Macrobond 1.4

Macrobond 1.4.1 – the latest version of the leading research solution – brings a range of new and powerful charting & analytics features and content. Our aim is to keep a very high pace of product development and we make a point of working very closely with our clients and partners. The next major release of Macrobond is planned to be released in Q1 2012.

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

Enhanced formula editor

The formula editor has been greatly enhanced and it is now easier to write complex formulas.

• You can filter the list of functions by typing a text in the box above the list of functions. Only functions that contain the text in the function name or description will be included in the list.
• The tooltip of a function in the list or in an expression will show details about the function:

• The tooltip of a series will show the title of the series:

• Numerical constants are dark red. Series, parameters and variables are blue. Comments are green.
• When the caret is just before a left parenthesis or directly after a right parenthesis, a blue shade on the background will show the area between the matching parentheses:

• When the caret is within or next to an identifier, all instances of that identifier in the expression are shaded:

• The editor will check the syntax as you write and show a red squiggle if there is an error. You can see the error text at the bottom of the editor or as a tooltip:

User defined formula functions

You can define your own formula functions that can be used in formulas just like the built in functions. Functions can be shared with other users, or be available only to you.

You can read more about user defined functions in the Macrobond formula language document.

Observation labels

Observation labels are labels that you can connect to a point in time on a graph. The label will be drawn relative the value. There are different styles to choose from.

Release calendar

The new Release activity shows a calendar of scheduled data updates of economic data that is updated on a regular basis. You can filter on regions and define your own favorites.

For the important releases we show a list of the main time series updated by the release. You can select one of the series and then use the Action bar to show the series.

Other

• More texts in charts can be localized. You can define the prefix to use for quarters and weeks and you can change the texts for scaling, such as million, thousand etc.
• New formula functions: Mod, COP, FMACD, SMACD, BollingerBandUpper, BollingerBandLower, Now, NormDist, NormDistInv, TDist, TDistInv, LogNormDist, LogNormDistInv, TwoPieceNormDist, TwoPieceNormDistInv, ChiDist and ChiDistInvLinear
• You can delete more than one series at a time in My Series. Select multiple series in the list and press Delete.
• In the list of news items in the Start activity there is now a button to mark all items as read.

Selection of new content

Complementary database additions

• Markit PMIs – Purchasing Managers’ Indices (PMIs), produced by Markit are available for 26 countries and key regions including the Eurozone and BRIC as well as by detailed sector.
• CBRE Commercial Property Data – The CB Richard Ellis Monthly Index is a leading barometer and market benchmark for U.K. commercial property performance. The Rent and Yield Monitor data contains Prime Rent and Average Prime Yields.
• GFI Company CDS – Global Corporate CDS (incl. Corporates & Supranational) includes credit curves for various maturities for companies worldwide.

Core Macrobond additions

• OECD Main Economic Indicators – The Main Economic Indicators (MEI) present comparative statistics that provide an overview of recent international economic developments through the presentation of a wide range of short-term economic indicators for the OECD member countries, five area totals and selected non-member countries.
• Bundesbank – First of two parts of the complete Bundesbank database. Economic data compiled by the Deutsche Bundesbank has been added as a separate node in the tree. The database includes detailed data for a variety of categories such as banking, national accounts, labour market and prices. The data is in English for major items and in German for items not translated by Buba.
• Citi Economic Surprise Indices
• Additional FTSE U.K. Equity Indices
• Balance sheet and flows of MFIs for individual countries from the ECB