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Pivotal Stock Ticker v1.2.4 |
| "Yet another free stock ticker!" |
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If like me, you have a meagre amount of money "invested" in stocks and shares,
then you're probably interested in how they're doing - usually badly of course!
I wanted a ticker that would sit in the corner of my screen, that wouldn't take
up too much room, was easy to configure and didn't ask me every five minutes for either
an upgrade or some money. Equally, I wanted something that wasn't emblazoned
with branding and other useless advertising crap.
Well, guess what, I couldn't find one! Most either cost money, lacked an
overall summary display or looked like some sort of Star Trek gizmo.
So, using some code we have here for showing application status, I wrote my own
and this is the results of my efforts. Feel free to criticise or make suggestions
for enhancements etc. I do development on this to keep me from going insane
in my normal development job so I'm always looking for some sort of distraction....
My goal was to keep it simple and lightweight.
Pivotal Stock Ticker uses Yahoo to get it's quotes so depending upon the stock
exchange, all quotes are delayed by at least 15 minutes. If this isn't a problem
for you, then Pivotal Stock Ticker might be just the gadget for you. In future releases,
I might introduce a way in which you can connect the ticker to the non-free version
of Yahoo Finance and get real-time quotes via your Yahoo subscription.
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Pivotal Stock Ticker allows you to monitor stocks that you have bought, the current
value of those stocks and the effect of any changes to those stocks on the value
of your portfolio. This last bit is the thing that I most wanted from the
ticker myself i.e. If I bought X shares of Yahoo at Y amount in 2007 and then bought
more shares at a different cost in 2008 what is my overall position now? Am
I up (not likely) or down (more than likely)?
I also needed to keep track of shares that I had bought in different exchanges
in different countries e.g. London as well as New York or the NASDAQ etc.
To make sense of this, Pivotal Stock Ticker understands foreign exchange (glad someone
does) and converts values/costs from the currency they are traded in, to your local
currency real time - it uses Yahoo FX rates.
Pivotal Stock Ticker allows you to change the colours, sizes and fonts of your
symbols and you can also customize the amount of actual data displayed. It also
shows charts of your stocks daily performance when hovering over symbols and it
doesn't get confused by multiple display monitors. You can
also "dock" the toolbar to the top or bottom of the screen so that
it isn't hidden by Windows toolbars and maximised top most
applications.
The application is written in VB6 and runs on any Windows platform - there are
no dependencies built into the executable apart from the ubiquitous msvbvm60.dll
runtime library and the GDI+ runtime. Both of these are included in the setup
file but you are likely to have both of these on your machine already anyway.
It does what I need it to do and probably does what you need too - give it a
try and if you like it perhaps you might want to "invest" a donation towards its
development. There's no obligation to pay money, but it would put a smile
back on my face if you did and make it much more likely that I will answer any questions
you have.
Enjoy! (if that's the right emotion when viewing your stocks)
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Getting Started
First thing you need to do is install it and run it which you can do from the
Start menu after you have run the installation.
The display is drag-able simply by clicking on any part of the black area and
dragging the window around the screen. The system won't allow you to drag
it off the screen and it will remember the position for ever more so that next you
run the ticker it displays in the last place you left it.
The sizing handles at each end of the display allow you to adjust the width of
the display by dragging them with the mouse.
The display is split into two main sections; Summary and
Symbols. Only the Symbols
area scrolls and it only scrolls when there is not enough space to show all the
symbols.
This area is split into two further parts;
| Portfolio Value |
This area of the display shows you the total position of your portfolio
i.e. all the values of the all the stocks multiplied by the number of stocks
you hold and summed together. This is displayed as the value and a
similar sum is done using the price you paid for the stock and this is displayed
as the Cost. The difference is also displayed with a colour to indicate
whether you up, down or level. See Editing Settings for a full list of
what can be displayed.
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| Stock Totals |
This is a summary of all positions of all your stocks when holdings
of the same stock are summed together i.e. if you had 500 USU at $5 and
500 USE at $7 then this would show USU at your average cost of $6 - this
is your cost base. It will show the current price for the stock and
also any variation in percentage from your cost base. See
Editing Settings
for a full list of what can be displayed.
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This is where each of your holdings is displayed. The name of the holding,
it's current value, the price you paid for it and the variation as a percentage
can all be displayed along with a colour to indicate whether the stock is up or
down from the price you paid.
If there are more symbols than can be displayed, then this area will scroll to
accommodate all symbols.
See Editing Symbols for a full list of what can be displayed.
Everything you can do with the application is accessed using the right mouse button.
