Chrome browser extension: mutual fund symbols

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Mark13
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Chrome browser extension: mutual fund symbols

Post by Mark13 »

Hi all,
I'm a long-time reader and admirer of the forum. This is my first post.

I wrote a simple extension for the Chrome browser. It puts dotted lines below mutual fund symbols, and if you hover your mouse over one, a tooltip appears with the full name of the fund and a link to the fund's Morningstar page. I thought about including ETF and stock symbols, and more info in the tooltip, but I wanted to keep it as simple as possible, at least at first.

You can install it by going to the Chrome Web Store. Either google that or under the Chrome wrench icon, select Tools>Extentions>Get More Extensions. Then you can search for "Mutual Fund Symbol". (I can't post links yet.)

I hope people find this extension useful. I'd appreciate any feedback.
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#Cruncher
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Post by #Cruncher »

Thanks, Mark. It's cool!

It was easy to install on my Mac version of Google Chrome and works just as you describe. It addresses a long standing frustration I've had with topic titles and posts that use mutual fund symbols without descriptions of the fund. It takes a little practice to move the mouse cursor quickly enough to your box with the fund name, so the box doesn't disappear before I can click the Morningstar link.

Adding ETF symbols would be a useful addition since they are used almost as much on the forum as the symbols for standard mutual funds. For example, in the post, Vanguard TLH Pairs, your extension displays the name of 3 of the funds but not the others.
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Mark13
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Post by Mark13 »

Thanks for the feedback. I increased the fade-out delay a little to make it easier to move the cursor over the link.
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#Cruncher
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Post by #Cruncher »

I installed your new version 1.1. It is easier to click the Morningstar link; but sometimes it still does disappear before I can click it.

By the way, to install the new version it's necessary to uninstall the old one first. Also the new version was buggy until I closed Chrome and re-launched it. Google doesn't mention this.

I noticed that the link in my original post is now defunct. So here's another one with a lot of symbols to test: 401k asset allocation help
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Mark13
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Post by Mark13 »

I've updated my browser extension so that it now displays the fund family and category in addition to the name. You can see what it looks like and download it from here:

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/deta ... g?hl=en-US

If you've already installed the extension, it will automatically update the next time Chrome updates itself. To updated it manually, click the wrench icon->tools->extensions. Then click "developer mode" in the upper right, and click "update extensions now".

I experimented with expanding the extension to ETFs. It is easy enough, but it could potentially be annoying because many ETF symbols are ambiguous with other things. For instance, if you're reading about return on investment, you don't want ROI underlined with a link to WisdomTree LargeCap Growth Fund ETF. Or if someone mentions their IPS, the extension will think that is SPDR S&P International Consumer Staples Sector ETF. Computer nerds would appreciate (or not appreciate) ETF annotations on FSA, CRUD, and DBA. It is beyond the capability of a browser extension to disambiguate the ETF and non-ETF meanings.

I'm guessing that all of my 15 or so users are on this forum, so I'd like your feedback about whether extending the tool to ETFs is worth the possible annoyance of over-annotation. A further option would be allowing a user to specify which pages the extension does and doesn't run on. Although this requires more effort by the user, it might be worth it for the extra functionality.

Anyway, I'm having fun with this little project, so please let me know your thoughts.

--Mark
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Post by CaliJim »

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Last edited by CaliJim on Sun Sep 25, 2011 8:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Mark13
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Post by Mark13 »

CaliJim,
Thanks for the info. After reading the thread you linked, I looked for "ticker describe" in the Firefox add-ons repository and in the Chrome web store and couldn't find it. I couldn't tell from the thread whether it actually works in Chrome.

I was curious to see another implementation so I downloaded the JavaScript code from the site that was linked in the thread and inspected it. All of the mutual fund and ETF symbols that it recognizes are stored in the script. My extension doesn't store the ticker info, but rather fetches data from Yahoo Finance, so I don't have to update it whenever a new mutual fund is started. Also, on the demo page at extreemhost, the tooltips didn't appear to have clickable links.

Anyway, there are many paths to the same summit. (edit: just noticed in the code that the other extension only works on bogleheads.org, so almost the same summit.)

--Mark
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tuckeverlasting
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Post by tuckeverlasting »

This is awesome--thanks, Mark! I left a "review" at the Web Store.
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Post by MONTYKEATING »

Hey thanks for that information!!! Great Help :)
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