How can we help?
Quick answers for getting started, your plan and billing, and anything that isn’t working. Still stuck? We’re one email away.
Free · no sign-up needed · real-time on every plan.
Getting started
Open the sheet at sqdesk.com/app — no sign-up needed. Then:
- Add a symbol — type a ticker in column A (e.g. AAPL). For crypto, add .X — BTC.X for Bitcoin, ETH.X for Ethereum.
- Remove or change one — edit or clear the cell in column A.
- Add columns — the Columnsbutton lets you show the portfolio columns (shares, value, P&L, XIRR, vs S&P 500, dividends) and fundamentals: market cap, P/E, EPS, beta, 52-week high/low and where the price sits in that range, 1-year return, short interest, PEG, ROE, revenue growth, plus company financials — revenue, net income (profit), free cash flow, total debt, operating & gross margin — and more. Drag a column header to reorder.
- See a chart & stats — click a ticker to select it, then click the small chart icon that appears for a full chart, key stats, and its trade log.
- New here? It opens on one small example watchlist, ready to edit. On desktop a quick guided tour points out each part right on the sheet — reopen it anytime from Help → Step-by-step guide.
Tracking a portfolio
Enter your shares and average cost for a holding, or open its trade logand record your buys and sells. Stealth Quotes then computes market value, weight, realized & unrealized P&L, a money-weighted return (XIRR), performance versus the S&P 500, and dividends received — no formulas. The full portfolio tracker is free on every plan.
Want to see it in action first? Help → See an example portfolioadds a ready-made sheet with real example trades so the live P&L, XIRR, dividends and vs-S&P columns fill in — explore it, edit it, or clear it and add your own.
Economic calendar
The Calendar tab (bottom, next to your sheets) shows the U.S. economic release calendar— a month view; click a day to see that day's releases with the scheduled time (ET), the actual value once it's out, and the previousvalue. It covers the big market-movers — CPI & Core CPI, PCE, PPI, GDP, the monthly jobs report (payrolls, unemployment, average hourly earnings), weekly jobless claims, retail sales, JOLTS, industrial production, housing starts, and FOMC rate decisions — with a just-released number filling in within minutes. Free on every plan; data is from the U.S. government agencies (BLS/BEA/Census/Fed) via FRED.
How often do prices update?
During regular US market hours prices are real-time. You set the pace from the refresh control in the toolbar (the circular-arrow button next to the letter/speed pill):
- Auto (live) — streams updates in real time as prices move (no polling — the price is pushed the moment it changes). This is the default.
- Every 10s / 30s / 1 min — refreshes on a slower timer; still hands-off, just calmer.
- Manual — prices update only when you click the refresh button.
Crypto updates 24/7. The live stream pauses in Stealth mode so nothing visibly moves — the slower intervals and manual still work. When the market is closed, cells show the last traded price.
Hiding it quickly (Stealth Mode)
Press Esc (your panic key) for Stealth Mode. It's fully customizable in the avatar menu: choose to dim the board— any mix of black & white, frozen prices, and hidden charts — or swap it for a plain cover sheet with no prices in view at all. Set your own panic key too.
Plans, billing & your account
Real-time prices, charts, the full portfolio tracker, and CSV import are free. The only paid plan, Pro ($4.99/mo), adds capacity — unlimited sheets and 100 symbols per sheet (Free gives you 1 sheet, 10 symbols).
- Upgrade — avatar menu → Account & plan.
- Cancel — on the Account page, “Manage or cancel subscription” opens the billing portal. Cancel anytime; access stays until the period ends.
- Refund or a billing question — email us (below).
Still need help?
Email us at support@1stsnow.com — a real person (the founder) reads every message, usually within a day. Tell us what you were doing and the symbol or plan involved, and we’ll get you sorted.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need an account to use it?
No. Open the sheet at sqdesk.com/app and start typing tickers — no sign-up needed. You only sign in if you want your sheets saved to your account across devices, or to upgrade for more sheets and symbols.
How is this different from GOOGLEFINANCE in Google Sheets?
