Here's a great instructional video that shows you where, and how to download stock historical data for technical analysis.
The website referred to in the video is www.stockhistoricaldata.com
Two ways to get historical stock data
There's two really good resources to download historical stock market data:
The spreadsheet will save the .CSV files to your PC. The default location is c:\historicaldata\. The files are ready to be imported into technical analysis software programs that accept metastock format.
The website will go to yahoo finance, download the data, and reformat the data into your chosen format. Done! Then you can simply import the historical data into your charting software.
Link to both resources: stock market historical data
Bulk Download
This is a spreadsheet that can download and reformat historical stock data for traders. It is best used for large bulk downloads from one month, to 10 years of data. Simply enter your list of stocks, choose the start and end dates, and select the 'download' button.The spreadsheet will save the .CSV files to your PC. The default location is c:\historicaldata\. The files are ready to be imported into technical analysis software programs that accept metastock format.
Daily Download
This is an online function that is fast, and efficient. It can handle up to one month of 'daily' data, or one year of 'weekly' or 'monthly' data. The instructions are pretty self explanatory. Put in the list of stocks you're interested in, select the format, and date range, and press the download button.The website will go to yahoo finance, download the data, and reformat the data into your chosen format. Done! Then you can simply import the historical data into your charting software.
Link to both resources: stock market historical data
Where can I get bulk historical stock data?
There's a great spreadsheet you can download that will get years of historical stock data for you: stock historical data.
It is a bit slow, but for a free service that you'll use once off, you can't complain.
The data is sourced from yahoo finance, so is reliable, and up to date.
It is a bit slow, but for a free service that you'll use once off, you can't complain.
The data is sourced from yahoo finance, so is reliable, and up to date.
S&P 500 historical data
Download free S&P 500 historical data using the spreadsheet I've developed. 10+ years of data. EOD (end of day), end of week, or end of month.
How it works
Yahoo finance allows everyone to download their stock market historical data for free. Available all day, everyday, for stocks going back for over 10 years. It is the best source online. You can choose to download the stock adjusted, or unadjusted for dividends and stock splits. There are only two downsides to it:
1. Yahoo does not have a function to download ALL stocks for the S&P 500 at one time. You have so specify each individual stock for download. Each stock involves at least 5 clicks. Multiply that by 500, and that’s at least 2500 clicks to download all stocks.
2. The data downloaded is not in the required format. Most stock programs require the data in metastock format. Its not hard to do. Simply change the date format, insert the symbol at the start, and remove one of the unnecessary columns. Multiply that by 500 again, and that’s over 2 hours of data manipulation.
Lucky there is a solution. Since this task is very repetitive, its easily automated. I've written a excel spreadsheet macro that will do the task for you. And it’s completely free. I hope my spreadsheet will help other stock traders in the world.
spreadsheet >> S&P 500 historical data
Good luck!
How it works
Yahoo finance allows everyone to download their stock market historical data for free. Available all day, everyday, for stocks going back for over 10 years. It is the best source online. You can choose to download the stock adjusted, or unadjusted for dividends and stock splits. There are only two downsides to it:
1. Yahoo does not have a function to download ALL stocks for the S&P 500 at one time. You have so specify each individual stock for download. Each stock involves at least 5 clicks. Multiply that by 500, and that’s at least 2500 clicks to download all stocks.
2. The data downloaded is not in the required format. Most stock programs require the data in metastock format. Its not hard to do. Simply change the date format, insert the symbol at the start, and remove one of the unnecessary columns. Multiply that by 500 again, and that’s over 2 hours of data manipulation.
Lucky there is a solution. Since this task is very repetitive, its easily automated. I've written a excel spreadsheet macro that will do the task for you. And it’s completely free. I hope my spreadsheet will help other stock traders in the world.
spreadsheet >> S&P 500 historical data
Good luck!
The best place to get free EOD historical data
Of all the places online where you can get free EOD historical data, yahoo finance is the best. Why? Because it caters for many stock exchanges in the world. Many other websites may only cater for one stock exchange, mainly U.S. stocks. If you live outside the U.S, it is significantly harder to get free historical stock data. The complete list of stock exchanges supported by yahoo can be found here: yahoo finance exchanges. To date, there are about 60 stock exchanges supported on yahoo. Thats about 60 countries yahoo caters for. No other online source support for that many stock exchanges.