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| Edit Symbols |
How you add symbols to display - see Editing Symbols |
| Edit Settings |
Where you change the look and feel of your display and what
to display in the summary area - see Editing Settings |
| Font Size |
This is where you can change the font size used by the ticker
- I've provided what I think is a small but decent sent of sizes
to choose from that will work for everyone. |
| Scroll |
This is the speed with which you want the scrolling area to
whizz past you. In actual fact, I stretch my display out so
that it never scrolls, I find it too distracting if there is something
continually moving on the screen. |
| Dock |
This allows you to Dock the application to the top or bottom
of the Desktop. This means that any other windows that are
maximised will never overlap the ticker display. To undock
the display, either select "No Docking" or simply drag the
ticker away from an edge and the docking is automatically
removed. |
| Refresh |
Don't want to wait for the display to refresh itself?
Click this to get the current prices immediately. The ticker
will automatically refresh the data every 30 seconds. |
| Run at Startup |
Click this option and the application will be added to your
Startup programmes so that it runs automatically every time you
start Windows. |
| Help |
Show this User Guide |
| About |
Show the version number etc |
| Check for new version |
Checks the Pivotal server for any new versions that might
have been made available |
| Exit |
Close and exit the ticker |
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This is where you control the look & feel of the ticker and where you tell the
system what you want shown in the Summary part of the display.
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| Yahoo Finance URL |
This is the fundamental URL used by the application to know
where to read it's stock quotes from. This is configurable
because occasionally the guys at Yahoo Finance will change this
and so you will need to modify it accordingly. don't worry
too much, they haven't change it in a few years so you're pretty
safe with the out of the box address of
http://download.finance.yahoo.com |
| Proxy Server |
If you have to use a proxy server to access the outside
world (perhaps you are accessing Yahoo from within a
corporation), then you can specify the proxy address here.
The address can be a fully qualified domain name e.g.
www.myproxy.com or an IP
address e.g. 192.168.0.1 The address must also have the
port number on the end e.g.
www.myproxy.com:8989,
192.168.0.1:3180 etc. |
| Update Every |
This governs how often the ticker checks for changes to values on the Yahoo web site.
The minimum value is 1 and the maximum 30.
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| Colours & Fonts |
This dictates how you want the ticker to look and what colours
to show the text when a stock is down or up on your cost. These
values affect all parts of the display including the summary.
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| Currency Conversion |
This is where you tell the ticker how to convert the stock values
into your local currency. The currency code is the standard
international monetary abbreviation (GBP, USD etc) and the symbol
is the character you want to display on the screen.
The symbol has a double meaning - if you use $,£,€ etc then this
character precedes the value e.g. £100. However, if specify
a letter e.g. p,c etc then this proceeds the value and also causes
the value to be scaled by 100 in calculations e.g. 23p
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| Show Total Profit & Loss |
This tells the ticker to display the complete profit or loss for all
your positions i.e. if I cashed in the whole lot, what would I have lost
or gained. |
| Show Total Cost of Investments |
The total summed amount of money you have paid for all your stocks. |
| Show Total Current Value of Investments |
The total value of all your stocks summed together. |
| Show the Current Price of each Stock |
The current market price for the stock. |
| Show the Average Cost of each Stock |
This is the cost base of each of your holdings and is only of interest
if you have shares from the same company that you bought at different times
and at different prices. |
| Show the Difference of Base Cost Against Current Price
as Percentage |
This is the difference between your average price you paid for all your
stock and the current price of that stock expressed as a percentage. |
The Backup button allows you to save all your settings and symbols to a file.
The Restore button will allow you to bring back settings from a backup file - this
completely overwrites any previous settings.
Note:- All your settings and symbols are actually stored in the Windows
Registry under the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Pivotal\StockTicker
and the backup/restore files are in fact .REG files.
This is the place where you add/remove/edit your stock holdings.
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| Price |
Show the price you paid for the stock |
| Hide Summary |
Exclude this symbol from the summary display and calculations.
This is useful if you want to see what the effect on your bottom
line a particular holding is having. |
| Change |
Show the difference between the current value and what you paid
for the stock |
| Change % |
Show the Change as a percentage of what you originally paid |
| Up/Down |
Show an up or down arrow to indicate whether the stock is worth
more or less than you paid for it |
| Profit & Loss |
Show the amount of money you have gained or lost on this stock
i.e. the difference in value and cost multiplied by the number of
shares you own. |
| Day Change |
Show the difference between the current value and the
opening stock price for the day |
| Day Change % |
Show the Change as a percentage of the opening stock price
for the day |
| Day Up/Down |
Show an up or down arrow to indicate whether the stock is
worth more or less than opening stock price for the day |
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| Add & Delete |
These buttons allow you to add and delete stock symbols from the list. |
| Symbol |
This is the Yahoo recognised stock symbol for the company you hold shares
in. If the stock is traded on an exchange outside the US, then the
symbol must include the Stock Exchange Identifier e.g. British Airways is
traded on the London Stock Exchange and would be BAY.L |
| Disabled |
Check this box if you don't want to display this symbol |
| Display Name |
You can optionally change the name displayed on the ticker rather
than show the symbol. This is also how the stocks will be grouped
in the summary. |
| Price Paid |
The price paid by you for the stock e.g. 10.05 or 23 etc |
| No of Shares Bought |
How many shares you bought of this stock - this can be whole or part
shares e.g. 345 or 56.67 etc |
| Currency Code |
The international currency code the stock is traded in e.g. GBP,
USD, AUD etc |
| Currency Symbol |
The character you want to display on the screen. The currency
symbol has a double meaning - if you use $,£,€ etc then this character precedes
the value e.g. £100. However, if specify a letter e.g. p,c etc then
this proceeds the value and also causes the value to be scaled by 100 in
calculations e.g. 23p |
Note:-
- Only the actual symbol code is required, all other
input boxes can be left blank - not much use really unless you just want to see
the current prices scrolling past you.