GOOGLEFINANCE (and Excel's STOCKHISTORY) is delayed — quotes lag up to 20 minutes — and you build everything with formulas. The Sheets add-ons that stream real-time cost around $45/mo and still need formulas, and none is actually a portfolio tracker. Stealth Quotes is real-time on every plan with no formulas to write: type a ticker and the live price fills in. You also get crypto, a built-in portfolio tracker (XIRR, dividends, vs the S&P 500), and a one-tap discreet mode. Foreign stocks are the one exception — end-of-day for us too.
Do I need to know spreadsheet formulas?
No. Type a ticker in column A and the live price appears — no functions to memorize. If you want them, real spreadsheet formulas still work — SUM, IF, VLOOKUP, INDEX/MATCH, SUMIFS and 70+ others, with cell references and ranges — but nothing here requires one.
Can I track ETFs, mutual funds, commodities and forex (401k holdings)?
Yes. ETFs (VOO, VTI, SPY, BND, SCHD…) work like any US stock, in real time. Mutual and index funds common in 401k plans are covered too — Fidelity (FXAIX), Vanguard (VTSAX, VFIAX), American Funds (AGTHX) and target-date funds (e.g. VFIFX 2050) — search the fund name or its 5-letter ticker; funds price once a day at their NAV. For commodities, use the ETFs (GLD/IAU for gold, SLV for silver, USO for oil), or search “gold”/“silver”/“oil” and pick the “(spot)” result for the metal itself. For forex, search a currency name (“euro”, “yen”, “won”) to add a major FX pair like EUR/USD or USD/KRW.
Can I import my portfolio from a CSV?
Yes — free on every plan. Export your transaction history from your broker and import it — we auto-detect the columns (date, buy/sell, symbol, quantity, price) across broker formats and build the portfolio for you; you usually just confirm. It works with brokerage exports (Fidelity, Schwab, Vanguard, Robinhood…) and crypto-exchange exports (Coinbase, Kraken…), and figures out per symbol whether each ticker is a stock or a coin — so a mixed Robinhood file imports correctly. After import it lists which symbols it read as crypto; if one is wrong, just delete the “.X” after it in column A. Your trade data is never changed — only that row’s live price.
Can I track foreign (non-US) stocks?
Yes — search a company and pick its foreign listing (e.g. Samsung → the Korea listing, tagged with its country). We support around 30 markets, including most of Europe, Korea, Taiwan, India, China, Canada, Brazil and Mexico. Foreign prices are end-of-day (the last daily close, not real-time) and shown in USD, converted from the local currency so your whole portfolio totals in one currency. Japan and Hong Kong local listings aren’t available from our data provider — use the US-listed ADR instead (e.g. Toyota = TM), which most US brokerages hold anyway and which stays real-time. For anything we can’t price, open its card and enter a manual price so the position still tracks.
Is it really free?
Yes. Real-time stock & crypto prices, charts, the full portfolio tracker, and CSV import are all free. The only paid plan — Pro at $4.99/mo — just adds capacity: unlimited sheets and 100 symbols per sheet. Free gives you 1 sheet with 10 symbols.
How do I upgrade or cancel?
Upgrade from the Account page (avatar menu → Account & plan). To cancel, open the Account page and click “Manage or cancel subscription” — it opens the billing portal where you can cancel anytime; your plan stays active until the end of the period.
Can I get a refund?
Yes — there’s a 5-day money-back guarantee. Email support@1stsnow.com within 5 days of a charge and we’ll refund it in full, no questions asked (one per customer). Plans are also month-to-month and you can cancel anytime, so you’re never locked in.
Where does the price data come from? Is it real-time?
Stock and crypto data is from Twelve Data and CoinGecko. During regular US market hours prices are real-time, and you choose how often they refresh — Auto (live) streams updates in real time (pushed the moment a price moves), or pick 10s/30s/1min or Manual from the refresh control in the toolbar. Crypto updates 24/7.
Why doesn’t a symbol show a price?
Check the ticker spelling, and add “.X” for crypto (Bitcoin is BTC.X, Ethereum ETH.X). A brand-new symbol shows “…” for a second while its first quote loads. If it still won’t resolve, it may not be covered — email us and we’ll check.
Is this financial advice?
No. Stealth Quotes is for information only — it shows prices and your own numbers. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell. Invest at your own risk.