HSQuote / HSQuote Plus Frequently Asked Questions
Click inside the box in the 'Portfolio' section, enter your new file name, or type over the existing file name. You need not worry about the file type extension. When finished, click inside the big ticker list box in the 'Tickers' section. The file name will be automatically appended with '.tic' extension, and a blank ticker list appears if it is a new file name. You may start typing in the ticker symbols in this 'Tickers' box. If the file name you have entered already exists, then the corresponding tickers will be listed in the box.
Once created, the portfolio will be included in the Portfolio list.
Please click on the 'Create Ticker List' button on the main screen of HSQuote to see an animated help on this topic.
The easiest way to edit ticker list is to type directly inside the 'Tickers' box. You may add, delete, or change a symbol within the box, just like in Notepad.
To add, just insert a new line (using ‘Enter’ key) and type in the symbol. You may insert at any place.
To delete, use ‘Delete’ or ‘Black Space’ key.
Another way to edit the ticker list is to type a symbol in the box on the left of the ‘Add’ and ‘Del’ buttons. Then pressing the ‘Add’ button will add this symbol onto the list. If the symbol already exists on the list, nothing will be added. Similarly pressing the ‘Del’ button will delete/remove the symbol from the list, if it exists.
Note that each line only consists of one ticker symbol. The ticker symbol should be the one used at the Yahoo! site. Please note that most Yahoo symbols are in UPPER case. If you are not sure, click the'Create Ticker List' button, and click on the Look Up Ticker Symbol hyperlink to go to the http://finance.yahoo.com/l website.
Please click on the 'Create Ticker List' button on the main screen of HSQuote to see an animated help on this topic.
The ticker symbols are stored in a text file, one symbol on one line. Please see the sample files, portfolio1.tic and portfolio2.tic. If you already have ticker files that are of the same format, you can copy them by pressing the 'Copy From' button. Even if the original file extension is not '.tic', the program will automatically make a copy and save it with the '.tic' extension. Note that if you copy a file from somewhere else, a new copy is created, and your existing file is still intact.
From version 1.87, HSQuote provides an automated tool to download the latest Yahoo tickers of major market exchanges, indices, US mutual funds and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), and assemble the ticker lists for you. You can access this feature via 'Open Menu >> Advanced Features >> Download Ticker Lists'.
For ticker symbols from other download sources (commodity futures, metals, forex, etc.), please click on the 'Create Ticker List' button on the main screen to see animated help on the relevant topics.
You can highligh a symbol in the Ticker List by double-clicking on the symbol or dragging your mouse over the symbol. If at least one symbol is highlighted when you press the 'Start' button, the download will start from that symbol to the end of the list. You may press the 'Pause' button (the 'Exit' button) to stop download process. You may use this feature to download selected block of symbols.
If you want to add several new symbols to a portfolio, but want to download for a long period just for these symbols, you can also make use of this feature. You just add the new symbols at the end of the Ticker List, and select/highlight the first of this group of new symbols. Then select the download period and press the 'Start' button. Only data for this group of symbols will be downloaded, MetaStock data generated and stored in the corresponding subdirectory.
After you first installed, all the ticker files are located in the same sub-directory as the installed program. However, you can move all the data files (.tic files, portfolio subdirectories, and all the data files and charts in these portfolio subdirectories) to another location, separate from the program files. You can find this feature in the Preference section.
When data is downloaded, and output generated, a folder will be open for each ticker file. For example, after running for the ‘portfolio1.tic’ ticker file, a folder called ‘portfolio1’ will be generated, and the output file, either ‘portfolio1.prn’ or ‘portfolio1.csv’, will be stored inside the ‘portfolio1’ folder. This folder structure is to facilitate the use of MetaStock. If you also select 'Convert to MS Files', the downloaded data will also be automatically converted to MetaStock data and stored in the 'portfolio 1' folder.
HSQuote provides several output files commonly used for charting analysis programs. There are three output file formats, two are editable text files (ASCII and Spreadsheet CSV files), and one is MetaStock data format. If you choose the ASCII file for MetaStock, the output file with an extension '.prn' will be automatically formatted for use with the MetaStock Data Converter. Better still, HSQuote can auto-convert downloaded data directly to MetaStock data files, you just need to select 'Convert to MS Files'. Note that many charting programs can import MetaStock data files, they are not just used by MetaStock program. Even if you do not use MetaStock data files, it may still be a good idea to use this format to store all downloaded data in an internal database.
