Accessing Metastock database from ML

Brad Stiritz

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Aug 13, 2008, 1:23:02 PM8/13/08

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Hey everyone,

I've been looking around, but haven't found any Matlab
functions to read stock data from a Metastock-format
database. I googled for "metastock format matlab" but only
came up with this additional, unofficial documentation of
the format:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=2&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.datashaping.com%2FMetaStock-Format.doc

I'm kind of leaning now towards trying to find an
experienced Matlab user or consultant to write a small set
of query M-functions to access the database. Does anyone
have any suggestions for anyone in particular I should
approach, or any ideas on the appropriate job cost?

The particular database I'm interested in comes with a
subscription to Norgate's data service --
http://www.premiumdata.net/ This is end-of-day data,
maintained in a Metastock-format database on the client
machine. As indicated on Norgate's site, they offer a free
trial, so it would be easy for the developer to get their
trial and test the M-code against the database.

Any comments appreciated,
Thanks,
Brad

Donn Shull

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Aug 13, 2008, 1:40:19 PM8/13/08

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"Brad Stiritz" <sorry.no...@info.net> wrote in message
<g7v59m$ing$1...@fred.mathworks.com>...

Hi Brad,

Have you looked on MATLAB's File Exchange (or FEX as it is
sometimes called)? Search there with the keyword stock and
you will find a number of submissions regarding obtaining
stock quotes.

Donn

Brad Stiritz

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Aug 13, 2008, 2:08:03 PM8/13/08

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Hi Donn,

Thanks for your suggestion. Yes, I did search through the
FEX, and found no matches for the keyword "metastock". I
realize that there are other submissions for other stock
quote services, and I'm familiar with most of the major
services.

I am specifically interested in the Norgate service,
however, as it's comprehensive, well-scrubbed, and offers a
surivivor-bias-free option as well.

ra ti

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Aug 13, 2008, 3:01:04 PM8/13/08

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Hi,

You can usually get matlab consultants at www.elance.com
The projects costs can vary. If a consultant charges you
say 30 dollars per hour and if it takes him approx 20 hours
for the work then you are looking at about 600 dollars..may
be little bit more....it depends....

Thanks

tradingwithmatlab.blogspot.com

Richard Hodgson

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Jun 15, 2010, 12:00:24 PM6/15/10

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Hi Brad,

Were you able to read Metastock data formats into Matlab - I was considering doing the same using Norgate's data service.

Thanks

Richard

Brad Stiritz

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Jun 18, 2010, 9:05:05 PM6/18/10

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Hi Richard,

Unfortunately, that project didn't pan out well for us.

We bought the inexpensive 3rd party MetaLib DLL (http://www.trading-tools.com/metalib.htm) & wrote a .NET applet to export from Norgate into a text file, which could be read via Matlab. This worked OK, but was too slow to import the entire database of listed stocks in reasonable time.

We then developed a cache application in .NET to maintain the entire Norgate DB in memory, but sadly we ran into the 32-bit addressing limit. The Metalib developer told us he couldn't port the DLL to 64-bit, so that was the end of that effort.

We're now subscribing to the Bloomberg service, and are pulling their data into Matlab via the Datafeed Toolbox.

Hope this story of our experiences may be helpful to you,

Good luck,
Brad

"Richard Hodgson" <ric...@lattice.plus.com> wrote in message <hv882o$nq0$1...@fred.mathworks.com>...

Richard Hodgson

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Jun 21, 2010, 4:02:07 AM6/21/10

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Thx for that Brad. Norgate has a utility to export data to text so I might try that first and see how I get on - I don't need the whole database.

How expensive is Bloomberg to get the data, do you have to subscribe for a Bloomberg Terminal and pay extra for the data download as well?

cheers

Richard

Brad Stiritz

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Jul 7, 2010, 11:05:03 PM7/7/10

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Hi Richard, sorry about the long delay to your questions:

> How expensive is Bloomberg to get the data, do you have to subscribe for a Bloomberg Terminal and pay extra for the data download as well?

The Bloomberg professional service is *extremely* expensive & requires a 2-year contract. You can Google the details relatively easily. Data download is included in the price, as well as a decent Excel interface. You can either export from Bloomberg or import from Excel. However, keep in mind that the basic subscription provides delayed equity data only (15 mins). Last time I checked, NYSE was asking $2K per month for real-time quotes, which would be assessed as a surcharge. Also, S&P recently started charging about the same for granular info about their indexes, e.g. member stock weights in the various index.

Bloomberg's general Windows API is free & well-documented. I felt that Mathworks priced the datafeed toolbox very competitively versus a roll-your-own API implementation, so I went with the OTS solution.

FWIW, I wouldn't recommend Bloomberg if you're only looking for equity price data & you aren't interested in fundamental data & analysis, SEC filings, earnings estimates, etc etc. Keep researching, it takes a lot of digging to find out exactly what you *need* & who can provide it to you *reliably* at *reasonable cost* for you.

Good luck,
brad

Richard Hodgson

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Jul 8, 2010, 4:39:04 AM7/8/10

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Hi Brad,

I do need historic fundamental data and that seems to be the hardest to source at a reasonable cost - I might have to go down the Bloomberg route.

If you find any other reliable sources of fundamental data (including historic) let me know.

cheers

Richard

Oleg Komarov

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Sep 10, 2010, 11:55:04 AM9/10/10

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"Richard Hodgson" <ric...@lattice.plus.com> wrote in message <i142r8$319$1...@fred.mathworks.com>...

For those who may be interested I created a function to import metastock data files into matlab.

metastockread: http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/28664-metastockread

Oleg