August Update
PREFERRED STOCKS ARE HERE
More new tickers this month! We added support for
the entire universe of preferred stocks
that quote on NYSE and NASDAQ. For NASDAQ-listed stocks we support the 5 letter ticker and for NYSE-listed preferred you can use the original NYSE symbol or the more common root symbol and dash. We've prepared an article that explains how these symbols work.
OPTIONCHAIN IMPROVEMENTS
The optionchain formula in sheets now allows you to use the keyword "LIMIT" to limit the number of strikes displayed to the strikes that are close to the money for any given expiration. For example, the formula
=OPTIONCHAIN("AAPL", "all", "9/22/2023", "limit 4")
would return the 4 strikes closest to the money for next month's AAPL option chain. You can combine LIMIT with other filters such as ITM or OTM to return 4 in the money or 4 out of the money strikes.
UX IMPROVEMENT FOR OPTIONS
If you don't know the option symbol for the contract you want to look-up, you no longer need to worry. Just write out the option using natural language and the OPTIONLOOKUP formula will now understand you. Try it out yourself:
=OPTIONLOOKUP("AAPL Oct 16 2020 150 Put")
As long as the input includes (1) stock ticker (2) expiration date (3) strike price (4) call/put then the formula will work. It doesn't matter what order you use or how you format the dates. You can even put all this data in 4 different cells and use 4 cell references:
=OPTIONLOOKUP("A1:D1")
We haven't left API users out of this update.
There is a new endpoint
at /options/lookup/ that allows you to make use of the same functionality. It will return a properly-formatted option symbol that you can then use with the quote endpoint. Read the docs for full details.
Most common natural-language option formats have been added,
including the most common formats used in CSV export files from retail brokers
. This should allow you to directly generate option quotes after downloading your position at your broker. However, if you find that you are making requests in natural language that the system does not understand, please do not hesitate to report that to us in the helpdesk. We'll get any missing formats added as they are brought to our attention.
VIDEO TUTORIAL
If you're a Sheets user and you have 5 minutes to spare, you can learn to use OPTIONLOOKUP with this quick video tutorial. It has never been easier to work with your broker's CSV files.
We also finished this month:
  • API: Improved performance thanks to new caching system.
  • API: Fix for 0 DTE options.
  • DevOps: Server upgrade.