"Month" "Change" and Full Name

[myster]

Hi,

I'm a developer with no real experience with the financial side of things...

The client wants me to display a table where each row is a stock and the columns are:
Month, Bid, Ask, Last, Change, Open, High, Low, Volume

Month will be tricky as I'll have to calculate which symbol I want and translate it etc...

The "Change" info doesn't seem to be in the feed.
Do i have to calculate it myself?
if so is this simply the difference between 2 sequential "Last Trade" events?

Also:
is there some standard translation mechanims between the Code and the Full Name for each future?

Cheers.
Murray.

[StarrM]

Murray,

"Month" usually refers to the expiration month of an option or futures contract. Maybe your client can provide you clarification on what specifically they are trading?

You will need to calculate change, and there are a few ways to do it. Usually the change is the price change relative to the previous day's close. Occasionally, traders will want to see the change relative to the open for that day, but this is less common. Many also want to see the percent change, which would be calculated as follows:

((Last - Prior Day's Close) / Prior Day's Close)*100

I'd suggest clarifying with your client, so you can be sure you're making the calculation they are expecting.

Can you explain more about your last question? I'm not clear on what you're asking.

Thanks,
Starr
eSignal Developer Support