Bloomberg Market Concepts (BMC) is a self-paced e-learning course that provides an interactive introduction to the financial markets. BMC consists of three sections - Core Concepts (includes economic indicators, currencies, fixed income, equities), Getting Started on the Terminal, and Portfolio Management. In total, it takes approximately 12 hours to complete. The sections are woven together from Bloomberg data, news, analytics, and television.
To get started, type BMC <GO> into the main menu on a terminal in the Cutler Center or access BMC through the Bloomberg for Education website. The certification course is free for all students, faculty, and staff provided that your Babson email address is used to set up your account.
BMC Modules:
Economic Indicators (~1 hour): The primacy of GDP; monitoring GDP; forecasting GDP.
Currencies (~1 hour): Currency market mechanics; currency valuation; central banks and currencies; currency risk.
Fixed Income (~3 hours): The roots of the bond market, bond valuation drivers; central bankers and interest rates; the yield curve and why it matters; movements in the yield curve.
Equities (~3 hours): Introducing the stock market; the nature of equities; equity research; absolute valuation; relative valuation.
Getting Started on the Terminal (~2 hours): Using the terminal; analyzing the market; exploring the equity market; discovering the fixed income market; building an equity portfolio.
Portfolio Management (~2 hours): Defining a portfolio manager; generating ideas; building an equity portfolio; analyzing a portfolio; assessing portfolio risk.
[Optional] Commodities: Intro to commodities; commodity fundamentals; commodity players; commodity training.
[Optional] Equity Options: Intro to stock options; using the language of the options market; the role of a stock options trader; basic multi-leg strategies.
