Retrieve Historical Open Interest Data with MarketXLS

Open interest is a key indicator of contract activity in the market, showing how many open contracts exist for a particular symbol at a given time. With the Open_Interest_Historical function from MarketXLS, you can quickly retrieve historical open interest data right within Excel. This streamlines your market analysis process, helping you uncover market trends, confirm price movements, and make more informed trading decisions.

Why Use This Function?

• Get crucial data on how many contracts are open for a particular symbol (stock, ETF, or other securities).
• Validate trading volume and market liquidity by reviewing historical open interest.
• Easily integrate with other Excel-based strategies for comprehensive technical or fundamental analysis.
• Save time by pulling data directly into worksheets without constantly switching to external data platforms.
• Automate repeated data lookups for multiple symbols across different dates in your Excel models.

How to Use in Excel

=Open_Interest_Historical(Symbol, OnDate)

1. In a spreadsheet cell, type “=Open_Interest_Historical(” and then specify the symbol and the date.
2. Press Enter to retrieve the open interest for that symbol on the provided date.
3. If your license is invalid or there is an error (e.g., symbol not recognized or unavailable date), you may see “NA” returned.
4. If the data is in the process of being refreshed or queued, the function might temporarily return “Refreshing”.

Parameters Explained

Example Usage

Basic Examples

1. Retrieve open interest for Apple on January 25, 2023:
   • Enter in any cell:
   =Open_Interest_Historical("AAPL", "1/25/2023")
   • The cell will display the historical open interest for that date.

2. Retrieve open interest for Amazon on December 15, 2022:
   • Enter in any cell:
   =Open_Interest_Historical("AMZN", "12/15/2022")
   • The “AMZN” open interest for that date is returned.

Advanced Scenarios

1. Bulk Analysis of Multiple Symbols and Dates:
   • You can create a table with multiple symbols in one column and corresponding dates in another column.
   • Use =Open_Interest_Historical(A2, B2) in a third column and drag down to get open interest for each row.
   • This is helpful for analyzing historical open interest across numerous stocks without manual repetition.

2. Combining with Other Excel Functions:
   • Combine =Open_Interest_Historical with statistical or charting functions in Excel to visualize trends.
   • For instance, storing results in a column and then using a line chart to see how open interest has changed over time.

Common Questions and Troubleshooting

1. “Why am I getting ‘NA’?”

   • Make sure your symbol is valid and spelled correctly.
   • Verify that your MarketXLS license is active.
   • Check that the date requested is in a valid format Excel recognizes.

2. “Why do I see ‘Refreshing’ instead of a number?”

   • The requested data is in the process of being updated or fetched. Once ready, MarketXLS will update your cell automatically.

3. “Can I use different date formats?”

   • Yes. Excel typically recognizes multiple date formats. Ensure that OnDate cell is formatted as a Date so the function reads it properly.

4. “What if the date market data is not yet available?”

   • The function returns “NA”. Try a date range that you know data exists for, or check if the markets were open on that date.

Use these guidelines to quickly retrieve historical open interest in your worksheets and integrate it into robust trading models. This function accelerates your research, enabling deeper market insights and strategic trading decisions.