a degree. But that experience was enough to land you a mid-level position in NY servicing the finance industry. That experience was enough to land you a senior position back on the west coast.
It was a common career path. Entry level in CA tech industry => Mid level in NY Finance systems => Senior level in tech. CA tech bros cut our teeth on High Availability Finance systems. Trust us, bro.
This is an example of a Chesterton Fence (Score:3)
(There's a Wikipedia entry on it, but I recommend [1]Chesterton’s Fence: A Lesson in Thinking [fs.blog].)
The Bloomberg Terminal is a critical piece of financial infrastructure. It has its issues, to be sure, but it's stable, functional, and has been tested under serious duress for a very long time...so it works . This is not some unimportant app or transient service or game; it's actually important in the real world.
Could it be replaced? Sure. But it's not going to replaced by the kind of slop that vibe coding churns out. If it's replaced, it will be replaced by the work product of superb designers, excruciatingly careful developers, and fanatical testers working together for years with professionals who've been in the field for decades.
I've been in this field for close to half a century, and I'm getting increasingly annoyed by the ignorance, illiteracy, and arrogance of young and inexperienced tech bros whose world view is so constricted, so limited, so myopic that it never occurs to them that no, they do not know the answers to everything, and yes, some of us cranky geezers who have actually been there and done that might know a thing or two that has thus far eluded them and maybe, just maybe , they ought to shut up, sit down, pay attention, take notes, and learn -- if they're capable of learning.
[1] https://fs.blog/chestertons-fence/
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> I've been in this field for close to half a century, and I'm getting increasingly annoyed by the ignorance, illiteracy, and arrogance of young and inexperienced tech bros whose world view is so constricted, so limited, so myopic that it never occurs to them that no, they do not know the answers to everything, and yes, some of us cranky geezers who have actually been there and done that might know a thing or two that has thus far eluded them and maybe, just maybe , they ought to shut up, sit down, pay attention, take notes, and learn -- if they're capable of learning.
It is painful to watch at times, yes. Especially when they do not understand fundamental engineering principles like KISS and "if it is not broken, do not fix it" or think that all new tech much be much better than all old tech. Fortunately, there are quite a few young people with a much better understanding of things. Many of my IT security students are actually much better in this regard. But all those that are mindlessly arrogant will at least retard getting real insight and experience and may prevent it
Did anyone actually read the tweet? (Score:2)
> Now "Bloomberg is cooked," some posters argued as they heralded the arrival of a newly released AI tool from startup Perplexity.
The tweet was a joke (emphasis mine)...
> Bloomberg is cooked.
> I just asked Perplexity AI to vibe code a Bloomberg Terminal replacement.
>
> 3 hours and 80,000 lines of code later, Perplexity rebuilt the Terminal in one shot:
> ... snip ...
> None of it worked.
>
> Data sources weren’t normalized.
> Tickers mismatched across exchanges.
> Some numbers were creative.
>
> But boy was that dark-mode beautiful.
Muscle memory matters / snake oil (Score:2)
Trading is an extremely fast-paced, high-stakes job. Operators must be able to execute instructions fast and with confidence, and the current terminal is the result of decades of wisdom and experience, and it ensures instructions are processed reliably and in the right order. They've been to hell and back. They've learnt what works and what doesn't. Suggesting that a new, vibe-coded version of the software could replace it, is a true insult and a cheap attempt at making money off something that ain't broken
lol (Score:2)
the finance bros "ai can't replace my bloomberg terminal" has some serious techbro "ai can't replace coders" vibes
Re: (Score:2)
Perhaps both are right. Don't fiddle with stuff that users are accustomed to (Microsoft, I'm looking at you).
Or we could just have AI [1]build a better gaming keyboard [slashdot.org]. And then sit back and watch the inevitable shit-storm.
[1] https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/26/03/16/2231202/are-split-spacebars-the-next-big-gaming-keyboard-trend
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And event logging system. And login service. And file space mounting manager. And boot manager. Its also a great dessert topping as well as a floor wax.
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The people who make or lose millions on a single decision do not trust AI to change their decision making process.