BMAN30190 Introduction to Datastream

Session plan: BMAN30190 Introduction to Datastream

Supporting materials

• Slides/materials: PowerPoint slides (version 2)
• Online session materials: Medium workbook

Practicalities

• Group: 10 (limited by number of Datastream PCs), repeat 14 times
• Length: 50 minutes
• Room: Database Suite, Eddie Davies Finance Zone
• Discipline: empirical finance
• Level: UG3

Learning outcomes

After engaging with this support, you will be able to:

• Find and download market data for financial securities and equity indices
• Find and download company fundamental /accounting data
• Find and download macroeconomic indicators

Suggested online resources

• This session is a simplified, customised version of the Introduction to Datastream open workshop. This session only uses the Excel version of Datastream.
• Instructors may wish to follow our Datastream Train the Trainer materials

Session content

Log on to the computers (during arrival)

Ask students to log on using their University username and password. They can continue to do this during the introduction.

• To access Datastream they must first double-click the icon ‘DSSetup-Shortcut’ to activate the Datastream Excel add-in.
• A black window briefly appears then disappears if this is successful.

Introduction (3 minutes)

• Explain the purpose of the session.
• Outline the learning objectives.
• Describe the format of the session: presentation, demonstration, practice.

Overview of Datastream (7 minutes)

Talk through presentation slides on the following:

• Datastream as an interface as well as a warehouse of data.
• Main data sources: stock exchanges, investment banks, national and international organisations, other data suppliers.
• Datastream key concepts: Series and Datatypes, and Time Series or Static Requests.
• Datastream’s strengths and weaknesses.

Introduce the Excel add-in interface (2 minutes)

Excel with Datastream tab. Click on the ‘Time Series Request’ button.

• Open Excel and show the Datastream tab.
• Show the time series request button, click it.
• Show the two orange buttons, click the first one (Series) to launch Datastream Navigator.

Demo: Find company share price (5 minutes)

Explain each steps of getting a company’s share price for a specific time period using an example: Find Tesco PLC daily share price for the last 5 years.

Datastream Navigator, search for series ‘TESCO’ and datatype ‘Price (Adjusted — Default)’.

• Use Datastream Navigator tool to find series code for Tesco. Click on the blue symbol ‘TSCO’.
• Use Datastream Navigator tool to find datatype code for default closing share price, including definition.
• Set up the time period and frequency. (Start 5 years before today, leave the end field blank.)
• Untick ‘Embed’ and ‘Auto Refresh’ to make sure the data you download stays the same and is available on other PCs.
• Click ‘Submit’ to download the share price.

Activity 1: Find company share price (4 minutes)

Students to follow steps demonstrated by course facilitator and find Sainsbury’s daily price for the past 5 years

Demo: Find company reports (4 minutes)

Explain each steps of getting company accounts items for a specific time period. Find Tesco’s net debt and common shareholder equity from 2000 to 2008.

Searching for debt and equity.

• Use Datastream Navigator tool to find series code for Tesco.
• Use Datastream Navigator tool to find datatype code for net debt (WC18199) and common shareholder equity (WC03501). You can tick each selection then click ‘Use’ to include all ticked datatypes.
• Set up the time period, frequency (yearly) and currency type. To set the currency, click the green ‘$’ button, choose ‘United Kingdom Pound-£’ and ‘Apply All’.
• Choose ‘Transpose’ to put the years in columns instead of rows.
• Download share price.

Activity 2: Find company reports (3 minutes)

Students to follow steps demonstrated by course facilitator and find Microsoft’s net debt & common shareholder equity from 2000 to 2008 in US dollars.

Demo: Find market data for an equity index (5 minutes)

Mention briefly what total return is: a value which shows theoretical growth over a specified period. Ning Gao defines it as follows:

The “Total Return Index” shows a theoretical growth in value of a share/security holding over a specified period, assuming that dividends/interests are re-invested to purchase additional units of an equity or unit trust or security at the closing price applicable on the ex-dividend/interest date. Datastream provides a more detailed explanation of the precise method used.

Explain each steps of getting market data items for an index. Find total return of the FTSE all share index for the UK domestic market from 1990–2008.

There are similar results for an equity index and its constituent list.

• Explain that there are different Data Categories, including Equities, Equity Indices, Constituent Lists and Economics.
• Start a new time series request. Select Series.

• Clear the previous search, type ‘ftse all share’ and click ‘Search’.
• Explain the difference between equity indices and constituent lists.
• Select ‘FTALLSH’ to get the index as a whole.
• For the datatype, change the Data Category at the top-left from ‘Equities’ to ‘Equity Indices’. Scroll through the list to find ‘Total Return Index’ with code ‘RI’ and select it.
• Set up the date range, time period, then submit.

Activity 3: Find market data for an equity index (4 minutes)

Students to follow steps demonstrated by course facilitator and find FTSE All Share index for the Mining Sector (£) from 1990–2008. Hint: the symbol is ‘FTA3MM£’.

Demo: Find macroeconomic indicators (5 minutes)

Mention briefly what a treasury bill (t-bill) is used for: the interest rate for an investment that carries zero risk in a particular period (typically three months). CFI defines risk-free rate as follows:

The Risk-Free Rate of return is the interest rate an investor can expect to earn on an investment that carries zero risk. In practice, the Risk-Free rate is commonly considered to equal to the interest paid on 3-month government Treasury bill, generally the safest investment an investor can make. The risk-free rate is a theoretical number since technically all investments carry some form of risk, as explained here. Nonetheless, it is common practice to refer to the T-bill rate as the risk-free rate. While it is possible for the government to default on its securities, the probability of this happening is very low.

Find 3M UK Treasury Bill rate from 1990–2008, annualised (yearly).

Explore the Datastream Navigator to find interest rates or any other series.

• Use the Explore search feature to navigate to a short list of possible series.
• Start a time series request and click on ‘Series’.

• Click on ‘Explore’ then navigate to ‘Interest Rates’, ‘National Interest Rates’, ‘United Kingdom’, ‘Treasure Bills’.
• Select ‘UK TREASURY BILL TENDER 3M.’ with code ‘UKTBTND’.
• Leave the datatype blank to get the default.
• Set up the date range, time period, then submit.
• Mention that the Economics category has no datatypes.

Activity 4: Find macroeconomic indicators (4 minutes)

Students to follow steps demonstrated by course facilitator and find 2-year US Treasury Bond rate from 1990–2008. Hint: the US has ‘Treasury Bonds’ instead of ‘Treasury Bills’ and the symbol is ‘USBDS2Y’.

Getting support (4 minutes)

Describe the most relevant Library support channels, as shown on the slide, including the business data drop-ins and online guides.

Give out the quick impact feedback survey.

Internal ID: R19–0582