The amount of historical data you can download is all dependent on the age of the stock, and the data provider. Some stocks on yahoo go back over 40 years! Some stocks are younger, and have only 10 years of data. But let me emphasise again how much data there is stored on yahoo for you to download. Alot! And its all free. Anyone in the world can download the data for their technical analysis.
The only downside to all this free data, is that yahoo makes it a little hard to download their data. Just a little. There's many ways around it, like this spreadsheet I wrote to bypass their troublesome ways: historical stock data downloader.
Let me explain. Yahoo does not allow you to state your stock exchange and say 'give me all historical data for the NYSE stock market for the past 10 years'. No no, they don't want to make it that easy for you. You have to specify each stock that you want. You have to download historical data one stock at a time. Thats alot of clicks for 500+ stocks.
Another way that yahoo makes it harder for its users, is that it uses its own format. Most software programs use metastock format. Yahoo chooses not to provide their data in this format. So users will not only have to manually download each stock, but then they have to go and reformat it into metastock format. What a pain!
Lucky for you, this is easily automated. I've written an excel spreadsheet macro so users don't have to do all that clicking, and reformatting. Downloading is as easy as the click of a button. I hope you enjoy my free spreadsheet, and share it round to others looking for free EOD historical data. Enjoy!
spreadsheet >> historical stock data
The amount of historical data you can download is all dependent on the age of the stock, and the data provider. Some stocks on yahoo go back over 40 years! Some stocks are younger, and have only 10 years of data. But let me emphasise again how much data there is stored on yahoo for you to download. Alot! And its all free. Anyone in the world can download the data for their technical analysis.
The only downside to all this free data, is that yahoo makes it a little hard to download their data. Just a little. There's many ways around it, like this spreadsheet I wrote to bypass their troublesome ways: historical stock data downloader.
Let me explain. Yahoo does not allow you to state your stock exchange and say 'give me all historical data for the NYSE stock market for the past 10 years'. No no, they don't want to make it that easy for you. You have to specify each stock that you want. You have to download historical data one stock at a time. Thats alot of clicks for 500+ stocks.
Another way that yahoo makes it harder for its users, is that it uses its own format. Most software programs use metastock format. Yahoo chooses not to provide their data in this format. So users will not only have to manually download each stock, but then they have to go and reformat it into metastock format. What a pain!
Lucky for you, this is easily automated. I've written an excel spreadsheet macro so users don't have to do all that clicking, and reformatting. Downloading is as easy as the click of a button. I hope you enjoy my free spreadsheet, and share it round to others looking for free EOD historical data. Enjoy!
spreadsheet >> historical stock data
What it means to own stocks
What is a stock?
A stock is a share of the ownership of a company. A stock represents a claim on a portion of the company's assests and earnings. Stocks, shares, or equity, they all mean the same thing.
Owning Stocks
Holding onto stocks means that you are one of the many owners, or shareholders of a company. You have a small claim to the company's assets. All of their assets, even including the cushions of the couches in their building. In reality this piece of ownership is very small. You are entitled to the company's profits, and have the right to vote within the company as well.
A stock certificate represents your ownership of the stock. This proof is not usually printed in today's electronic age. Your broker keeps an electronic copy on your behalf. This makes it easier to trade shares. If you were buying and selling shares every few days, or even multiple times a day, that would involve alot of stock certificates. In the past, you needed to physically take the certificate down to your brokers. Nowadays, trading is alot easier, with electronic copies of all your stock certificates stored on your broker’s server.
Although being a shareholder means you can have a claim on the company’s assets, it does not mean you have a say in the company’s day to day business. The extent of your power can be expressed at one vote per share at the annual board of directors meetings. Although theoretically shareholders can vote against the management of the company, this is not usually the case. The management of the company are responsible for the running of the company, and you as a shareholder collect dividends every 6 months.
From an investment perspective, this arrangement is great. You don’t have to work for your money. The company’s board of directors have to do all the leg work. You just own the shares, and sit back to watch the profits flow in through the dividends. The more shares you own, the larger your dividends will be. Your claim on assets is only relevant if a company goes bankrupt. In case of liquidation, you'll receive what's left after all the creditors have been paid.
