Continuing our review series about stocks charting software and services, we look today at the Yahoo real-time quote and charting service.
Yahoo Finance has become established as a leading investing and money portal and not only provides news and information about equities and investments, but also offers a real time charting service.
Although much of the information on Yahoo Finance is free and doesn’t require registration, the Yahoo real-time quotes service requires you to register with Yahoo and then to pay a $13.95 per month subscription.
Should you wish to try the real-time quote service, then Yahoo give you a 30 day trial, once you have provided your credit card details and registered. Your credit card will only be billed if you haven’t cancelled by the end of the trial period.
We cancelled our trial subscription easily and efficiently within 30 days, so it appears that you can rely on Yahoo to honour their free subscription period, unlike AskChart.com
Using Yahoo Finance real-time charts
Yahoo real-time charting is browser based using a Java application. Once loaded, the charts update in real time. They are very easy to use and provide a clear, but small window into real time stock action.
As with most charting solutions, you can overlay a number of indicators such as moving averages and Bollinger bands onto the price history chart so there are a reasonable number of preset indicators for trend and channel monitoring.
It is the lower chart that offers the least amount of customisation as you can only display one indicator, such as volume, at a time.
As you cannot combine a number of indicators, such as stochastics and MACD in different charts, Yahoo charting has limitations and is not ideal for detailed analysis and monitoring.
We occasionally experienced periods in which the Java chart didn’t auto update, so it had to be manually updated, but other than that, the service provided reliable.
With your subscription you also receive access to a stock screening system and news streaming services, as well as real-time stock quotes and charting.
Yahoo real-time charting value
You get what you pay for and with Yahoo real-time charting your don’t pay much and certainly get a lot. There are no additional exchange fees so for $13.95 per month, this service is good value.
There are limitations, though, and these should be taken into account when deciding if it meets your needs. Occasional share traders will find the charting offers all they need. Frequent and more advanced traders will soon find that they need more power.
Overall, Yahoo real-time charting is a low cost, and effective solution. Recommended.