Flexible ASCII Compatibility
INSIDER TA allows for easy manual entry of stock data or to accept
downloaded stock files from many online data providers.
An effective data downloader -- and one that we personally like -- is
MLDownloader
which downloads end-of-day historical stock quotes from various Internet sites.
The program gives you the option of saving your data in MetaStock or ASCII format
in any field format. Check out their FAQ's page
for more information.
Another data downloader you can look at is HQuote
Pro. It too allows free downloads from Quote.com and Yahoo data servers.
Like MLDownloader, data is stored in ASCII or Metastock format for
loading into Insider TA. (We've used HQuote Pro, but offer the following
notes: First, we never had to contact them for tech support, so we
do not know how responsive they may or may not be to your questions.
And second, do not feel hurried by their buy-by-this-date advertised
discounts. Several users have commented that their price is always
discounted by some percentage (it routinely bounces between 20 and
50%). But the software appears to be actively maintained by the author,
and it works as advertised).
ASCII Updating via Data Merger Utility
For those who decide not to join a full service data provider or purchase
an ASCII downloader such as MLDownloader (discussed above), Insider TA
has a special utility called the Data-Merger.
The Internet offers many resources that you can download daily recaps
of end-of-day stock price data. Insider TA's Data-Merger Utility
(shown below) can read these recap files to update each of your stock
files with the new data. Mind you, that this practice requires diligence on your
part. Because the Data Merger only appends recap data, if any recap downloads are
inadvertantly skipped (or forgotten) on a given day, your stock data will have a void in it's
historical timeline.
The existence of fine ASCII downlaoder products like MLDownloader has precluded
us from enhancing the Data Merger beyond it's current state (at least for the near term).
But the means by which you maintain your ASCII stock portfolio is up to you!
INSIDER TA's Data-Merger Panel
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