Another benefit of owning stocks is that you are not liable for any of the company’s debts. The most you can lose is the value of your investment. If the company goes bankrupt, you can never lose your personal assets.
In summary, owning stocks does seem to be a win-win scenario. You have a claim on the profits of the company, and can get rewarded through its dividends, without being responsible for the company’s day to day running, or its debts.
A stock is a share of the ownership of a company. A stock represents a claim on a portion of the company's assests and earnings. Stocks, shares, or equity, they all mean the same thing.
Owning Stocks
Holding onto stocks means that you are one of the many owners, or shareholders of a company. You have a small claim to the company's assets. All of their assets, even including the cushions of the couches in their building. In reality this piece of ownership is very small. You are entitled to the company's profits, and have the right to vote within the company as well.
A stock certificate represents your ownership of the stock. This proof is not usually printed in today's electronic age. Your broker keeps an electronic copy on your behalf. This makes it easier to trade shares. If you were buying and selling shares every few days, or even multiple times a day, that would involve alot of stock certificates. In the past, you needed to physically take the certificate down to your brokers. Nowadays, trading is alot easier, with electronic copies of all your stock certificates stored on your broker’s server.
Although being a shareholder means you can have a claim on the company’s assets, it does not mean you have a say in the company’s day to day business. The extent of your power can be expressed at one vote per share at the annual board of directors meetings. Although theoretically shareholders can vote against the management of the company, this is not usually the case. The management of the company are responsible for the running of the company, and you as a shareholder collect dividends every 6 months.
From an investment perspective, this arrangement is great. You don’t have to work for your money. The company’s board of directors have to do all the leg work. You just own the shares, and sit back to watch the profits flow in through the dividends. The more shares you own, the larger your dividends will be. Your claim on assets is only relevant if a company goes bankrupt. In case of liquidation, you'll receive what's left after all the creditors have been paid.
Another benefit of owning stocks is that you are not liable for any of the company’s debts. The most you can lose is the value of your investment. If the company goes bankrupt, you can never lose your personal assets.
In summary, owning stocks does seem to be a win-win scenario. You have a claim on the profits of the company, and can get rewarded through its dividends, without being responsible for the company’s day to day running, or its debts.
Basics of Stocks
Wouldn't you love to be a business owner, but never have to rock up to work? Wouldn't it be great to sit back, and watch your company grow from the comfort of your own home? You can sit back while the dividend checks roll in. This may sound too good to be true, but is more achievable than you think.
Have you guessed it yet? Yup, that's right. I'm talking about stock trading. This financial instrument is the greatest tools ever created for personal wealth building. They are the cornerstone of almost all investment portfolios. Once you start on the road to building your own wealth, and eventually achieving financial freedom, you will need a solid understanding of stocks, and how to trade on the stock market.
In the past thirty years, the internet has created more opportunities for the average person to participate in the stock market. People's interest have grown exponentially since the boom of the net. Trading stocks used to be only for the rich, and powerful. Now, almost anyone can trade stocks with only a few hundred dollars. The internet has not only made it easier for people to trade stocks, but has also provided people with plenty of free information online. People no longer need to buy stacks and stacks of books to gain a thorough understanding of the stock market. All this information is available online for free, or for a small price.
Despite the increased popularity of stock trading, most people don't fully understand them. Many people glean small bits of information from overheard conversations on the train, or from their colleagues over a coffee. There's no guarantee these people know what they're talking about. Most likely, you've heard people saying something along the lines of "My cousin's stocks tripled in price since he's bought it. Now he's buying stocks XYZ". You're less likely to hear stories of "I lost 5k in stocks XYZ when I bought it at the top of the boom". People are less likely to tell you their failures, than their successes. All this information is based on the get-rich-quick mentality. Many people think that stocks is the way to instant wealth, with no risk attached. This is not the case, as proven by the global financial crisis that wiped many people's account. The best approach to trading stocks is education, and information. Protect yourself from making silly mistakes by learning, and understanding what you are doing, what you are risking, and making educated choices.
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