QuoTracker - Introduction

Introduction to QuoTracker

[ What it is | Whom it is for | Why you need it | What it can do ]

What is QuoTracker?

QuoTracker, the online stock quote tracker, is a tool to monitor and track your investment in North American market (Canadian/U.S. stocks/mutual funds). It collects and connects information (chart, quote, news, profile etc.) from different (free) Internet services, puts everything into an easy-to-glance Explorer-like interface and lets you access them at your mouse click. Rich customization options allow you to make your investment tracking in your own way, and comprehensive features can help you make prompt responses to the fast-paced market.

Whom is QuoTracker for?

If you are interested or currently investing in North American market - Canadian/U.S. stocks/mutual funds, QuoTracker might be useful to you. QuoTracker is primarily created for individual investors and interested site-observers of the fascinating and exciting investment market to monitor and track their investment. As a matter of fact, this application has been developed by a group of people with this kind of background, initially for their own use. We understand that professional investors can normally get better service and are not relying on the free stuff (really?). However, they may also find QuoTracker useful because of its uniqueness and rich convenient-to-use features.

Why do you need QuoTracker?

Well, you really don't have to use QuoTracker to track your portfolio and the market because all the information is nowadays available on the Internet. However, the problem is that the information provided by different sites (with more or less emphasis on different aspects) is loosely or not connected. It often requires several steps to just get 'what does it say here and there?'. It is not only inconvenient, but more importantly also risky in the fast-moving investment world. That's how QuoTracker comes about. Well, instead of trying to build another 'all-in-one-for-all' Internet service - just kidding, QuoTracker is simply connecting different (free) Internet services by related topics to give you a unique interface for easy and quick access at your mouse-click.
Please think about the following questions that are the major motivation for developing QuoTracker:

Are you satisfied with any ONE web site where you track your portfolio? Does it provide all the information you need? Does it often shut down or is it often unavailable to you due to the high traffic?
Do you find it inconvenient to always go back and forward within a browser just in order to get different aspects for the same security?
Do you have to manually enter security symbols or names to get their quotes or charts?
Are you restricted to have limited number of portfolios and securities for your investment tracking?
Can you track your portfolios as you wish to? Can you see all the aspects you would like to?
Can you find the information you need quick enough? E.g., which industry/sector does this company belong to? How many companies are there in a specific industry/sector? Which company is currently most active within the industry/sector?
Do you agree that many web sites are crowded by too many ads that may impede what you want to see?
Do you think that your favorite web site (for your portfolio tracking) is too crowded, too colorful or too plain to emphasize what you would like to?
Do you think that your favorite web site (for your portfolio tracking) is too fancy to show on your desktop because everybody (including your supervisor!) will notice immediately that, aha, you are surfing again?

QuoTracker can help you get out of these embarrassing situations and make your investment tracking easier and sometimes enjoyable.

What can QuoTracker do?

The following are some highlights of QuoTracker's main features:

QuoTracker is using three major quote services from Canada-stockwatch, Yahoo! and PC Quote to feed its local quote database, mainly because those sites allow downloading multiple quotes by each request. In addition to those free services (that may result in a limited access), Canada-stockwatch subscribers can let QuoTracker use their account for downloading quotes and accessing other more advanced information (Be aware of its charge from Canada-stockwatch!).
Additional information can be retrieved through quick links that you can customize by adding your favorite sites. By default, QuoTracker comes with the following links (may vary): CANOE, GlobeInvestor, Canada.com, IMoney, Lycos, CNN Financial Network, Quicken.com, Quote.com, Datek Online, Kitco.
You can track unlimited watch lists and unlimited securities within each watch list.
You can track unlimited portfolios which may be real like the ones in your bank (but you have to maintain its synchronization) or virtual just for testing or fun (for starters or site-observers).
QuoTracker can refresh your favorite watch list, portfolio or any group (whatever in the current view) automatically in predefined interval, or refresh the view whenever it is changed.
You can make your display as colorful (or plain) as you want, and in addition, you can quickly turn on/off color display temporarily.
You can customize the display format to just show information you want. Each folder can have its own default view format.
Customizable double-click and right-click give you quick access to your preferred sites for more detailed information.
You can define your own alert settings and let QuoTracker alert in three different ways: Highlight or flash quote lines in grid pane, play a sound, or add a message to a central alert window.
The categorized stocks and mutual funds allow you to examine relevant securities more easily. You can put complete North American stocks and mutual funds into your database or just select whatever you are interested in.
You can update all quotes in the QuoTracker's local database at once (e.g. for off-line evaluation at evening or weekends).
You can track your portfolios for current holdings in summarized view or in detailed view. You can also track the history of sold securities in your portfolios.
You can password-protect your QuoTracker and/or your portfolios.
You can download historical quotes, export them or using the build-in charting function for your evaluation. Currently, only prices, volume and MACD charts are provided. We will add more analytical funtions to it. Note that you can get historical quotes from Yahoo! for all North American stocks and U.S. mutual funds for free. Canada-stockwatch subscribers can also get historical quotes from Canada-stockwatch - a service charge by Canada-stockwatch (not QuoTracker) may apply!
There is a commission/return calculator that allows you to calculate the commission fee and to estimate returns by selling at given price and vice versa. Different broker charges can be customized. There is also a 'What-If' interest-rate calculator.
There is a quote bar that shows the quotes (same as in the main window) in a concise format. Quote bar can show quotes in three different styles and can show/hide quickly by clicking on it, plus much more configurations.
There is a currency exchange bar that tracks the online currency exchange rate of your desired currencies.
There is a mortgage/loan calculator that may help you making your decisions in this matter.
However...

You can only track North American's stock market and mutual funds because QuoTracker is primarily based on the Canada-stockwatch's and Yahoo!'s database - it may extend to cover the world market in future releases.
You can't track real-time quotes because the quote servers QuoTracker is using don't provide them for free - it may change in future releases.