MIL Toolkit

Software

The learning environment mimics that observed in many financial market environments including electronic information panels, cable TV with live coverage of financial news networks such as Bloomberg TV and CNBC, computers at each learning station – all housed in a glass-encased environment. The Market Information Lab facilities contain cutting edge hardware and software for both classroom and research use for students and faculty.

Bloomberg

Bloomberg is a distinct user interface providing access to a wide variety of financial data involving equities, debt, commodities, currencies, and other sectors. The Bloomberg system is widely known for containing relevant and detailed resources for financial services professionals and public-sector employees. Practical applications include: Global and corporate debt prices, yields, and risk profiles Real-time Bloomberg and third-party news feeds Analytical projection tools available for most securities Commodity resource mapping Historical and current foreign exchange (FOREX), derivative, and swap prices Default spread rankings.

Guide - Bloomberg Account Setup

Guide - Bloomberg Certification Sign Up

Market Lab BMC Group Code: C9MRYGHNJZ

Remote Access - Bloomberg Market Concepts Certification

Sign in using your Illinois email account

Portal - Bloomberg for Education

Capital IQ

Capital IQ is a research database used to find current and historical information about companies, transactions, industries, and people. Capital IQ specializes in individual company and transaction research, as well as assorted screening and charting tools used to determine the characteristics and quality of financial data. Practical applications include: Historical company financial statements in an array of formats (common-size, comprehensive, restated, etc.) Interactive access to annual reports, proxy statements, and other corporate filings Competitive and industry analysis Robust Excel modeling capabilities Powerful screening for relevant data points concerning a subject of interest (e.g. value stocks vs. growth stocks)

Morningstar

Morningstar Direct is a web-based research platform with global coverage of performance and holdings analysis of 300,000+ investments, including mutual funds, exchange traded funds, hedge funds, money market funds, offshore funds and stocks. The Morningstar Encorr software offers tools to research, create, analyze and implement optimal asset allocation strategies within a single platform. The software provides support to anyone who develops in-depth asset allocation strategies including investment consultants, fund of fund managers and portfolio managers.

Rotman Interactive Trader

Rotman Interactive Trader (RIT) application is an order-driven market simulator (which allows users to transact financial securities with each other on a real-time basis) plus a sequence of RIT cases. Each RIT case focuses on the risks and opportunities associated with particular securities or strategies., including but not limited to commodities, equity, fixed income, and options. Learning objectives include: Pricing and valuation for securities such as equities, bonds, options, and futures Different types of risk associated with various securities Allow students to export and manipulate data in a real-time setting using customized Excel models

Excel

Excel is a commercial spreadsheet application that is developed and distributed by Microsoft. It allows users to compare, contrast, graph, chart, and manipulate data utilizing the various functions of the software. Additionally, it allows the user to to conduct statistical analysis and basic calculation, alongside complex financial models. It has numerous plug-in capabilities with other software products such as Bloomberg, Capital IQ, Crystal Ball, etc. Practical applications include: Basic mathematic applications and financial modeling Financial Valuation Analyses Manipulation of historic financial statements in different formats Interactive access to other software products and their applications Visual Basic capabilities with programing tools Charting and graphing tools of financial data

Tableau

Tableau is a business intelligence software that allows for instantaneous insight by transforming data into visually-appealing reports, charts, graphs, and dashboards in a matter of minutes. Data can be queried from a variety of files and over 100 different servers used by professionals in industry. It is used as a business analytics and research tool by numerous companies across all industries.

Python

Python is a general-purpose programming language that is becoming more and more popular for doing data science. Companies worldwide are using Python to harvest insights from their data and get a competitive edge. Python lets you work more quickly and integrate your systems more effectively.

R/RStudio

RStudio makes R easier to use. It includes a code editor, debugging & visualization tools. R is a free software environment for statistical computing and graphics. R provides a wide variety of statistical (linear and nonlinear modelling, classical statistical tests, time-series analysis, classification, clustering, …) and graphical techniques, and is highly extensible. One of R's strengths is the ease with which well-designed publication-quality plots can be produced, including mathematical symbols and formulae where needed.

Altryx

Alteryx is a leader in data science and self-service analytics with a platform that can prep, blend, enrich, and analyze data, manage and deploy predictive models, and share analytics at scale. Gain deeper insights in hours, not the weeks that you may be used to.

DataCamp

DataCamp offers interactive R, Python, Sheets, SQL and shell courses. All on topics in data science, statistics and machine learning. The skills people and businesses need to succeed are changing. No matter where you are in your career or what field you work in, you will need to understand the language of data.