- If a combination of values and Day values are shown, then the Day values
are shown within round brackets.
- If only Day values are shown, then the brackets are omitted
| Popup Chart |
Hover over a stock symbol and wait a second, you will see
a popup chart showing the current day's trading for this stock.
It will also tell you the Days high, low, start and change in both
percent and value. It will also tell you the current exchange
rates that are in operation if you are monitoring stocks in different
currencies. If you double click on the chart, the display flips
between one showing day and one week of activity. |
| Show Stock in Yahoo |
If you double click on a stock symbol, a browser will open that takes
you the chart view of your stock within Yahoo Finance. |
| Show All Stocks in Yahoo |
If you click on the Yahoo Summary Link (little blue ball),
this will show you a summary of all your stocks within Yahoo Finance in
a new browser window. |
| 1. How much does it cost? |
| Nothing, nada, zip, totally free and without copyright - do with it
whatever you like and wherever you like, I don't care and I don't
need any attribution or acknowledgement. If you like the ticker and you
like to insure I maintain a healthy stream of biscuits during the long hours
of development, then please feel free to make a donation below.
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| 2. What platforms does it run on? |
| It's written in VB6 which means that it's Windows only - I've developed
it on XP so I'm fairly sure it will run on anything from Win98 upwards,
including Vista. |
| 3. Can I get the source code? |
| Yes, but the source is going to cost you $100. If you're big into
VB6 then you'll see that there are hundreds of useful functions and techniques
included in the source code, so it might be an interesting resource to buy
in it's own right. We've switched over to Java for the vast majority
of our development efforts but for desktop projects, you still can't beat
the efficiency and ease of use of good old VB6. |
| 4. How do I get an enhancement/fix made? |
| Send me an email. I'll take a look at it and if I can and want
to do it, I'll make the change and send a version back to you. |
You can contact me by email at
sohara@pivotal-solutions.co.uk
Version 1.2.4
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Version 1.2.3
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Version 1.2.2
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Version 1.2.1
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Version 1.2.0
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Version 1.1.5
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Version 1.1.4
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Version 1.1.3
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Version 1.1.2
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Version 1.1.1
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Version 1.1.0
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Version 1.0.0
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If you found this application useful and would like to keep my spirits up and
provide some funds for our biscuit tin, why not make a donation. I think $15
shouldn't break anybody's bank and is a nice round figure.
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You can make a donation via PayPal by clicking here -
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If you found this application useful and would like to keep my spirits up and
provide some funds for our biscuit tin, why not make a donation. I think $15
shouldn't break anybody's bank and is a nice round figure.
| v1.0.0 |
First release |
| v1.0.6 |
Corrected issues with display and drawing of up/down symbols
Added
ability to display Day changes
Improved the chart display
Corrected issue with refresh taking a long time to reflect changes in
symbols setup |
| v1.1.0 |
Added proxy server support |
| v1.1.1 |
Don't show the stock symbol name if the user has supplied a display
name of their own
Fixed problem whereby stocks with the same display
name were not being summarised correctly |
| v1.1.2 |
Allow users to adjust the refresh rate |
| v1.1.3 |
Double clicking on the chart now flips the display between 1 day and 1 week |
| v1.1.4 |
Added Docking to the display |
| v1.1.5 |
Modified the scaling of display values when dealing with stocks expressed in pence or cents etc |
| v1.2.0 |
Number of shares can now be expressed as part values e.g. 145.45
Added ability to update ticker from new version on Pivotal server |
| v1.2.1 |
Fixed problem whereby unknown symbols would cause the display to stop
Fixed issue of zero valued stocks causing a divide by zero error and
stopping the display
Changed source of graphs if Yahoo chart is empty |
| v1.2.2 |
Fixed problem of displaying stocks whose symbol doesn't match the
symbol returned by Yahoo |
| v1.2.3 |
Changed alternative source for graphs when Yahoo primary source
doesn't produce a result |
| v1.2.4 |
Decreased the mouse sensitivity of the Yahoo graphs appearing to
stop them popping up inadvertently |
