Macrobond 1.2 – the latest version of the leading research solution – brings a range of new and powerful charting & analytics features and content. New features include correlation analysis, scatter charts, scalar (yield curves), covariance, a multiple Excel up-loader and much much more. The new version also includes large new content sets and sources such as IMF Dots, individual bonds, Sovereign CDS data, BofA Merrill Lynch Fixed Income Indices and many more.

Macrobond’s aim is to keep the highest pace of product development in the industry, utilizing new technologies and by working in close cooperation with our users whilst developing Macrobond.

The new version can be installed directly via the Macrobond platform by clicking the yellow line that appears on the screen or by going to Help > Check for Update. If you need assistance, a description of how to upgrade is provided by the IT-department, which may be found here. Simply click Upgrade for further instructions.

Selection of new functionality

A new type of series: category series

In Macrobond 1.2 we have introduced a new type of data series. Previously there were only time series. The new type is called category series. It is a list of values where each value is not associated with a point in time, but rather with just an ordinal number. Each value can be assigned a category text.

The new category series are produced by some of the analyses.

An example of such a series:

Germany GDP3.99UK GDP1.66US GDP2.78

New presentation types

Category chart

Category charts are similar to Time charts, but they use category series. They show the categories on the x axis instead of time.

Scatter chart

A scatter charts has two values axes. You use two series for each graph. The values of the series are used as x and y coordinates in the chart. There are two variations of this chart type: Scatter chart, that takes time series as input, and Category scatter chart, that uses category series.

If the category series contains labels, these can automatically be placed close to the values in the chart as value labels.

Category table

A category table shows category series as a table.

Chart enhancements

Markers on line graphs

You can optionally select markers on line graphs.

Graph legend labels

You can show legend labels in charts. These are an alternative to the legend at the bottom of the chart.

Formatting of font etc. for axis text

A minor, but welcome, improvement is that you can now format font and color of the axis text separately. There is an example in the chart above: the % sign of the y axis is green.

New analyses

Correlation

With the correlation analysis you can compare two series and calculate the correlation at different lags. The result can then be presented in a category chart or table.

Slice

With the slice analysis you can cut a time series into smaller parts that can be compared side by side. This can be used to produce year-on-year charts like this:

Scalar

The scalar analysis calculates a number of values for each input series.

In this chart, the standard deviation is calculated for three input series. The result is then presented in a category chart.

Cross section

The cross section analysis looks at all input time series at each point in time and calculates one value. Examples of calculations are highest, lowest and mean value.

Covariation

By using the covariation you can calculate how the correlation, covariance, beta or alpha between two series has changed over time.

Enhancements in analyses

Seasonal analysis : The seasonal factors are available as an output series and you can view them in a category chart or table.

Regression analysis : You can now specify lags for input series. We calculate the “t” factor and present it in the report.

Smoothing : You can now select the type of parameter in HP smoothing.

User databases

There is a new type of in-house database called “Account database” where you can store your own time series. Series can be stored so that they are available only to you or to everyone in the company. The series are stored on the Macrobond servers and can be access on all computers you run Macrobond. You enter series in either the built-in series editor, or upload them from Excel sheets using our add-in.

Miscellaneous enhancements

“Fill down” on settings in analyses.

Filter on “discontinued” also in Browse, Companies.

Selection of new content

• The IMF Direction of Trade Statistics (IMF DOTS) provides critical data on the value of merchandise exports and imports between each country and all its trading partners. It reports total bilateral and multilateral exports and imports aggregated at national or regional group level
• Macrobond has extended its coverage of individual bonds. Additions include individual sovereign bonds for Euro countries and the U.S. – both nominal and inflation-linked ones for Eurozone and linkers for the U.S. Macrobond also offers individual bonds for Corporates, Mortgages and Supranationals
• The BofA Merrill Lynch fixed income indices track the performance of the global investment grade, high yield and emerging debt markets. In addition to the flagship global, regional and country specific indices, over 4,000 BofA Merrill Lynch indices divide the markets into smaller segments based on sector, rating, maturity, etc
• Global Sovereign CDS data- Credit curves for the following maturities: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 10 year for more than 80 countries worldwide. The CDS data comes with extensive history going back as far as 10-15 years
• The BP Statistical Review of World Energy provide high-quality, objective and globally consistent data on world energy markets
• NASDAQ OMX Commodities (Nordpool) provides access to the world’s largest commodity derivatives exchange and one of Europe’s leading carbon markets
• The J.P. Morgan Fixed Income database has been extended with new indices such as ELMI+ and hedged EMBI Global indices in various currencies. Macrobond has also extended the historical depth across index families in the database
• The KOF business tendency survey is a monthly survey of participating Swiss industrial companies from a variety of industries. Macrobond has added the Industry surveys which include both monthly and quarterly time series, both unadjusted & seasonally adjusted