Importing Watchlists from Excel

A watchlist is merely a text file with extension .viz.

Each security is recorded on a separate line with the format:

MICROSOFT  [MSFT]:msft_us

The code in square brackets is redundant and can be left out*. Each line will then appear as:

MICROSOFT:msft_us

*If you do include the square brackets, there must be two blank spaces in front of them and not just one.

Creating a watchlist file with Excel

Our thanks to Peter Andersen who contributed the following code:

  1. In Excel create a worksheet called Names
  2. Place your stocks in two columns:
    • Column A with the security name
    • Column B with the security code (e.g. msft)
  3. Create a separate worksheet and create a column with the following function in each cell:

    =CONCATENATE(UPPER(Names!$A1),"  [ ",UPPER(Names!$B1)," ]:",LOWER(Names!$B1),"_us") or
    =CONCATENATE(UPPER(Names!$A1),"  [ ",UPPER(Names!$B1)," ]:",LOWER(Names!$B1),"_ax")

    There are two blank spaces in front of the [square brackets], not just one.

  4. Save the file as a CSV (Comma delimited) file
  5. In the place you saved to, right-click on the file name and rename with .viz extension
    (e.g. Technology.viz)
  6. Open Incredible Charts and use File >> Import to import the new watchlist

Example

Here are two example Excel files:

The completed file should appear as follows, with no header row:

MICROSOFT  [ MSFT ]:msft_us
INTEL  [ INTC ]:intc_us
GOOGLE  [ GOOG ]:goog_us