Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What are Symbol List Files?

A1. Symbol list files are simple text files consistent of stock symbols separated by carriage return

Q2. What are the indices symbols?

A2. Here are some of the commonly used indices. For an extended list please visit http://finance.yahoo.com/m1?u

^IXIC Nasdaq Composite
^DJI DJIA
^SPC S&P 500

Q3. There is no quote for today's date. Why?

A3. Historical end-of-day quotes are updated on a daily basis on the quotes server after the close.

Q4. It seems that the data is incorrect. Why?

A4. Occasionally quotes returned by Yahoo data server are incorrect. Unfortunately this does occur with almost all historical quotes data providers.

Q5. Why do I see "Connection Error or Symbol Not Found" message?

A4. This message may be a result of a network failure while downloading the quotes or an incorrect stock symbol.

Q6. I need historical stock quotes for another exchange ( rather than NASDAQ, NYSE or AMEX) How do I download quotes for these stocks?

A6. Please use suffixes as explained here Supported Exchanges

Q7. How are the quotes formatted in an output files?

A7 [Symbol Optional,]Date,Open,High,Low,Close,Volume

Q8. How do I preview quotes?

A8. Double-click with left mouse button on the symbol in the list or, alternatively, highlight the symbol and select "Quotes" then "Preview"