Searching the terminal is performed through the command line that is located on the top of the screen:
To search for a security (or anything else), we simply start typing its name or ticker in the command line (other identifiers such as the ISIN code also work) and the Bloomberg's autocomplete feature will suggest possible results.
Either by mouse or using the up and down arrow keys we can navigate through the suggestions list and select the desired entity by pressing the <GO> (ENTER) key or clicking on it.
We can see that both database functions and securities of different types get listed as recommendations. If our desired entity is not on the recommended list, we can choose More Securities and find it in the full database list.
Observe that in the recommended list both Paypal's stocks (PYPL US Equity) and corporate bonds (PYPL Corp) get recommended, so we need to be careful to choose the right security from the drop-down menu.
However, we can make use of the special Bloomberg keyboard buttons in order to simplify the search and focus on a single category of assets. Pressing <Equity> (i.e., F8) will automatically add "Equity" to the command line and direct the search towards equities only.
Hence, we can type PAYPAL <Equity> (the text in "< >" will represent the special Bloomberg keyboard buttons), find the right security and select it using mouse or pressing <GO>, which will send us to the function menu.
We would do the same for other asset categories, such as for example:
Note: to get the spot data for some commodities, such as gold and silver, we need to choose <Curncy> as pressing the <Comdty> key will by default show the data for their futures contracts.
To search the whole database, we can simply press the <Search> key, which will bring us to the following page where we can type a query in the orange bar. Press <GO> to perform the search.
Searching for "target" will open the following page. Top results are suggested, but the outlined bar on top of the page (see below) also allows us to search within individual categories.
We can also press <Search> button after writing a keyword. For example, TARGET <Search> will send us to the same page above.
