Sample Search:Compare interest rates for U.S. and U.K.
three-month Treasury Bills on a quarterly basis from 1992 to the present.
Finding the Code:
To find Datastream codes for interest rates you may enter HELP IR? in
the "Program Number" area in the main program window. The new program
window will prompt you to choose the geographic region your interest rate
deals with, from a given list. Choose the United States and page through
to find the correct code number for three-month U.S. Treasury Bills. The
code is USTBR3M. The code for three-month U.K. Treasury Bills may be
found similarly by instead choosing the U.K. from within the HELP IR?
program. The code is LDNTB3M.
Finding the Program:
Step 1- Simple comparisons can most easily be made using Datastream
graphs. To allow your series to be displayed in graphical format,
choose the request type "graphics" in the main program window. Next,
select interest rates as your type of data. From the resulting
list of available programs, choose the one that says:
Line chart of up to 3 series and Press Enter.
Step 2 - In the new program window you may enter codes for up to 3
series. Enter the two Treasury Bill rate codes on separate
lines, pressing tab to skip to the next line. Next, enter the
time period. In our case, the start date will be 1/1/92. To
indicate that you want all the data from 1992 to the present,
do not mark an end date. These are all the parameters that you must
enter in this case. This particular program allows you to choose from
several methods of representation. You may choose for the graph to show
actual values or various adjusted values. By default,
your graph will map the actual Middle Rate (datatypes
available for interest rates include: bid rate, offered
rate, mortgage rate, etc.) for your two Treasury Bills on a daily
basis. Press enter and the desired graph will be displayed. If you
entered any parameters incorrectly, the program will stop, describe your
error, and allow you to enter each item again.
Things to Remember:-
The International Monetary Fund's interest rates data is not
included in the Interest Rates category. It can be found under
Economics. Use program 150Z 97 (IMF:IFS DATABASE) for help in finding
these codes. Interest rates will be listed under each country.
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