Google Finance offers a wealth of information for investors. And if you make use of Google Finance alerts, keeping track of specific stocks gets a lot easier.
However, if you’ve already set up alerts, you know it isn’t quite as simple as clicking a button. Here’s a detailed look at how to get alerts that will help you easily monitor the exchange rates you’re interested in.
Setting Up Google Finance Alerts for Exchange Rates
If you want to get a notification each time a stock price or exchange rate fluctuates, you can go directly through Google Alerts.
Currently, Google Alerts only lets you set an alert for certain keywords when they pop up online. It’s far from being an exact process, but once you master putting in the right keywords, you’ll likely find yourself getting more of the results you want and less of the ones you don’t want.
If you’ve set Google Finance Alerts for monitoring your portfolio, the process is nearly identical. Here’s how to go about it.
Specify Your Keywords
When you head over to Google Alerts, you’ll see what looks like a search bar at the top of the page. This is where you enter keywords that will tell the algorithm what you want to see.
For example, if you’re interested in tracking the exchange rate of the euro to the U.S. dollar, you might include keywords like “EUR/USD,” “USD/EUR,” “euro to dollar exchange rate,” etc.
While it’s usually helpful to include a few semantic variations of the same topic or request, there’s no need to go overboard. Google will be able to find relevant content even if it doesn’t contain a keyword exactly as you wrote it.
You also can start with just a handful of keywords, notice the kind of alerts you get (and how many), and then go back and add more keywords if you aren’t getting the results you’d hoped for.
Decide How Often You Want to Receive Results
You have three options here: at most once a day, at most once a week, and as it happens. Which one you pick will depend on how many incoming emails you can sift through, so choose wisely.
Choose Your Sources
This section gives you several options. Notably, one is “Finance,” but in practice, it doesn’t seem to do a whole lot. The Google Alerts algorithm appears to be smart enough to accurately filter results when you select “automatic.”
Pick a Language
If you speak any languages other than English, you can add them here. You might just find valuable information that happens to be published in a foreign language.
Select a Region
Your first impulse might be to narrow your results to the region where you live or even your home city or state. However, trading online has become so popular that important news on stocks and exchange rates can come from anywhere. Make sure you select “Any Region” here so you don’t miss out!
Consider How Many Results to Receive
This drop-down menu gives you two options: “All Results” and “Only the Best Results.” In almost every case, your best bet is to choose “Only the Best Results.”
You might be tempted to choose “All Results” because you’re worried you’ll miss something. Usually, though, all that happens is your inbox gets flooded with more alerts than you can handle — and a significant number of them are likely to be irrelevant or come from questionable sources.
Determine Your Delivery Options
While it would be great if Google Alerts could send you a text for each alert, there are currently only two options for delivery: your email address or your RSS feed.
Most people choose the email option. Your alerts should come to your inbox and not your spam folder, but just in case, you may want to check your spam when you first start getting alerts.
Adjust as Needed
As an investor, you know that one of the keys to success is to be able to analyze your existing strategy and troubleshoot it to make necessary improvements. When you set up Google Alerts, you may need to do the same thing with the keywords you choose.
If you’re getting too few alerts or notices about irrelevant content, you may need to experiment with your keywords.
You might also decide to adjust what results you want.
You’ve already learned that you can opt to see all results or just the top-rated ones. If you’re getting too few results, it’s worth changing your settings to view all results before completely overhauling all the keywords you use. Likewise, if you’re getting too many results, set your alerts so you only see the top-rated picks.
If you really want to fine-tune your results, you can experiment by changing what sources your alerts come from. For example, if you currently only get results from Google Finance, you might consider expanding so you get results from News as well.
A Better Alternative: Chrome Web Tools
Google Finance stock alerts can be somewhat helpful, but as you’ve seen, they’re far from perfect. Luckily, if you use Google Chrome as your web browser, you might be happy to learn that free Chrome extensions — tools you can add to Chrome to expand its functionality — can make the process much easier.
One of the best ones to implement is the free Currency Exchange Rate Ticker. Installing it is as easy as clicking the “Add to Chrome” button. Once added, it will give you real-time updates and send alerts for exchange rates in currency pairs you’re interested in.
Of course, extensions like this are only as good as the data they pull from. The Currency Exchange Rate Ticker is based on Google Finance data, so you can rest assured that you’re getting accurate updates. Here’s a brief look at some of the key features:
Simple Interface
When you’re trying to live your life and track exchange rates at the same time, it’s easy to start feeling scattered. To prevent such discombobulation, this extension offers an easy-to-read display with color-coded rate changes.
Multiple Tracking and Alert Options
Many investors have an interest in a diverse array of currencies. The Currency Exchange Rate Ticker display shows accurate (up to the minute) rates, but it also will let you customize your tracking and price alerts. For example, you can:
- Monitor cryptocurrency pairs — new crypto options are regularly added
- Track two different pairs at the same time (the display rotates them every five minutes)
- Set up your account to receive alerts for rate changes of the currencies you want to track
Like mobile apps, Chrome extensions are updated regularly, so if you choose to avail yourself of this extension, you might see more useful functions in the future.
Access to Historical Data
A great investor doesn’t just know current market trends. They also make sure they’re knowledgeable about its history.
While you probably shouldn’t make this tool your only source of historical data, the extension breaks down historical exchange rates in a simple, easy-to-read chart format.
The Stock Alerts You Want in Your Inbox Every Day
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