Statistics for Big Data For Dummies

Chapter 19

Seeking Free Sources of Financial Data

In This Chapter

Checking out what types of financial data are available on the Internet

Downloading financial data from various Internet sources

So far, this book has focused on financial applications. Most of the examples have been in the vein of modeling returns on various types of assets. As pointed out throughout the chapters in Part I of this book, big-data applications arise in a vastly diverse collection of circumstances. Because of this diversity, it is almost impossible to give an exhaustive list of data sources. The data you use will depend completely on your particular situation.

So, this chapter aims to give you some resources that provide financial data. Our thought is that this will help you to get your feet wet as you try to apply some of the techniques in this book to actual real-world data.

You can find a large number of sources of financial data on the Internet. In many cases, you can download the data into a spreadsheet — free of charge. The available data includes stock prices, option prices, exchange rates, interest rates, and so forth. There are also key financial measures for individual corporations, such as revenues, profits, and the price/earnings (P/E) ratio. Many websites offer a wealth of financial news ...