Math Business and Accounting Finance Lab
The Math Business and Accounting Finance Lab is located in MC-3004. It is open Monday through Friday from 9:00am - 4:30pm.
Inside you will find 26 Windows PCs. 20 machines are for the Capital IQ, Rotman Interactive trader and other Math related apps. The other 6 are for Bloomberg software.
Capital IQ
About
Capital IQ is a web and Excel-based financial application.
- The Web Portal: Offers various software and data feeds to advisory firms, banks, corporations, investment managers, private equity funds, universities, and more. It provides overall market awareness and investment analysis audiences can use to inform their investment strategies.
- The Excel Plug-In: Allows you to import financial, market, and company data along with comp sets, filings, saved screens, and other vital modeling information.
How to Connect
Capital IQ access is controlled by a Nexus security group.
- Eligibility: Available to University of Waterloo students, faculty, researchers, and staff for non-commercial academic research on a request basis.
- Automatic Access: Graduate students taking specific Math Business courses are automatically added to the Active IQ allowed group.
- On-Campus Access: The finance lab PCs in MC 3004 have a shortcut on the desktop with the Excel plug-in pre-installed.
- Authentication: Always use @uwaterloo.ca email address for authentication.
Excel Plug-In Installation & Configuration
System Requirement: The native Capital IQ Excel plug-in is strictly compatible with Windows devices only.
Step 1: Download the Installer
- Log in to your Capital IQ account via the web portal.
- Select Downloads from the left-hand pane (located under the My Profile section).
- Download the Office Plug-In file, execute it, and follow the basic installation wizard instructions. [4]
Step 2: Configure Single Sign-On (SAML)
To authenticate the plug-in using your University of Waterloo credentials, you must map the single sign-on URL. You can do this by editing Windows Registry:
- Open Notepad on your PC.
- Copy and paste the exact block below
- Click File > Save As. Change the Save as type dropdown menu to All Files (.).
- Name the file ciq_saml.reg and save it to your desktop.
- Double-click the saved ciq_saml.reg file and click Yes when the Windows prompt asks to apply the changes.
- Restart Microsoft Excel to complete your Single Sign-On setup.
Bloomberg
About
Bloomberg provides both historical and real-time financial market and economic data, covering all sectors worldwide. It also features analytics, company financials, news, and customizable charting.
The Bloomberg Terminal is a computer software system provided by the financial data vendor Bloomberg L.P. that enables professionals in the financial service sector and other industries to access Bloomberg Professional Services through which users can monitor and analyze real-time financial market data and place trades on the electronic trading platform. It was developed by employees working for businessman Michael Bloomberg. The system also provides news, price quotes, and messaging across its proprietary secure network. It is well known among the financial community for its black interface, which has become a recognizable trait of the service.
A welcome video going through the Bloomberg terminal can be found by going tothe Welcome Terminal.
How to Use
You will need to have a Bloomberg account to use Bloomberg terminal.
First time users must register with Bloomberg and create a personalized login and password.
- Login to Bloomberg terminal using your Nexus account.
- Launch Bloomberg app
- At the login prompt enter your account name and password. If you don’t have account name and you are a first-time user then click on link that says create a new login and complete the registration form. You will receive a validation code in an email. Complete the validation to complete the account creation process. Remember your account name and password.
Bloomberg’s education portal can be found online.
Bloomberg for Education offers a series of credentials that will expand your knowledge and can strengthen your job applications. These courses provide an interactive way to explore different areas of finance.
Please note that to gain access to the training you must physically be using one of Bloomberg terminals in the Math Business and Accounting Finance Lab (MC-3004).
Certificates available include…
- Bloomberg Finance Fundamentals
- Bloomberg Market Concepts
- Environmental Social Governance
When you complete each program you will receive a certificate of completion that you can promote on your resume, CV, and social media.
To access the training please…
- Run BCER on the blue command line
- On the left corner select "Log in"
- Select “Login with SSO”
- The Education portal should launch on the web browser (but if you run into technical issues please email us at mathbus@uwaterloo.ca for assistance.
Rotman Interactive Trader – RIT
The RIT simulation-based-learning product includes the RIT Market Simulator (an order-matching platform which allows users to transact financial securities with each other on a real-time basis) plus a sequence of RIT Decision Cases which focus on specific decision tasks associated with financial securities, market dynamics, and investment or risk management strategies.
The RIT Decision Cases are designed to be run using multiple iterations which implement a range of potential scenarios. The same strategy can yield different results depending on the final realization of the scenario.
RIT Client
The finance lab machines in MC-3004 already have a link on desktop which lets users to download and install application on the machine. Once it is installed, it checks for updates at launch.
The Rotman Interactive Trader site has all the documentation and software downloads. The client software can be installed on any Windows based machine.
Technical Issues or Questions?
Please contact Math Business and Accounting directly at mathbus@uwaterloo.ca.
If there is an issue with one of the computers may you please include the user id and barcode of the computer (they are listed on stickers on the central processing unit (CPU) of each machine).