The other format with an extension '.csv' can be used directly in a spread-sheet program, such as Microsoft Excel.
If you have data stored in MetaStock format, you can also use one of the Advanced Features to Convert MetaStock Files to CSV Files. One .csv file will be generated for each ticker symbol in the MetaStock data file folder. You may choose to store all these CSV files in any file folder.
Note that HSQuote Plus has enhanced charting capabilities, and you may not need a separate charting program. This will reduce the need to convert files and to run two programs.
HSQuote faithfully downloads data from Yahoo! data server. It does not modify the data in the download process, such as split data. However, split data can be taken care of in a separate step. You can use the 'Adjust for Split' feature within the Data View session. It will scan the selected portfolio and suggest possible security splits, open up Internet Explorer for you to validate the data split information, and adjust the data prior to the split date.
There are several things that the program makes your task easy. The date of the last download is stored and retrieved to be used as the Start (From) date of the new download. Today's date is used as the End (To) date. Thus, the program always suggests to download from when you left off until today. If you always use one single ticker file, you can use the 'Set as Default' button to keep it as the default when the program is open. All you need to do is just One-Click action: pressing the 'Start' button. You can even use the 'Task Scheduler' feature to set up a scheduled task to automatically download data at specific time daily.
You can download data for several ticker files at one go (just pressing Start once). For example, after downloading data for tickers in portfolio1.tic file, you want the program automatically download data for tickers in portfolio2.tic. All you need to do is to append 'PORTFOLIO2.TIC' to the end of the ticker symbols in portfolio1.tic (as you would normally add symbols), and select the 'Enable download of linked ticker files' option in Preference section.
Note that you can associate each ticker file with its specific download server. Also the Daily, Weekly, and Monthly selection is also associated with individual ticker files. Therefore, you can link all your ticker files with different natures and download at one go!
There are two possible causes:
1. Display DPI Setting is not set at 'Normal Size (96 DPI)': Go to 'Control Panel', select Display. On the 'Setting' tab, click on the 'Advanced' Button, then set the Display DPI to 96 DPI.
2. For some reason, the 'Microsoft Sans Serif' font has not been properly installed. Please download a copy of this font (click here) and follow the instructions below to install it in your computer:
To add a new font to your computer
1. Open Fonts in Control Panel.
2. On the File menu, click Install New Font.
3. In Drives, click the drive you want.
4. In Folders, double-click the folder that contains the fonts you want to add.
5. In List of fonts, click the font you want to add, and then click OK.
OmniTrader can read end of day (EOD) data - from any vendor using the
MetaStock, CSI, or AIQ Formats.
As Omnitrader can read Metastock format data, the most convenient way is to use
HSQuote software to download historical end-of-day data directly into Metastock
data - just select both the 'ASCII File for MetaStock' and 'Convert to MS
Files'. Click on 'Open Menu/File/Open Data File Folder', you can find a
sub-folder by the name of the corresponding portfolio tick list name. MetaStock data files (.dat)
are stored in this sub-folder.
Reference this folder in Omnitrader.
AdvancedGet can accept MetaStock File, thus this is the most convenient method to interface with HSQuote.
1. In Advanced Get, click File/Data Paths. When the Data Paths window opens,
click the 'Add...' button, the Format window will pop up. Select 'MetaStock File
Library', and click OK.
2. Then back in the Data Paths windows, uncheck eSignal if you don't need it.
Check MetaStock File Library (don't pick the wrong one), make sure it is
highlighted, and click 'Properties'. The MetaStock File Library window appears.
Now, uncheck Futures and Current Only, check Stocks and Indices. Choose the Path
to your MetaStock data folder, say, C:\Program Files\HSQuote V1\Portfolio2\.
3. You may use Page/Auto Page to
download all the chart pages.
If you get an error from Advanced Get: "Metastock File Library- Pathname\ Is Metastock installed? (6.51 or higher)? Can't load msfl70.dll or msfl65.dll", you will need to contact Advanced Get to request for the missing file. If you already own MetaStock software, you should have this file in the program. You can also search the web to purchase a legal copy of msfl65.dll.When you receive the file, save or copy it into the System32 folder located in the Windows or WINNT folder.
