The Fetch function is the brains behind FetchXL. It tells Microsoft Excel to retrieve data from the FetchXL database. The Fetch function typically includes three items: the company’s ticker symbol, the data item, and the period.

=Fetch(Ticker,Data_Item,Period)

Here is an example for retrieving Microsoft’s accounts payable for the fiscal year 2011:

=Fetch(“MSFT”,”Accounts_Payable”,”2011″)

These three items (ticker symbol, data item and period) allow you to retrieve any of the more than 350 million records from the FetchXL database.

Cell references (ex. $A2) can be used in place of the hard coded ticker symbols and periods to automate your spreadsheet. In the above example changing the ticker symbols in Column A will retrieve the accounts payable for the new ticker.

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