Alternatives for Excel for charting dated time-series?

I need to chart dated time-series using simple line charts. I
recently got a trial of a financial data service, CEIC. It is a
breeze. I click on a dated time series, and, hurrah! A graph pops
up. I click on the next, and yahoo! Another graph. It makes life
easy and fun. I can compare things without endless Excel grunt-work,
which is so agonizing.

Now, the big question - are there other programs, besides Excel, which
could make handling time-series data more fun, more intuitive, easier?
Any ideas? What I need to do is so simple - to run a line-graph
QUICKLY from a simple time series - and yet Excel makes it such hard
work. Excel seems spread-sheet focused, not oriented towards quickly
and easily delivering graphical ouput. There must be something else.
Anyone have any good experiences?

Hi Matthew,

Excel is a spreadsheet program. So, yes, it is spreadsheet focussed.
It is a very powerful aplication that allows us to do lots of things.

For instance, download this sample
http://edferrero.m6.net/Content/ChartSelector.zip
to see how you can chart a series just by clicking on one cell.

Ed Ferrero

"Matthew Pollock" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I need to chart dated time-series using simple line charts. I
> recently got a trial of a financial data service, CEIC. It is a
> breeze. I click on a dated time series, and, hurrah! A graph pops
> up. I click on the next, and yahoo! Another graph. It makes life
> easy and fun. I can compare things without endless Excel grunt-work,
> which is so agonizing.
>
> Now, the big question - are there other programs, besides Excel, which
> could make handling time-series data more fun, more intuitive, easier?
> Any ideas? What I need to do is so simple - to run a line-graph
> QUICKLY from a simple time series - and yet Excel makes it such hard
> work. Excel seems spread-sheet focused, not oriented towards quickly
> and easily delivering graphical ouput. There must be something else.
> Anyone have any good experiences?

Hi -

I've been using a number of programs that do the same sort of thing,
and ultimately there isn't one "best".

First of all, understand that Excel **is** a spreadsheet. Duh. What you
want it to be is a database program that has charting tools built in so
that it will automagically do what you want it to do.

Excel *can* be close to that: however, Excel is a general purpose tool
that has to be programmed to do what it is you want it to do. Then you
can make it jump through hoops and ring bells and blow whistles
(literally, with access to some machinery and serial ports). But that
requires specialized programming work, much of which you can see here.

Companies like CEIC and others - disclosure: I work for a financial
research company that, yes, offers data on-line with those same kinds
of tools you are looking for: ours is better, we've over 1 million time
series, give me a call! :-) - sell you the service of being able to
make a chart Real Fast using their own proprietary tools and databases.

That's where they make money. Further, the more specialized you get,
the more it costs: if you want to have the figures for production of
textile machinery is Estonia, you pay more than if you need to know the
exchange rate. But you also get the numbers you need.

So you are really looking at rather different systems and tools. On the
one hand, Excel is general purpose; on the other hand, you have tools
that serve only one purpose.

And seriously, we have a great Excel add-in that might well meet your
needs *and* a New York branch...

John F. Opie
Senior Economist
Feri Research GmbH