Quick Custom Dates

In many instances, it will be possible to use the drop down menu options to select the required date periods for charts, tables and custom reports. Where your requirement is for a period that cannot be accommodated by one of the preset options, you have the option to input dates manually in the form of dd/mm/yyyy.

Alternatively, there are "quick dates" which can be used to specify date periods and these will ensure that data can be automatically updated when refreshing saved items and/or when using the dynamic data link in MS Excel.

Details of the Quick Dates options are shown in the table below followed by some examples of how this will work.

  • -1m - 1 month from last price date
  • -1me - 1 month from last month end
  • -ws - last week start i.e. the most recent Monday
  • -we - last week end i.e. the most recent Friday
  • -1w - 1 week from last price date
  • -me - last month end
  • -1qe - 1 quarter from last quarter end
  • -qe - last quarter end
  • -1y - 1 year from last price date
  • -1ye - 1 year from last year end
  • -ye - last year end
  • -ytd - start of year
  • -l - last price date
  • -b - start of data

Some Examples:

If you want to create a chart which shows the return from the last quarter end to the latest date, you will need to select user specified dates and type the appropriate codes as shown below.

If this chart is saved and then refreshed upon reopening, it will always show returns from the last quarter end to the latest date, whenever during the quarter the chart is run. If the chart were opened and refreshed on 28 June, the return would be show for the period 31 March to 28 June. If it were reopened again on 5 July, it would show the return from 30 June to 5 July.

The same system applies whether you are creating charts or custom reports.

  • A year to date period can be created by selecting -ytd as the start date and -l as the end date.
  • Year to the last month end would require -ytd as the start date and -me as the end date.

 If you want to create a chart which updates at each month end to show the previous year's performance return, you can opt for an end date of -l and a start date of -12me.