Data for Multiple Companies
in a Sector
(e.g. UK banking or Japanese car firms)
Before you start: please work through the guide Logging on and
getting started with Datastream. It would also be helpful if you have
used our guide for Company/Equity Data as this outlines some of the
generic steps in more detail than this guide.
1. We will search for Japanese car companies. To begin, open Excel.
2. Click on Datastream tab then Time Series Request. The following box
will appear:
3. Click on the
List Picker
button. This will
open the List Picker box.
4. Click on the
Datastream List
Wizard button
(bottom left-hand corner of
the List Picker box). This will
open the List Wizard.
5. In the List Wizard, select
Create a new List and then
click Next.
6. On the next List Wizard make sure the data category is set to ‘equities’
and then click on the
button. This will open the Datastream
Navigator. The Navigator is used to find Datastream Mnemonics (codes).
In this example, we will search for Japanese car companies.
In Navigator, make sure that the Data Category is Equities.
Choose a Japanese car company (e.g. Nissan) and type it into the search box.
Click Search. You will see the first ten results matching your search, with the
most relevant results at the top.
Finding the right company – look for one that has the right currency
(Japanese Yen in this case) and 3 stars.
If necessary, use Refine Search to
filter the results. For example, by
Market (country) or by currency.
Click on a company in the list, to
display more detailed information
below. Further information can be
displayed in the editable chart on
the left.
7. At the bottom of the results table
See the option ‘Explorers’ and click on
your chosen sector - Japan »
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Automobiles & Parts in this
particular search.
8. You will then see a list of companies in the same sector as Nissan, i.e. the
Japanese ‘Automobiles & Parts’ sector.
Using the check boxes to the left of the company names, select the
companies you would like data for and click Use. Or click on All Results to
select all companies in the sector.
Clicking on either Use or
All Results will return you to the List Wizard.
9. In the List Description box, type a
descriptive name for your list
(e.g. ‘Japanese Automobiles and Parts’)
10. Click Next.
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11. In the List File box,
enter a file name. This
should not have spaces and
should end with .LLT
e.g. Japaneseautos.LLT
12. Under Save Options
choose Save as Local List
only.
13. Click Finish.
14. From the List Picker,
select your list and click OK.
This will put your list into
the Time Series Request
box below.
15. By default, Datastream
will give you price (P), i.e.
share price for the
company. If you would like
another type of data (e.g.
price earnings ratio), you
will need to search for the
code. To find another
datatype click on
You must search for and
retrieve your datatype
Mnemonic (code) as shown
below.
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16. Put ‘price earnings’ into the box to find all matching datatypes. . Click on
the yellow stars to see definitions of the datatypes.
Tick the box next to your chosen datatype and click use. This returns you to
Time Series Request box and places the code in the Datatypes box.
IMPORTANT NOTE: we do not have access to all data types. We do have
access to Key Datatypes, Worldscope and Datastream datatypes. We also
have access to some IBES datatypes.
17. In the Frequency box, use the drop down list to choose the frequency of
the data: daily/weekly/monthly/quarterly/yearly.
Note: not all data types are available for all frequencies, so you may need to
try different options. Choose the time period you are interested in by
entering a Start Date and End Date in the format dd/mm/yy.
Alternatively you can enter a Start Date number of days (D), weeks (W),
months (M), quarters (Q), or years (Y) ago from today, e.g.
-3D means start three days ago from today
-10Y means start ten years ago from today (note: you must use upper case letters)
18. In the Options section,
tick:
Display Row Titles
Display Column Titles
Display Headings
Display Currency
Embed
Visible Button
IMPORTANT:
Do NOT tick Auto Refresh
(This will link your Excel
spreadsheet to Datastream
and wipe out your data
when you use a different
computer.)
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19. Click Submit to run your request. Data will be downloaded into Excel
and should look something like this:
Note: data will be downloaded into the Excel cell that you are clicked in when
you open the Time Series Request box.
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Looking for further data for the Japanese Car Industry
If you want to download more data on the same companies you can return to
your search and add this to your time series request. If you want to search
for a new set of companies, open a new worksheet in Excel instead.
a/ If you want to add to or
amend your search, you can
use the visible button that is
embedded in your
spreadsheet. By default it is
entitled ‘refresh’, but if you
right click on this you get the
option to choose ‘editor’ as
shown here. Choosing ‘editor’
will return you to the time
series search box as shown
below.
b/ If you want to
remove ‘price
earnings ratio’ delete
PE in the box. To
find a new variable to
add, click on
to open the
Navigator. Clear the
last search and then
search for ‘dividend
yield’, tick the box
and click on ‘use
selected’ to add it to
your search.
Remember to save your work to your memory stick or H:drive.
When you have finished in Datastream, please log off by choosing ‘file’ and
‘exit’.
[HJR/JMH Feb 2015. N.B. Some content courtesy of Adam Hill/Harry Gibbs, Southampton University
Library 2012.]
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