stock freeware

March 6, 2006 10:08 PM

I'm looking for some type of freeware that will display stock info in realtime on my mac ibook. I'm not too stoked on apple's stock widget because it always seems to be unable to retrieve the data I request. I need something that will allow me to type in ticker symbols for stocks, index funds, ETFs etc. and will give me a chart or graph of current and recent performance. Any suggestions fellow readers??
posted by thatjackbuilt to work & money (9 comments total)

"Realtime" meaning what? Without the standard fifteen minute delay?
posted by smackfu at 10:18 PM on March 6, 2006

you're correct...i should have been more specific. let's say as close to realtime as possible. i'm not even too concerned with that. it's mainly the info and performance tracking i'm interested in.
posted by thatjackbuilt at 10:47 PM on March 6, 2006

I do not believe their is a "free" program for this... I searched a bit last year for my dad...
posted by crewshell at 12:37 AM on March 7, 2006

For free stock research, I like Clearstation. If you just want charts, bigcharts works. Ameritrade gives you access to realtime bigcharts for free if you have an account with them.

Standalone applications for analyzing stock data are generally aimed at professional traders and are priced accordingly.
posted by b1tr0t at 3:52 AM on March 7, 2006

Powerticker by the nice boys at Galleon with whom I once shared an office.
posted by unSane at 5:24 AM on March 7, 2006

well, for quotes only (no charts, just the numbers), there's an apple-script in your applications folder. go applications-->applescript-->example_scripts-->internet_services. in here there's a "stock quote" script. you can drag this icon to your desktop and enter any stock code you like. caveat: i have *no idea* how timely the quotes are. (oh...and this may be just the same thing as the apple stock widget, with different window dressing).

also, not a stand-alone app, but another site with fairly good graphing and tracking features is smartmoney. they have a premium side, but there's also tons of free stuff. (i'm currently smitten with their 'map of the market java doohicky).
posted by garfy3 at 5:28 AM on March 7, 2006

In the Applications folder on any Mac there's an unloved program called Sherlock. It was Apple's earlier attempt at the Widgets concept. Anyway, it has a Stocks channel that is much better than the one in Dashboard.
posted by cillit bang at 5:47 AM on March 7, 2006

The app I use is simply called Ticker. It's small. It's elegant. It does the job.

Ticker tracks stock data. If you double-click on a symbol, it opens a Yahoo! finance web page about the stock. There's also a way to skip directly to the graph web page.

It may be what you're after.
posted by jdroth at 5:59 AM on March 7, 2006

Not sure if this fits the bill, but many online brokerages provide a tool to do this. E-trade has a great stock quote app (that runs in browser window) that provides real time (not delayed) quotes and is highly customizable. I would imagine the other online brokerages have similar tools.
posted by drobot at 6:44 AM on March 7, 2006