Microsoft has added a new Excel function that enables access to historical data. This way, Microsoft wants to help Excel users bridge the gap in the Stocks data. The freshly-added Excel function – STOCKHISTORY — is essentially a service-backed function, which updates dynamically.
Microsoft Excel gets STOCKHISTORY function
This Excel function makes it easier to track and retrieve changes to the Stock data without taking more effort. Given the fact that STOCKHISTORY’s behavior and signature are subject to change, Microsoft is slowing down on its availability, which is limited to select users. Currently, the STOCKHISTORY function is available to only half of Microsoft 365 Subscribers in the Beta level of the Office Insider program.
This way, Microsoft hopes to gather early feedback from users before moving onto a more widespread release. Plus, the STOCKHISTORY function will be available to customers who are signed in.
Excel users had been requesting for a function that allows users to easily pull stock prices into Excel spreadsheets. Initially, Microsoft enabled refreshable quotes for stocks, bonds, funds, and currency pairs.
“We know that this wasn’t enough to complete the goals you have for analyzing your portfolio in Excel. Getting the history of a financial instrument over time is crucial information you need. We are thrilled to be able to bring this functionality into Excel,” Microsoft said in a blog post.
How to get started with STOCKHISTORY function
Let’s take an overview of the STOCKHISTORY function signature:
STOCKHISTORY(stock, start_date, [end_date],[interval],[headers], [property0], [property1] [property2], [property3], [property4], [property5]
While ‘stock’ is the identifier for the financial instrument targeted, ‘start_date’ is the earliest date for which you want information.
All other values including interval, headers, and property are optional.
To give you a basic idea about the usability of STOCKHISTORY function, consider the following example:
=STOCKHISTORY("MSFT", "6/1/2020", "6/5/2020")
Although STOCKHISTORY function is currently limited to 50 percent of Microsoft 365 Subscribers in Beta, it will be available to other channel users later this year.
In related news, Microsoft is allowing select Excel users to import data from PDF documents.
