I have trialled Quotes Plus and Yahoo. My QP trial was a little while ago and the memory is fading ( I didn't subscribe).
I don't like to make negative comments so I will just point out the facts and/or the positives as far as possible. QP provide price data and current fundamental data (fdata) while primarily being a stock screener via their program StockPicker Pro. SPP basically scans derived or calculated ratios/indicators (including some proprietry ratios) from price data and fundamentals via the QP plugin (data accessed directly from a QP server?). The fundamentals have no history except a proprietry P/E, ranking and one or two others (say 2years on those). The price data is split adjusted (?)- I don't think it goes back a long way (6 months on the server with a download or disc for x years of price data only). I doubt if the data is their own. I guess that it is sourced from elsewhere (one of the majors?) but others should confirm that for themselves. If you want the SPP an extra subscription is required. For AB users there is a basic subscription (data but not SPP included). The fdata fields supplied to AB are unique and listed in the AB help manual (Getdata function I think or something like that). QP automatically manages/categorises the symbol lists etc and populates the AB information boxes (categories etc only). I don't know anything about the accuracy of the data and I can't comment on the support or service. AB has recently released a beta-version which has added current Yahoo fdata downloads to Amiquote (registered AQ users only - approx USD$45? one-off registration fee). The AB information page has been upgraded and it is populated from the YahooUSA key statistics page. This is a very good feature which, when combined with AB's formula, is potentially a first class scanner (USA market only). There has been some discussion at the AB feedback centre, in forums and privately to encourage Tomasz to expand on this service (include more data from Yahoo USA and add international fdata downloads). At the same time AB's ASCII import and functions were upgraded to enhance use with the new fdata feature. So all in all AB is now a scanner in it's own right, with the advantage that all scans are fully transparent and controlled from within AB. That only leaves the problem, with Yahoo data, of categorisation and upgrading of symbol lists ( I think there is a challenge for users to keep this up to date). I don't think this problem is confined to Yahoo data as some of the recommended providers categorise data within AB and some don't (?). There has also been discussion, at the AB feedback centre, about AB adding a generic or universal symbol list manager/categoriser that would operate across various data providers (Yahoo and private vendors) but I don't know if Tomasz will do it. (I guess it would be for the USA market only). Re: data in general I seem to have a different approach to most. For backtesting I prefer to buy or make a disc, with categorised data and from a reputable source and then I use that database as a standard for benchmarking (system design and testing). (I don't trust myself to manage appended databases). For trading I only need a short term database equivalent to a few bars longer than the longest indicator I use (say I am trading daily bars with a 60 day moving ave system I only need enough back-data to calculate the MA). For trading, the short term database is easier to manage and keep clean and it can be frequently dumped, while the long term database is automatically clean and stays that way. For this example, assuming I trusted Yahoo, and wanted dividend adjusted data, I would download, say 10 years, to a disc for backtesting and only take approx 60 days EOD/or 20 min delay data for the stocks in my current watchlist to enable scanning etc (assuming I am trading greater or equal to daily frequencies). I don't know anything about the quality of Yahoo data, but as a generalisation it is easier to trust/crosscheck the accuracy of short term data than it is for long term data e.g. if you are using AB/AQ/Yahoo for scanning and stock selection it is relatively easy to crosscheck the accuracy in various places. Considering the quality of the providers to Yahoo it is also a pretty fair bet that their current/short-term data is accurate. There is no more or less reason to form a subjective view of the accuracy of Yahoo's long term data than there is for any other except that in this case it passes through at least two pair of hands before reaching AB, which always increases the risk of error creeping in, but the same thing can be said of all third party providers. In any case, since my livlihood depends on it, I would make some effort to personally verify the data. For different levels of trust, other types of data or shorter timeframes I would have to go elsewhere. Brian. P.S thanks to those who posted on this subject, there is some very good information included. --- In [email protected], "matrix10014" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hi all, > Just setting up Ami,for the first time and was wondering if there were > any strong feelings regarding yahoo EOD vs Quotes plus?? > > Any major benefits or drawbacks?? > > Any insight appreciated > > Allan > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> See what's inside the new Yahoo! Groups email. http://us.click.yahoo.com/2pRQfA/bOaOAA/yQLSAA/GHeqlB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Please note that this group is for discussion between users only. To get support from AmiBroker please send an e-mail directly to SUPPORT {at} amibroker.com For other support material please check also: http://www.amibroker.com/support.html Yahoo! 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