Incorrect Volume numbers

[pieterse]

Hi Mark,

Have a sub-portfolio with various indices: ^DJI, ^DJU, ^GSPC, etc.
This morning I noticed that the share volumes for these indices, thru 8/27/10, have increased by a factor of 1,000. I download from the Yahoo server. This problem only seems to occur with the indices and not with my investments.
Any idea what's going on?

Also the 8/27/10 close price for ^DJU is incorrect. It shows $302.46 but should be $392.46. Verified this on another website.

[Mark]

Hi pieterse,

This seems to be a problem with the data on the Yahoo server. If you look here:

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/hp?s=^DJU+Historical+Prices

You'll see the "Close" price for ^DJU on 8/27/10 is showing as $302.46. This is out of the range of high/low, so it seems pretty clear it is an error. It appears to only be a problem with that one date. This is a problem that would have to be fixed by Yahoo.

On the volume issue, if you are retrieving from "Yahoo (Historical)" all the recent volumes are in the 4 billion range, as you can see on the link above. However, if you are retrieving from the regular "Yahoo" server, the volume is being reported lower. Right now it is showing the current volume on 8/30/10 to be around 3 million. Unfortunately, this inconsistency would also need to be fixed by Yahoo. Usually Yahoo and Yahoo (Historical) report the same volumes, but for some reason on this index they are off by a factor of 1,000 it appears. You may want to stick with using only one of these servers (Yahoo or Yahoo (Historical)), to keep the volumes consistent. Or, you could look at one of our other supported servers for updating this quote. You may also want to email Yahoo, and point out the problem with their inconsistent volume data.

[pieterse]

Hi Mark,
I sent a note to Yahoo Finance via the "feedback" link informing them of the inaccurate share volumes for various US market indices and the incorrect ^DJU close price on 8/27/10.
Will see if this gets corrected in short order.

[pieterse]

Hi Mark,

Have sent several more messages to Yahooe regarding the incorrect share volumes for the indices......no success sofar in getting them or their data provider to correct the numbers.

By chance, do you have a contact with Yahoo finance to communicate this problem to? I don't want belabor the point, but it seems to me that the data should be correct.

Thanks

[Mark]

Hi pieterse,

Unfortunately, I do not have a contact at Yahoo. Have they at least replied, and acknowledged the problem? I've had good results in the past with them fixing issues. It may not be real fast, but they have corrected issues before.