1. The Advantage of Excel Integration
2. Historical Market Data Downloads with DownloaderXL
3. Real-time Market Data Downloads with RTQuotesXL
4. Options Data Downloading with OptionsXL
5. Comprehensive Portfolio Tracking with PortfolioXL
6. Conclusion

The Advantage of Excel Integration

Successful traders and fund managers know that having instant access to historical and current stock, index, options, and mutual fund quotes lets them make better informed trades and react faster to changes in the market. However, most software tools for downloading quotes available today require an unwieldy import process to get downloaded quotes into popular analysis tools such as Microsoft Excel. This wastes precious time that could make the difference between a good trade and a missed opportunity.

DownloaderXL Package is a suite of downloading and portfolio management tools for the beginning or intermediate trader that downloads quotes directly into Microsoft Excel. Tight integration with Excel gives you the added power and flexibility of having macros or analysis functions act on the downloaded data immediately. Also, charts can be generated instantly based on downloaded data. All the tools provided in the suite are accessible from the Excel toolbar.

DownloaderXL Package includes tools for downloading free historical, 15-minute delayed, and fee-based real-time stock, index and mutual fund quotes, as well as 15-minute delayed options quotes. A comprehensive portfolio management add-in is provided that continuously monitors the price value of your portfolio and your transaction history. The software is designed for small to medium-sized portfolios. For downloads of hundreds of quotes simultaneously we recommend our BulkQuotesXL product, included with the AnalyzerXL and TraderXL Pro Packages (visit www.analyzerxl.com for more information).

This white paper discusses the various Excel tools included in the package, and showcases the flexibility and power that downloading and tracking your portfolio directly in Excel provides.

Historical Market Data Downloads with DownloaderXL

The core component of the suite, DownloaderXL, downloads free historical stock, index and mutual fund data from Yahoo! Finance directly into your Excel workbook. Historical data is available from exchanges in the USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, Germany, France, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, India and more.

The DownloaderXL interface is extremely easy to use. You can update downloaded data with one click, and only update selected stocks. The tool also provides advanced charting capabilities, generating candlestick, bar, and line charts from downloaded data quickly and easily.

Example - DownloaderXL

As an example, let's say you want to download historical data for Microsoft (MSFT) from September 3 until today (at the time of writing, January 07, 2004). You simply select "Data Download" from the DownloaderXL menu, which brings up the main interface:

After setting your download parameters, such as what data fields (High, Open, Close, etc.) you wish to download and where you want the data to be output, click "Get Historical Data." The data is then downloaded directly from Yahoo! Finance to your Excel workbook, as shown below:

In addition to the downloaded data, candlestick and line charts have been generated, providing you an excellent visual indication of the stock's price and volume history.

It may be the case that you're tracking historical data for many stocks in a single workbook, yet you only require an update for one or a few of those stocks. DownloaderXL's selective update capability lets you update only those stocks you are interested in, saving you precious time and bandwidth.

Real-time Market Data Downloads with RTQuotesXL

The next component of the suite, RTQuotesXL, downloads fee-based real-time stock, index, futures, options and mutual fund quotes from Yahoo! Finance. It also downloads free 15-minute delayed quotes from Yahoo! Finance.

RTQuotesXL can also be used as a Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) Server, meaning it can provide real-time quotes to any third party application which is DDE-compliant.

RTQuotesXL - Example

Lets say we are interested in tracking three stocks: Research in Motion (RIMM), Microsoft (MSFT), and Dell (DELL). First, you enter the tickers into the RTQuotesXL Manager, an easy-to-use interface that launches directly from the Excel toolbar. The software then generates two spreadsheets. The first is "Quotes (Vertical)" for real-time charting and technical analysis, as shown below:

The second is the "Quotes" spreadsheet for real-time quote tracking, as shown below:

Both spreadsheets are updated continuously as a background process. Again, since the data is available in Excel form, it is easy to integrate your own macros or apply technical analysis functions. Technical analysis functions are not included with the DownloaderXL Package, but are included with the AnayzerXL or TraderXL Pro Packages. For more information, please visit the www.analyzerxl.com Web site.

Options Data Downloading with OptionsXL

The next component in the DownloaderXL suite, OptionsXL, downloads free options data directly into your Microsoft Excel spreadsheets.

OptionsXL downloads data from the CBOE (Chicago Board Options Exchange) for virtually all options listed on the CBOE, AMEX (American Stock Exchange), PHLX (Philadelphia Stock Exchange), PCX or PSE (Pacific Stock Exchange), and ISE (International Securities Exchange).

Example - OptionsXL

The interface for downloading options data is extremely easy to use. First, you select "Download Options" from the "OptionsXL" menu in the Excel toolbar. This brings up the main interface:

Next, you enter the ticker in the "Ticker:" field. In this case, we are interested in Microsoft (MSFT). After setting the remaining parameters, select the "Get Data" button. The available options and their current prices are then downloaded directly to your currently active spreadsheet:

The downloaded information is quite comprehensive, including Strike Price, Bid, Ask, and Expiration Date for all downloaded Calls and Puts.

Comprehensive Portfolio Tracking with PortfolioXL

The PortfolioXL add-in brings powerful portfolio tracking capabilities to the DownloaderXL suite. It allows you to create a portfolio of stocks that can be updated intraday. Specify the tickers, commission rate, purchase price and date, and PortfolioXL will monitor the current price value of your portfolio, along with the net and percentage gain/loss for each position. PortfolioXL downloads free delayed stock, index, and options quotes from Yahoo! Finance from over 50 markets worldwide.

In addition to providing you with a snapshot view of the current state of your investments, PortfolioXL will keep a detailed record of your transaction history in a separate worksheet. This gives you a complete record of all buy/sell activity and commissions paid on transactions.

Conclusion

The DownloaderXL suite of Excel add-ins is a comprehensive investment data downloading and portfolio tracking solution. It is ideally suited for tracking a small to mid-sized portfolio of investments. The DownloaderXL suite provides similar, and, in many cases, superior functionality to leading advanced trading software packages, but at a fraction of the cost. The tight integration with Microsoft Excel lets you apply technical analysis or custom functions directly to downloaded data, providing power and flexibility unmatched by competing products.