Welcome to the QuoteGrabber Help System

Help Topics.
  1. Creating a new List.
  2. Deleting a List.
  3. Finding Symbols.
  4. Entering Symbols.
  5. Deleting Symbols.
  6. Reordering Columns
  7. Reordering Rows
  8. Alerts
  9. Configuration (proxy, etc.)
  10. Exporting a List
  11. Portfolio Manager
  12. Real-Time quotes
  13. Auto-Upgrade

Creating a new List. [top]

Click on the "new List" button with the shiny folder icon on it, fill out the "name" and optionaly the "date", "owner" and "description" fields. Click "OK" and a new blank List will appear, ready for you to fill out.

Deleting a List. [top]

Select the List you wish to delete, bringing it to the front. Click on the "broken folder" icon or choose the "List|Delete" menu. Confirm deletion by clicking "OK" in the dialog box.

Finding Symbols.[top]

Click on the magnifier icon on the toolbar or select the "List|Search" menu. In the search window, select the country for which you want to search. Enter a search string, for example "Boeing", and press "Search". After a few seconds a list of matches should appear in the lower window pane. Select an entry to see the corresponding symbol in the status bar. Double-click on an entry to add it to the QuoteGraber's currently displayed list. To add to another list.

Entering Symbols. [top]

New stocks symbols can be entered several at a time in the text field on the toolbar. You can find ticker symbols by going to "http://quote.yahoo.com/l?o=t" (US and Canada) or to "http://quote.yahoo.co.uk/lookup.html" (UK, France, Germany).

The QuoteGrabber might not recognize what stock exchange a symbol belongs to and thus won't know what server to contact to get quote data. For any non-US stock symbol you should append a two-letter country extension to the symbol when entering it. These country extensions are the same as Internet extensions: "fr" for France, "uk" for the UK, "de" for germany.

For example "British Airways" has the symbol "BAY" on the London stock exchange, so enter BAY.UK (or bay.uk, case is not important). The German stock "BASF" has the symbol "515100", so enter "515100.de". Paris stock "Air Liquide" has the symbol "12007", so enter "12007.FR". If you enter a symbol without extension it will be considered as a US symbol, in any case you can always add ".us" to your tickers. Canadian stocks already have an extension (.M, .TO, .VC) depending in what Canadian market they are traded, and this extension will be recognized as Canadian.

Deleting Symbols. [top]

Select the line of a ticker you want to delete by clicking once on the grid. Right-click on your mouse and choose "delete" from the popup menu. Confirm deletion in the dialog box.

Reordering Columns. [top]

You can reorder columns by using "drag and drop". Hold your mouse pointer over a column header (the blue part) click and drag the floating column image to its desired location, release the mouse button. The dragged column will take the place of the column over which it was dropped and vice-versa.

Reordering Rows. [top]

Double-clicking on a column header sorts rows one way and double-clicking a second time sorts them the other way. A convenient way to quickly find the day's performers and laggards: double click on the "Var_%" column once to see the best and another time to see the worst.

Rows can also be reordered by drag-and-drop in the same way as columns. Click in the first column of the row ('Description') and hold your mouse button while dragging the row to its new position.

Alerts. [top]

Alerts can be entered by "opening" the little portfolios to the left of the stock descriptions. Clicking on the "+" sign will reveal the alerts section. To create a new alert enter a value in either of the "Level", "Variation" or "Volume" fields. For example a "1.4" value entered in the "Variation" field will trigger an alert when the stock's percentage variation goes over 1.4%. After an alert is created it can be modified by entering new values to existing or empty fields. Thus you can create an alert which will be triggered only by a combination of high volume and high/low variation, or any other combination. Fields on the same line are related by an AND condition: all fields must be triggered for the alert to occur. To do an OR condition simply create another alert.

Configuration. [top]

To setup the QuoteGrabber for use behind firewalls select the "File|Configuration" menu item and fill in host and port information for either "proxy" or "SOCKS". Optionally enter your login/password if your proxy does autentication then restart the application.

In the "Preferences" panel various options can be set, they are mostly self-explanatory

Exporting a List[top]

Selecting the "Lists|Export" menu will convert the current portfolio to a text file suitable for importing into a spreadsheet program.

Portfolio Manager[top]

Hidden inside the QuoteGrabber is a full-blown portfolio manager that allows you to:

  • record all your stock transactions, dividends, fees, splits;
  • easily compute your gain/loss on each stock;
  • view your asset allocation data through a pie-chart;
  • see your portfolio performance updated live with the market;

To access the Porfolio Manager select a stock in the main table, right-click on it and select "Portfolio" from the pop-up menu. The Portfolio Manager window will open itself.

There you can log all transactions for a given stock. For example to enter a "buy":
  • expand the Buy row either by double-clicking on it or by using the '+' sign;
  • click on the first empty gray box under "Date";
  • optionally modify the date if you want to record a past transaction;
  • use the TAB key or mouse to go to the next field;
  • when all fields are completed, press ENTER;
  • if the data formats are recognized the transaction is recorded and a new "New Transaction" row appears;

All past transactions can be deleted (right-click and "Delete" or main menu) or modified at will. To modify a field, click on it, enter new data and press ENTER.

To record a stock split use the appropriate row and enter the additional stock quantity you will get through the split. This amounts to a "Buy" with a price of zero.

As you enter transactions in the Portfolio Manager you can monitor your asset allocation by selecting "Portfolio View" from the "File" menu in the main QuoteGrabber window or by using the portfolio toolbar icon. The pie chart colors are selected at random but can easily be modified. To use new colors do the following:

  • click on the small color well next to the stock's name at the chart's right;
  • a color chooser will appear, mix you own favorite color;
  • with your mouse drag a color "swatch" from the color chooser's upper display towards a color well you wish to modify;
  • voilà, the pie chart slice's color is changed;

Real-Time Quotes[top]

Real-time quotes are available in the QuoteGrabber depending on three conditions:

  1. You run Windows95/98/NT or Linux, more platforms will be supported in the future. OS/2 might work but has not been tested.
  2. You have purchased a personnal license for the QuoteGrabber and received you registration key (see http://www.aparima.com/quote/register/ for information).
  3. You have an account with the real-time quotes provider. For example Datek offers free real-time quotes if you open an account with them (see http://www.datek.com).

To activate real-time quotes you should enter your user ID and password for the real-time quotes provider in the Configuration panel accessible through the "File|Configuration|Real-Time" menu. At this time only Datek real-times quotes is supported but more will be added. Then switch to real-time quotes display by selecting "Providers|Datek" menu. A key icon will appear at the right of the status bar to indicate that you are in secure mode with the real-time quote server.