Just updated the Realtime Stock Quotes API to allow for json output as well as a user-definable callback function when using json output. Other goodies are in the works, such as the ability to get historical quotes via json and xml. Access to greater analytical data is forthcoming. The new parameters are outputType [xml or json] and the name of the callback function [optional, only with json]. The API is backwards compatible, and the new features can be accessed by the following:
http://judstephenson.com/api/Quotes/Realtime/aapl/outputType/callback
http://judstephenson.com/api/Quotes/Realtime/aapl/json/
http://judstephenson.com/api/Quotes/Realtime/aapl/json/callback
Archive for the 'Stocks' Category
Sunday, November 16, 2008
As with most great ideas (not saying this one is great, but just follow me here), they are generally thought up and developed out of necessity. Ruby on Rails was developed by 37signals for internal use, but was released to the general public and has caused a massive “Happy Coder” movement.
With that said, my idea probably won’t start a movement, but it will allow more web services to take advantage of real-time stock quotes by providing a simple xml api (+ JSON very soon). For now, the beta API only includes access to the actual stock prices + monetary and percentage change. My private API, I guess it would be the beta’s beta, includes access to more analytical data. These features should be released within the coming weeks [2, max].
The API is one of my first attempts at RESTful API design, and, although simple, this realtime stock quote API is technically RESTful. As it begins to incorporate more features, the RESTful design will become more evident, as in GET, POST, DELETE, and UPDATE http requests. As of now, the API simply includes one URL:
http://judstephenson.com/api/Quotes/Realtime/Symbol
Examples of which include:
http://judstephenson.com/api/Quotes/Realtime/aapl
http://judstephenson.com/api/Quotes/Realtime/amagx
http://judstephenson.com/api/Quotes/Realtime/xoho
I am working on offering a JSON option for the data output (with a callback of course), but as of right now, only XML output is supported, but it isn’t that complicated to parse. Since this API is a simple one-liner, the documentation for it is sparse [read: non-existant], but you should be able to get the hang of it.
Now for the disclaimer: This API is released to the public without any warranty, expressed or implied. I am not responsible for any damage you do with it (if thats possible) and I can not guarantee its 100% uptime (although it shouldn’t ever go down). You are free to use this API in an suitable manner, although, if the traffic to the API becomes too much of a strain on the server, I may limit the number of requests/hr. Other than that, have fun hacking away.
Update: The realtime stock quotes api has been updated! New features include json output with the ability to have a user-definable callback function.
Monday, November 10, 2008
As the markets continue to put our money on a roller coaster ride of speculation, for the average investor, those who don’t make hundreds of trades a day selling stocks for 2 cents more than you bought them for, there are very few companies with such great investing opportunity as Apple, Inc. As the broad market downturns scare away would-be investors, I have been buying up Apple stock like it is going out of style. Why, you ask? Here are a couple of reasons:
- AAPL is a company with strong books and increasing revenue.
- Apple has not missed earnings in the past four years.
- Apple has 25 Billion dollars in cash reserves. As of now, their market cap is only 2.5x the amount they have in cash
- When people are asked to name a company that is innovative, Apple is a company that always comes up. Steve Jobs said it best, Apple will innovate itself out of a recession.
Apple has a 52-Week high of 202.96 and it is currently trading at less than half of that. It would not be far fetched to say AAPL could easily hit the $150 price point in 2009. This price point is easy to hit because when you look at Apple today vs. one year ago, nothing has changed. Apple still dominates that consumer smartphone category, they are still the #1 notebook on college campuses, and sales of Macs have never been higher, their stock price is just getting hammered due to overall economic uncertainty.
To summarize, I am long on Apple, but expect the stock to hit $150 in 2009.
Disclaimer: I am not an analyst, so don’t take my comments to the bank.