Now you can get refreshable stock quote data in Microsoft Excel by inserting the MSNStockQuote function in a worksheet cell. The function allows you to calculate formulas based on the function's return values so you can easily create your own financial analysis.

The MSNStockQuote function, available with the MSN MoneyCentral Stock Quotes add-in, returns a company's stock price or other stock information you specify, such as Day's High, Day's Low, Ask, Bid, Close price, and more. You can refresh the function to get the latest information. The add-in even provides an interface that allows you to quickly and easily create tables of financial information.

Example of using the MSNStockQuote function in a formula

The following example shows a formula that calculates loss or gain per share. The formula in cell C2 uses the MSNStockQuote function to return the last price of the stock symbol (referred to in cell A2) and then subtracts the purchase price (referred to in cell B2).

Stock symbol entered by user
Purchase price entered by user
Result of formula which gets current last price of stock symbol in cell A2 and subtracts the purchase price in cell B2

Using a model such as this, you can simply retype a stock symbol or purchase price in cells A2 or B2 and the function will calculate a different result. Or, if you want results for multiple symbols, just type them in column A, type your purchase prices in column B, and fill the formula down in column C. If you use relative row references, as in the example, they will update to calculate the different loss/gain results for each row.

Advantages of using the MSN MoneyCentral Stock Quotes add-in

Unlike a typical Web query in Excel, from which you can also retrieve stock quote information, the MSN MoneyCentral Stock Quotes add-in allows you to:

• Easily return only the information you want; for instance, the only piece of information you might need for your worksheet is a company's P/E Ratio.
• Create a formula using the function that not only returns the data you want, but refers to other cells on the worksheet and calculates a result—all in one cell.

The MSN MoneyCentral Stock Quotes add-in provides flexibility

The add-in provides an easy-to-use interface so that you don't even have to type the function. Just click the options you want, and the rest is done for you. However, if you want to customize your results, you can manually build a variety of different formulas to calculate the results you want.

To use the MSN MoneyCentral Stock Quotes add-in, first download it from the Microsoft Office Online Web Site , install it, and then click Help on the MSN MoneyCentral Stock Quotes Add-in toolbar for all the information you need to get started!