5 easy steps to getting S&P 500 historical data

There are two options you have for getting some free historical stock data for the S&P 500. First you need to decide  how much data you need. If you're looking for years of data, see option 1. If you already have a database full of historical data, and just want to keep it up to date, see option 2. Option 2 is best for 1 day to 1 month of data.

Option 1
This is best to get large amounts of historical stock data. The process can take a little while, but is free, and reliable.

  1. go to S&P historical stock data
  2. download the spreadsheet provided on the website
  3. get the list of stock symbols from the website. otherwise you can provide your own.
  4. Paste the symbols into the spreadsheet.
  5. Press the 'Download' button, and you're done!

You now should have a list of files containing historical stock data in metastock 7 format on your PC. The default location is c:\historicaldata\


Option 2
This is best for keeping your existing data up to date. About 1 day to 1 month of historical data.

  1. go to S&P 500 historical data
  2. get the list of stock symbols from the website. otherwise you can provide your own.
  3. click on the 'Daily Download' page.
  4. Paste the stock symbols into the text box.
  5. Press the 'Download' button, and you're done!
The historical stock data will be in a text box in your browser. Simply copy this into a text file, and import it into your charting software program.