BulkQuotesXL is the more robust sibling of DownloaderXL. BulkQuotesXL has a greater range of functionality and is more geared towards mass data acquisition. One of the standout features of BulkQuotesXL is the ability to obtain Futures data from PiFin the contracts are continuous and rolled on expiration. You can also download stock, indices and mutual fund data via Yahoo. The image below shows the BulkQuotesXL menu and the addins core functionality.

You can download a free 10 day trial of TraderXL Pro.

The most striking difference between BulkQuotesXL and DownloaderXL is the variable input screen. Instead of entering data via a dialog box you enter the data directly into cells in a control sheet. After clicking on the New Download Project you will be presented with a similar screen as shown below.

By adopting this approach it is a lot easier to automate your data acquisition and presentation. You can run Macros directly after data is imported. The one criticism I have is there is not enough documentation of all the available functions. BulkQuotesXL also has added templates that make the data import process that much easier. The screenshot below shows the standard templates.

The templates include:

• Column-by-column template.
• Row-by-row template.
• Summary template.
• Major world indexes template.
• Export data template.
• Historical futures data template.

We will select the Historical futures data template in order to showcase the features of this addin. It is a simple matter of clicking on the Historical Futures data icon and a new worksheet will be opened as shown below:

We will use these default settings for this project. The next step is to click on the Download/refresh data button and the data will be downloaded and inserted into different sheets as shown below.

The full range of futures contracts you can obtain are shown here.

You can download a free 10 day trial of TraderXL Pro.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Today we continue our brief look at the TraderXL Pro package and examine AnalyzerXL. In short AnalyzerXL allows you to apply technical analysis to price data. The technical analysis library is quite extensive with around 165 functions, experts and indicators. The best way to understand how AnalyzerXL operates is by way of example.

You can download a free 10 day trial of TraderXL Pro.

AnalyzerXL

The AnalyzerXL menu is shown below. As with most of the features of the addin the true complexity of this addin is abstracted away.

Before we run AnalyzerXL we use DownloaderXL to download the price data for our desired company. After the data is acquired it is a simple matter of selecting AnalyzerXL and a dialog box like the one shown below will appear.

In this dialog box you select the function, indicator or expert you wish to apply to your data. For this example we select the exponential moving average and click next. In this second dialog box we refine the variables as shown below:

After you are happy with all the settings then it is simply a matter of clicking the finish button and the output will be similar to the sheet shown below.

As you can see above the automatically generated graph needs some refinement however the power of having these pre-programmed functions available in Excel is a huge advantage.

You can download a free 10 day trial of TraderXL Pro.

With the ability to automate these functions with VBA and back and forward test strategies AnalyzerXL is a solid component in the TraderXL Pro package. The full list of functions, indicators and experts is shown below. Read the full story

Popularity: 6% [?]

I am 3 days into my trial of TraderXL pro and it has impressed me so much that I have decided to take the plunge and buy it. I only wish I had purchased it earlier due to the decline of the Australian dollar as you can see below:

As you can see this is quite a substantial fall, this means that all my USD purchases will be more expensive. Bloomberg has an article on the dollars slide ahead of the release of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s quarterly monetary statement. As you can see from the order screen below TraderXL is not as cheap as it was last week due to the Australian dollar decline.

Not to worry I guess sometimes you have to spend money to make money. I am really looking forward to testing ClassifierXL and PredictorXL as the trial version of TraderXL Pro these applications are disabled. After all the order details are entered you will be emailed a link to download the software and will be issued a licence key. I received my email within 20 minutes and downloaded the application, it is a small 5.75 MB. I am off to continue reviewing this series of applications.

You can download a free 10 day trial of TraderXL Pro.

Popularity: 5% [?]

I am always on the lookout for tools and applications that will make life easier an on the weekend I stumbled across one of these applications TraderXL Professional. In my previous article you may have read that I was using the free Stock Market Functions Add In for Microsoft Excel to download data. This proved to be quite an easy to use plug-in however it is by design limited in its functionality.

TraderXL comprises of a suite of addins for Microsoft Excel, the addins include:

• AnalyzerXL
• BulkQuotesXL
• DownloaderXL
• RTQuotesXL
• PredictorXL
• BacktestingXL
• ClassifierXL
• PortfolioXL
• OptionsXL

I was truly blown away with the scope of this group of applications and reviewing them will be no small task. In the next few posts I will look at the core features of this package and I will showcase how I will be using them.

You can download a free 10 day trial of TraderXL Pro.

DownloaderXL

DownloaderXL makes it simple to download Equities, Indices and Mutual fund data from all the major markets around the world. For equities the data includes open, high, low, close and volume fields. The indices data also includes open, high, low, close and volume fields. The mutual funds data includes the net asset value. You can specify three different timeframes daily, weekly and monthly.

Downloading Stock Data

In order to show you how simple it is to download data using this tool we will download data for MSFT from May the 10th to August the 8th. The image below shows the DownloaderXL menu in Excel 2007.

In order to download data you need to click on Download Prices menu item and a dialog box will appear as shown below.

From this simple dialog box all the data input variables can be set. It is very simplistic in nature but yet powerful. You can enter a single ticker symbol or a list of symbols to download data for. You can also set what chart type you want generated after data import. Once you are happy with the settings it is simply a matter of clicking on the get historical data button. After downloading is complete a new sheet will be added to your workbook like the one shown below.

As you can see it is a very simple process to download data and integrate it into your spreadsheets. It is also easy to conditionally update your stock data. In the next article we will examine AnalyzerXL.

You can download a free 10 day trial of TraderXL Pro.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Original Photography: gbrunett

Today is considered a very lucky day for the Chinese as 8 is considered lucky. To find out why this is so we turn to the trusty online Chinese Astrology Guide.

“For Chinese the number 8 is considered lucky just like the number 7 is considered lucky in the West. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the Olympic games in China start on August 8, 2008 or 08/08/08. In China you have to pay extra to have the number 8 in your phone number or license plate. In addition, home and business owners like to have the number 8 in their address.”

That’s very interesting but why is 8 considered a lucky number?

“The main reason has to do with the pronunciation of the word for the number 8 in China. It is pronounced “ba” and sounds like the word for prosperity which is pronounced “fa”. Another reason why the number 8 could be considered lucky is because it is a perfect symmetrical shape.”

8 Lucky Links

1. Using economics to predict the Olympic medal count.
2. Synergies of the unpleasant kind: recessions, credit crunches and housing busts.
3. DJIA member trading ranges via TickerSense.
4. Check out Tim’s July earnings $45,000…. Does Tim ever sleep?
5. Freddie Mac Losses to get worse.
6. NYSE Floor Brokers Get New Tools.
7. Guerilla Gardening.
8. 8 Timeless Classic Movies That Critics Are Afraid Of.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Popularity: 2% [?]