How to stream data to MS Excel?
Author: evanolsen
Creation Date: 12/1/2017 4:27 PM
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evanolsen

#1
How can I use WLP to stream data (bid, ask, last, vol, etc) data into MS Excel? I am using Excel 2016 (Office 365). Are there extensions I need to download etc? I am experienced trader but inexperienced coder so please be specific. Thanks!
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Eugene

#2
Sorry, you can't. Fidelity data redistribution isn't endorsed in general. You can do the opposite thing, though: import data from Excel (and dozens of other sources).

Our objective is to provide a turnkey environment where you can do your analysis, backtesting and trading tasks in WLP. But why do you think you need the data exported into Excel? Maybe WLP could do this kind of task with some programming.
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evanolsen

#3
OK, are there other sources, besides Fidelity and WLP where I can receive a live data feed into MS Excel? I am currently trying to use an Excel add-in called "Stock Connector" but it, unfortunately, is not updating/refreshing the quotes the way it should. The reason I would like to use Excel is, Excel is far more flexible and customizable than WLP. My strategies involve pair trading and other arbitrage which requires a live feed. Thanks!
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Eugene

#4
Evan, we support Wealth-Lab Pro (and its international cousin Developer) here. Not ActiveTrader or Excel so your question is off topic on these boards. We're just not dealing with sending any data to Excel or whatever.

Pair trading can be done in WLP. Saying that Excel is far more customizable than WLP can't be farther from truth but I attribute it to that fact that you've just signed up for WLP. One has to possess some .NET developer skills to really "customize" many of its aspects.
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superticker

#5
QUOTE:
Saying that Excel is far more customizable than WLP can't be farther from truth but ... One has to possess some .NET developer skills to really "customize" many of its aspects.
I agree on both counts. WLP is much more customizable, but it does require some C# and .NET developer skills to get really fancy. But for canned solutions (and there are some WLP paired-trading strategy examples available for download), you don't need fancy programming skills.

One of WLP greatest features is its cache manager (part of Data Manager). Just like your web browser doesn't access the Internet directly, but goes through its own cache manager, so does Wealth Lab. Because of the unpredictable nature of the Internet, applications can't access data over the Internet directly in a reliable way; they instead need to go though a cache manager.

In contrast, Excel doesn't have its own cache manager. If you first download the stock data to disk, then let Excel access that data from disk, you should be fine. But if you're not using a disk or cache manager to "buffer" the data Excel is using, then there will be reliability issues, which you'll have to live with. That's why network applications (like browsers) cache their data.

Bottom line, I use both WLP and Excel. I do 97% of my stock stuff with WLP and 3% with Excel. I don't make any trade decisions with Excel, but I do evaluate which stocks should remain in WLP datasets with Excel periodically.

I previously used Excel for evaluating which stocks identified by the Fidelity stock screener (on their website) should be added to WLP datasets, but that's been replaced with a small command-line C# application, which is more turnkey.
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