Using Bid_Historical to Retrieve Historical Bid Prices

The Bid_Historical function in MarketXLS simplifies your market analysis by returning the historical bid price for a specified ticker symbol on a given date. Whether you’re backtesting a trading strategy, reviewing past performance, or simply checking historical bid activity, this function offers direct access to essential market data right inside Excel.

Why Use This Function?

• Quickly pull historical bid prices for various symbols in Excel.
• Ideal for backtesting and research on past market conditions.
• Helps validate historical trading costs by examining the bid price at specific points in time.
• Automatically returns "NA" if the ticker or date is invalid, helping you identify potential data errors quickly.
• Integrates well into portfolio dashboards and other Excel-driven analyses for a seamless workflow.
• Works for different types of securities (equities, indexes, options, certain foreign markets, etc.) when available in the data source.

How to Use in Excel

=Bid_Historical(Symbol, OnDate)

1. In any cell, type “=Bid_Historical(”
2. Enter the ticker symbol in quotes or reference a cell containing the symbol.
3. Enter the target date in quotes ("MM/DD/YYYY" or "YYYY-MM-DD") or reference a cell containing a valid date.
4. Press Enter to instantly retrieve the historical bid price or "NA" if unavailable.

MarketXLS handles licensing checks and connects to the remote data source behind the scenes. If your license is not valid or there is no data for the specified date, the function returns "NA."

Parameters Explained

Notes and Tips:
• If you pass an invalid or empty symbol, the function automatically returns "NA."
• If the chosen date is a weekend or holiday, the function may return "NA" if no market data exists for that date.
• When using option symbols, requesting data beyond the option’s expiration date will also return "NA."

Example Usage

Basic Examples

1. Retrieving the Historical Bid for Microsoft on a Specific Date
   • In cell A1, type "MSFT"
   • In cell B1, type "01/03/2023"
   • In cell C1, enter formula:
   =Bid_Historical(A1, B1)
   • Press Enter to get the bid price or "NA" if unavailable.

2. Using Direct Inputs in the Formula
   • In cell A2, type:
   =Bid_Historical("AAPL", "12/31/2022")
   • This fetches Apple’s bid price for December 31, 2022.

3. Pulling an Index Bid Price
   • In cell A3, type:
   =Bid_Historical("^NDX", "03/15/2022")
   • Shows the historical bid for the NASDAQ-100 index (^NDX) on that date.

Advanced Scenarios

• Portfolio Backtesting Across Multiple Tickers

• Create an Excel table with different symbols and dates.
• Apply =Bid_Historical to each row to quickly get historical bid data.
• Combine these historical prices with calculations to observe how spreads or costs varied over time.

• Verifying Illiquid Stocks or Smaller Markets

• For lesser-known symbols or certain foreign markets, use =Bid_Historical to confirm data availability.
• If the function returns "NA," the ticker may not have historical bid data recorded for that day.

• Integrating with Other Functions

• Pair =Bid_Historical with other MarketXLS formulas (e.g., =Ask_Historical, =Close_Historical) to analyze price spreads or close-to-bid deviations.
• Use Excel’s charting features to visualize how the bid price changes over multiple dates.

Common Questions and Troubleshooting

1. Why am I getting “NA” instead of a price?

   • Your ticker or date may be invalid, or data may not exist for that specific date.
   • The day could be a weekend or a market holiday where no bid price data is available.
   • A valid MarketXLS license is required. Check that your license is active.

2. Can this function handle option symbols?

   • Yes, but only if historical data is available. If the requested date is after the option’s expiration, expect “NA.”

3. The function displays “Refreshing.” What does that mean?

   • It indicates that data retrieval is in progress. Wait a few seconds and recalculate the cell.

4. Are foreign market tickers supported?

   • The function can return data for certain foreign markets if such data is in the MarketXLS database. If not, it may return “NA.”

By combining the Bid_Historical function with your Excel expertise, you can unlock powerful insights from past market data—all from the convenience of a spreadsheet. Leverage this function to refine trading strategies, analyze historical bid spreads, and keep comprehensive historical records for your symbols of interest.