There are two ways to get historical currencies prices:
1. From Oanda server. Symbols are as follows or the like:
USDAUD=X
USDEUR=X
AUDUSD=X
EURUSD=X
Oanda only provides daily close prices. HSQuote makes the Open, High, and Low
prices the same as Close. You should plot line charts with such daily data. If
you use bar charts or candlestick charts for daily data, you will see dots and
dashes. For weekly or monthly charts, bar or candlestick charts are fine.
2. From Yahoo. Symbols are:
^ECU
EURO INDEX
^XCD CAN DOLLAR
^CAD AUSTR DOLLAR
^BPY
BRITISH POUND
^CJJ JAPAN YEN
All are against US dollars. This has OHLC data. You can use line, bar, or
candlestick chart for such data.
Note that the same Oanda symbols could be used on Yahoo just for last-trade snapshot, not historical data. Also, all currencies or forex data do not have volume (usually shown as 0).
Common mistakes are:
- Have not installed Microsoft Internet Explorer, IE 4 or higher.If the symbols used in your existing MetaStock database are different from those used at Yahoo website, you will need to change the symbols as well, in order for future Yahoo data to be merged with the existing database. One method is to use the MetaStock-to-MetaStock conversion in the Data Converter, with the 'Use Alias' option selected in the Destination. You need to open the 'Alias.csv' file located in the program installation folder, and put all the symbols of existing database in column A, and the corresponding Yahoo symbols in column B. After conversion, you can remove the added symbols from the 'Alias.csv' file.
You can use the 'Post-Download-Processing' feature which is available in HSQuote Plus. All you need is to add the respective conversion .cvt config file in the 'PostDownloadProcessing.xls' file, and select the "Do post download processing (HSQuote Plus only)' option (Preference/Other Options button). In fact, the Post-Download-Processing' feature can even dynamically modify the .cvt configuration file to correspond to the download dates. It can also provide other processing, such as Executing another application, move or copy a file or a folder, and delete a file, etc. Please refer to the User Guide for more details.
HSQuote only provides minimum charting capabilities. However, HSQuote Plus comes with about 60 commonly used technical indicators, several chart types such as various bar charts, candlesticks, Point & Figure, Renko, Kagi, Three Line Break, Equivolume, Equivolume Shadow and Candle Volume, etc. It also provides drawing tool and line analysis, user-defined templates for re-use of chart format, displaying Darvas Boxes, load/save/print charts, etc. Please refer to the User Guide for more details.
Yes, once you have registered, you can enjoy free update for HSQuote.
However, upgrade from HSQuote to HSQuote Plus will cost US$40 at the moment (actual price can change, always refer the pricing at http://www.1free-historical-stock-quotes-downloader.com/)
- 'My Web Server' to download data from user defined websites. Auto generate
ticker lists as well.
- Many enhanced charting features, including more chart styles, indicators, line
studies, chart templates, load/save/print charts, etc.
- Post download processing capabilities, such as data conversion, execute an
application, and move/copy/delete a file, or move/copy a folder.
The new version (http://www.1free-historical-stock-quotes-downloader.com/HSQuote.exe)
actually combines both HSQuote and HSQuote Plus. If you are a registered HSQuote
user, your personal key in the computer always forces the software to run as
HSQuote with the new updated features, and not the HSQuote Plus upgrade. To try
out HSQuote Plus featues, you can download the Trial version at:
http://www.1free-historical-stock-quotes-downloader.com/HSQuotePlus_Trial.exe
When you have decided to upgrade, you can go to 'Our Online Store' to
purchase (
http://store.eSellerate.net/s.asp?s=STR092616660 ). Alternatively, you can
order directly from within the HSQuote/HSQuote Plus program (Open Menu >> Upgrade
to HSQuote Plus >> Upgrade Now! >> Buy Now button). You will need to use the Production version and not the Trial
version.
http://www.1free-historical-stock-quotes-downloader.com/HSQuote.exe
Your personal key has been generated with a particular hardware finger-print corresponding to your computer hardware. This key will not work on another computer. During the purchase process, you will need to enter the 8-character hardware finger-print code. You get this code by clicking on the 'Enter Key' button on the start-up screen. You should not change any hardware until you have entered your personal key given after the purchase.
Once the key is entered, you can still make changes to your computer hardware. The key will remain valid until you have made more than 3 hardware changes. Please contact the author if you want to change computer or make more than 3 hardware changes.